You’d think by our fourth pitch scorecard of the year we’d get tired of saying how hot the market is. And yet…we’re still excited by the amount of new material that’s being snatched up. It’s big year so far for sci-fi, thrillers, and the usual pitch favorites, comedies. And a nice mix of studio and non-studio buyers (shoutout to Indian Paintbrush, which already bought 2 pitches this year).
But now on to the [Passover friendly] meat and potatoes of it all…
It might be a little early to pronounce a script “most expensive spec of the year,” given that it’s barely April. And yet it’s hard to believe we’ll see more than one screenplay sell for $3 million this year. That’s right - James Vanderbilt’s WHITE HOUSE DOWN sold for $3 million last week.
It would have been enough for us if the number of sales simply maintained last year’s steady pace. [As some of us will be saying at our Passover Seders later this week: Dayenu.] But now, not only have 2012′s spec sales numbers surged back ahead of 2011′s, buyers are willing to pony up megabucks for them.
We’ll have year-to-date tallies next week in our Pitch Sales Scorecard. In the meantime, check out the list of March sales in the below Spec Market Roundup for March, complete with loglines. And here’s a link to download the PDF, too:
March 2012 Spec Market Roundup
Enjoy.
Last week was an incredible week for pitch sales. Despite March’s painfully slow beginning (you might recall that there were no pitch sales as of the writing of the Pitch Sales Scorecard two weeks ago), it ended with 6 sales. Not bad, March - you two-upped February, which had a similar slow start and strong finish (4 pitch sales in the last three days of the month).
Check out the breakdowns in the below embedded document, including all ten glorious loglines (we listed those four February sales, since they missed the deadline for the last Pitch Roundup). Here’s the PDF for those of you who like to download and peruse on your iPads (we’re with you):
Scoggins Report - March 2012 Pitch Sales Roundup
May the odds be ever in your favor.
This week’s Scoggins Report is full of pleasant surprises. You see, when we wrote last week’s Scoggins Report, there hadn’t been any pitch sales in March.
“Has the market slowed back down?” we asked ourselves.
“No,” we answered, as we pulled together this week’s report. Not only have three pitches sold since last week, but this March has already seen TEN spec sales. And the studios have bought 40% more specs so far this year than the first quarter of 2011. And there are a bunch of new buyers on TheGrid. We live in exciting times, folks. Seriously exciting times.
Check out the full report below. For those of you who like to download the PDF, here you go: Mar 2012 Spec Market Scorecard
Remember, for a daily dose of insider info and tracking, try a subscription to ItsontheGrid. It’s free for two weeks, and you won’t be disappointed. Because ballers never disappoint.
So, um, there haven’t been any original pitch sales so far this month. But we’re not thinking of it as foreboding for the original material sales market. Instead, it’s more like that lull in the middle of a marathon just before you run like the wind again. (Not that we’ve run any marathons. We’re just guessing.)
Lest you think the lack of pitch sales this month renders this week’s report irrelevant, consider that since the last pitch scorecard, there have been five pitch sales and eleven spec sales (including two spec sales today that just missed the deadline for the report). There’s a new top buyer in town, and the competition for best seller is just getting started. Apetite whetted? Read the full report below.
And don’t forget you can track sales on a daily basis with a subscription to ItsontheGrid.com and by signing up to receive this blog’s daily post roundup (just check out the subscription options on the bottom of the right sidebar).
Here’s a link to download the PDF:
The Scoggins Report - March 2012 Pitch Sales Scorecard
Enjoy the show.
Last week, The Scoggins Report rounded up all the pitches that sold in January and February. This week’s edition rounds up February’s spec sales, and the below document includes details on all 9 of the screenplays that got set up last month.
For those keeping track (like us), February’s spec sale numbers matched January’s. Which is to say, the spec market remains stronger so far this year than last. But enough of the “people like original material” broken record we’ve been playing (though, really, it’s as addictive as a silly pop song and we’re having the best time keeping it on repeat). Every month has its own nuances, and February isn’t an exception - read the Report below and see what unique trend this month had in store for us.*
*That’s called being a master of intrigue. You’re welcome Hollywood.
Twelve pitches have sold so far this year - including one today (Jason Keller’s Dracula origin story). Curious what else is on the list? Check out this week’s edition of The Scoggins Report, where we round up the pitches that sold these last two months.
Genre breakdowns, year over year numbers…it doesn’t get much cooler than The Scoggins Report. Except that it does. With a subscription to ItsontheGrid, there’s no need to wait until we publish The Scoggins Report to track spec and pitch sales (not to mention the countless other development and production updates to projects about town). Just saying…
Enjoy!
This President’s Day, celebrate with the greatest of all sales. No, not car sales. Not 40% off at The Gap. That’s not nearly as festive as…
Spec sales!
Woohoo!
Okay, so maybe not “woohoo!” But it is pretty exciting that 18 scripts have sold to date in 2012. We break it down for you by genre, buyer, and seller, including year over year numbers, combined pitch and spec numbers, and individual rep stats. Imagine last year’s Scoggins Report, only more awesome, with more charts, more data, and more tracking.
By the by, you can find all sorts of awesome data on ItsontheGrid, too. Subscribe now, and get a 2-week free trial to the only searchable database on the web with complete spec and pitch tracking. Enter in the promo Scorecard1 when you sign up, and enjoy full access right now.
And of course, find the scorecard embedded below. You’re welcome, Hollywood, and happy holidays.
You know when you’re doing something quarterly, and then you’re all like, “Hey! How baller would it be if we did this monthly?”
No?
Well, maybe that’s just us. Regardless, we found ourselves with such juicy pitch data at the end of 2011 that we realized it was high time we stopped hoarding the pitch numbers throughout the year and started sharing them more often. So that’s what this is: Our first monthly scorecard of 2012′s pitch sales, with year-to-date numbers through Feb 11. We break it down by genres, buyers, and sellers much like we do with the spec scorecard. And we’ve added in some new bonus features, like individual agent and manager numbers and combined spec and pitch sales tallies.
You might call it the best thing to happen to the MP Lit business in years. (Though, given the numbers, you might reserve that title for WME…). Whichever way you slice it, you can find the latest Scoggins Report embedded below. If you’re into email (like we are), sign up for our mailing list via the form to the right and we’ll email the PDF every week. And for all the scoop on the below projects plus thousands more movie titles in development, subscribe to ItsontheGrid.
It’s time for the first edition of the 2012 Scoggins Report.
But wait, it’s not Friday…didn’t Rebecca Black say Friday came after Thursday and before Saturday?
That’s right. We decided to make some new changes for the new year. We’re publishing The Scoggins Report at the beginning of the week so you’ll start your week off right, with lit sales. And, we’re now publishing weekly. We’ll kick off each month with a roundup of specs that sold the previous month, followed weekly by a a scorecard analyzing pitch sales up to that point in the year (NEWNESS ALERT!), a scorecard of spec sales up to that point in the year, and a roundup of pitches that sold in the last month (NEWNESS ALERT!). Basically, we’re adding pitch roundups and scorecards to what we’ve been doing for the past three years so you can have a complete idea throughout the year of what original ideas are selling. AND, who’s selling them; like in our Year-End Scorecards, we’ll be tallying individual agent/manager sales throughout the year.
So let’s get to it. Check out the January Spec Market Roundup below, and fill out the form to the right to sign up for The Scoggins Report to get it delivered straight to your inbox before we publish it here on ItsontheGrid.com every week.
Here’s the PDF: Scoggins Report - January 2012 Spec Market Roundup
And here’s the Scribd version:
