The Scoggins Report: July 2011
The Scoggins Report is a compilation of spec sales and trends in the industry. Archive editions of The Scoggins Report can be found at The Business of Show Institute and on www.thewrap.com. Details on every person, project, and company covered by the Report can also be found at www.ItsontheGrid.com. The Report is reprinted at Scriptmag.com by permission of the authors.
2011 Spec Market Scorecard as of July 22
With the Spring selling season behind us and Summer in full-swing, you’d expect the spec market to be completely dead. That’s what happened last year, anyway; there were zero spec sales in July 2010 and just one in August.
But that’s so twelve months ago. As you can see from the grids on the next pages, the spec business is still going strong. In fact, July may well end up on par with April and May’s numbers.
2011’s sales numbers in general have been as strong as we’ve seen since the 2007 WGA strike. Here’s a direct comparison of the year-over-year numbers for January through June:
| Year | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
| Total Specs | 300 | 222 | 194 |
| Sales | 50 | 42 | 47 |
| Studio Purchases | 27 | 16 | 31 |
As you can see, the studios’ collective appetite for specs (led by two studios in particular) has grown dramatically this year. Here are our favorite highlights from the last month:
- After trailing Columbia since February, Warner Bros. has jumped to the top of the Buyers list, with 2 spec purchases each in June and July. Their total of 8 for the year puts them just 1 shy of their 2010 tally and now 1 ahead of Columbia this year. The Burbank studio has bought 16 specs in the last 13 months; no other studio is even in the double digits over that span.
- UTA and WME are still tied for the lead among sellers, with 9 spec sales each, but expect a change by this time next month: UTA is entertaining offers for what will be its 10th sale of the year as of this writing, and third place CAA’s 8th sale of the year happened after the cutoff for this report.
The numbers for 2011 through July 22 are below. Enjoy.
2011 Overall Spec Numbers (through July 22) 1,2:
| All Specs | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Total |
| Specs | 16 | 37 | 33 | 39 | 31 | 38 | 17 | 211 | |||||
| Sales | 2 | 10 | 15 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 51 | |||||
| Percent | 12.5 | 27 | 45.5 | 15.3 | 19.3 | 21 | 23.5 | 24.2 |
1 This grid tallies sales of scripts in the month they originally went out. All other grids in this report are straight tallies of each month’s sales.
2 Feb, Mar and Apr numbers do not include the sale of a script that went out prior to 2011.
Spec Sales By Genre (sold/total):
| Genre (sales) | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Total | % of 2011 Spec Sales |
| Action/Adventure | 0/2 | 1/3 | 0/4 | 2/9 | 1/5 | 2/8 | 0/0 | 6/31 | 11.8% | |||||
| Comedy | 0/5 | 2/12 | 6/9 | 1/11 | 2/12 | 3/12 | 1/7 | 15/68 | 29.4% | |||||
| Drama | 0/0 | 0/3 | 0/1 | 2/6 | 1/2 | 0/2 | 0/0 | 3/14 | 5.9% | |||||
| Fantasy | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/2 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/4 | 0% | |||||
| Horror | 0/1 | 3/4 | 0/0 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 0/2 | 2/2 | 6/10 | 11.8% | |||||
| Western | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/1 | 2% | |||||
| Sci-Fi | 0/2 | 0/3 | 2/4 | 1/2 | 1/3 | 3/3 | 1/2 | 8/19 | 15.7% | |||||
| Thriller | 1/5 | 3/10 | 8/16 | 1/12 | 2/9 | 2/8 | 0/4 | 17/64 | 33.3% |
Spec Sales By Buyer – Studios:
| Buyers (Studios) | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Total | 2010 | 2009 |
| CBS Films | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | ||||||||||
| Columbia | 1 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 5 | |||||||||
| Dimension | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Disney | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |||||||||||
| DreamWorks | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | ||||||||||
| Fox | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | |||||||||
| Fox Searchlight | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| New Line | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||
| Paramount | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||||||||||
| Relativity | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 3 | ||||||||||
| Summit | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | |||||||||||
| Universal | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 | ||||||||||
| Warner Bros. | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 9 | 6 |
Spec Sales By Buyer – Other Buyers:
| Buyers (Other) | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Total | 2010 | 2009 |
| 1984 Films | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||
| Animation Picture Co. | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||
| Bold Films | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |||||||||||
| Caliber Media | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |||||||||||
| Crime Scene Pictures | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||
| Dark Castle | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |||||||||||
| Gracie Films | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||
| IM Global | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||
| Mandate | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Montecito | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||
| MPCA | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||
| Nasser Ent. | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |||||||||||
| Radar | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |||||||||||
| RCR | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||
| Route One | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |||||||||||
| Sidney Kimmel | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Skydance | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||
| Stone Village Pictures | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||
| Ten Thirty-One | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||
| Valhalla | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||
| Wendy Finerman Prods | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Each of the following production companies has been attached to at least one spec sale so far this year. Companies in bold are new since the last scorecard.
