Spec Market Roundup — August 2011’s Sales

Four new buyers kept spec sales strong through the end of Summer

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We know you’re completely preoccupied by the announcements coming out of Toronto and still getting up to speed post-Labor Day, so we’ll keep the intro short and sweet this week. Here are the highlights of August’s spec market activity:

August continued 2011’s unbroken string of strong monthly spec sales, finishing nearly on par with July’s (and April’s and May’s, for that matter) unseasonably strong 6.

• None of the major studios broke out their checkbooks last month (the first time that’s happened since January), but four new buyers got on the board for the first time in 2011: Davis Entertainment, FilmNation, Inferno and Millennium/Nu Image.

• Two sets of unrepped writers sold specs last month, the first time that’s happened since we began tracking the market in 2009.

In case you were on vacation, riding out earthquakes or battening down the hatches in preparation for a hurricane when we we last published, here’s a link to the previous edition of the Scoggins Report. And now on to August’s numbers:

Weekly Activity Breakdown

Week of Aug. 1:
• 5 scripts hit the tracking boards, none of which sold
• 2 additional sales were reported (“Autobahn” and “Non-Stop”)

Week of Aug. 8:
• 2 scripts hit the boards, neither of which sold

Week of Aug. 15:
• 1 script hit the boards and didn’t sell

Week of Aug. 22:
• 1 script hit the tracking boards and didn’t sell
• 2 additional sales were reported (“In the Event of a Moon Disaster” and “Untitled Supernatural Action Project”)

Week of Aug. 29 (week before Labor Day):
• 1 script hit the boards and hasn’t yet sold
• 1 additional sale was reported (“Seven Days Waiting”)

Spec Sales (alphabetical by title)

Autobahn
Writer:  Greg Russo
Reps:  ICM and Manage-ment (Dan Halsted)
Buyer:  Inferno
Genre:  Action, Thriller
Attachments:  Mark Steven Johnson (“Ghost Rider,” “Daredevil”) is attached to direct.
Notes:  Originally went out in September 2010. Project was previously titled ”I-95.”

In The Event of a Moon Disaster
Writer:  Mike Jones
Reps:  CAA (David Kopple)
Buyer:  FilmNation
Genre:  Action, Sci-Fi
Attachments:  Aaron Ryder will produce through FilmNation.
Notes:  Glen Basner will oversee for FilmNation. Script hit the market in May.

Non-Stop
Writers:  John Richardson & Chris Roach
Reps:  Not applicable
Buyer:  Dark Castle
Genre:  Thriller
Attachments:  Jeff Wadlow (“Never Back Down”) is attached to direct. Joel Silver, Andrew Rona, and Alex Heineman to produce through Dark Castle.

Seven Days Waiting
Writers:  Jeff Bacon, Jordan Capell & Joe Davidson
Reps:  Not applicable
Buyer:  Davis Entertainment
Genre:  Thriller
Attachments:  Benderspink is attached to produce alongside Brad Jensen and Davis’s John Davis and Derek Dauchy.

Untitled Supernatural Action Project
Writer:  Paul Sloan
Reps:  Brucks Entertainment (Bryan Brucks)
Buyer:  Millennium/Nu Image
Genre:  Sci-Fi, Adventure
Attachments:  Frank Demartini and Richard Salvatore are attached to produce.

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