Anonymous Content
Aversano Films
After Dark
Appian Way
Alliance Films
Automatik Entertainment
Big Kid Pictures
Berlanti Productions
Chernin Entertainment
Contrafilm
Davis Entertainment
Disruption Entertainment (2)
Escape Artists
IDW
FilmEngine
Furst Films
Genre Films
Hollywood Gang (2)
Ixtlan
Josephson Entertainment
Katsmith Productions
Langley Park (2)
Leverage Management
Marc Platt Productions
Mandeville Films
Matt Tolmach Productions
Michael De Luca Productions
Montecito
Original Film
Panay Films
Pearl Street
Platinum Dunes
Radar Pictures
Silver Pictures
Stuber Pictures
Temple Hill
Top Cow
Wigram Productions
Valhalla
WideAwake
Yorn Company
Spec Sales by Seller – Agencies (sold/total):
| Sellers – Agents | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Overall Efficiency |
| APA | 1/4 | 0/4 | 0/1 | 1/3 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 1/3 | 3/16 19% | |||||
| CAA | 0/1 | 3/61 | 1/1 | 1/3 | 1/4 | 3/61 | 0/1 | 7/22 32% | |||||
| Gersh | 0/0 | 3/5 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/3 | 0/0 | 4/9 44% | |||||
| ICM | 0/2 | 0/1 | 3/5 | 1/4 | 0/3 | 1/4 | 1/1 | 6/20 30% | |||||
| Innovative | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/2 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/2 50% | |||||
| Paradigm | 0/2 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 2/3 | 0/0 | 1/1 | 1/2 | 6/12 50% | |||||
| The Agency | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/1 100% | |||||
| UTA | 0/0 | 0/2 | 5/6 | 1/31 | 2/3 | 2/4 | 0/2 | 9/20 45% | |||||
| Verve | 0/2 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/1 | 1/1 | 1/3 | 0/0 | 2/7 29% | |||||
| WME | 0/0 | 2/4 | 2/5 | 2/21 | 3/4 | 0/3 | 1/4 | 9/22 41% |
1 Includes a script not counted toward the company’s 2011 efficiency rating because it originally went out prior to 2011.
Spec Sales by Seller – Management Companies (sold/total):
| Sellers – Managers | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Overall Efficiency |
| Baumgarten | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/1 100% | |||||
| Benderspink | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/1 | 0/1 | 1/2 | 3/3 | 0/1 | 5/8 63% | |||||
| Brillstein | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/11 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/2 0% | |||||
| Caliber | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 1/2 50% | |||||
| Circle of Confusion | 0/0 | 2/41 | 0/1 | 0/1 | 1/5 | 0/3 | 0/2 | 2/15 13% | |||||
| Energy | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 2/31 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/1 | 1/3 33% | |||||
| Evolution | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/1 100% | |||||
| FilmEngine | 1/1 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/2 50% | |||||
| Generate | 0/0 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/1 100% | |||||
| Gotham | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/01 | 0/1 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 1/3 33% | |||||
| H2F | 0/0 | 0/0 | 2/4 | 0/1 | 0/1 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 3/7 43% | |||||
| Industry | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/2 | 0/0 | 2/2 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 3/4 75% | |||||
| Kaplan/Perrone | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/1 | 0/1 | 0/1 | 0/2 | 0/1 | 1/6 17% | |||||
| Kevin Donahue | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/1 | 1/1 100% | |||||
| Mad Hatter | 0/0 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 2/2 100% | |||||
| New Wave | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/2 | 0/1 | 1/3 33% | |||||
| Principato/Young | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/1 | 1/1 | 1/1 | 2/3 67% | |||||
| Realm | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 1/1 100% | |||||
| R.E.D. | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 1/1 100% | |||||
| ROAR | 0/0 | 1/2 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 2/3 67% | |||||
| Silent R | 0/0 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/2 50% | |||||
| Smart Ent. | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/2 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/2 50% | |||||
| Underground | 0/0 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/1 100% | |||||
| Wirehouse | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/1 100% |
1 Includes a script not counted toward the company’s 2011 efficiency rating because it originally went out prior to 2011.
About The Scoggins Report:
The Scoggins Report is a terribly unscientific analysis of the feature film development business based on information assembled from a variety of public and non-public sources. The numbers in the reports are by no means official statistics. Past editions of The Scoggins Report can be found in the archives of The Business of Show Institute (http://bit.ly/2HRZ67) and now have a beautiful new home on www.theWrap.com.
Details on every person, project and company covered by the Report can also be found at www.ItsontheGrid.com, a proud division of The Wrap News, Inc. IOTG is the only place mere mortals can find listings of Hollywood’s active open writing and directing assignments, not to mention comprehensive spec market data; active film development information and relevant credits for released movies going back to 1988.
The IOTG Blog has a new home on the site, by the way: www.ItsontheGrid.com/news It includes daily highlights of recent database updates and individual posts on every spec that hits the market. You’ll find buttons to subscribe to the blog’s feed right where you’d expect them, and you can follow the site’s Twitter feed here: http://twitter.com/itsonthegrid.
1 Comment
Nice to know what may be selling. I write romance, military thriller, sci-fi, and horror, so the markets look decent for those. Only one problem: finding time to get them all finished!