Pitch sale: “This Strange Thing Called Prom”
Somehow missed this first time around, but Miramax bought “This Strange Thing Called Prom,” based on this June 22nd NY Times article:
The article follows the prom adventures of high school seniors who came to Brooklyn from locales like Senegal, Venezuela, Tibet, Haiti, Poland and Gabon (one was a nomadic yak herder until age 12).
The experiences of the students, who eagerly looked forward to taking part in their first prom, ranged from magical to miserable.
Once again proving that there are movie stories everywhere. In fact, it’s becoming a downright habit for the NY Times:
It is the 15th movie option deal that the Grey Lady has participated in since signing two years ago with ICM’s Todd Hoffman and Chris Silbermann. The goal is to participate financially in film and TV projects that spring from the pages of its newspaper. The paper splits the money with its writers.
After years of subsidizing articles and then watching writers receive option deals, economically challenged newspapers and magazines are trying to share in those proceeds. The Times is the first publication to be this proactive, but several lit agents said that the Wall Street Journal — which recently became a sister company to the Rupert Murdoch-owned 20th Century Fox — is aiming to share in rights deals that come from its articles.
Like the WSJ, the NYT owns the copyright to newspaper content generated by staffers. The NYT doesn’t usually share in screen sales from its Sunday magazine; while the company now tries to secure those rights in contracts, lit agents of seasoned contributors and high-end writers strike it from the contract, sources said.
The Variety article is an interesting read as it discusses this trend among newspapers, magazines and journals, all wanting to cash in on Hollywood option deals. But then it makes me wonder, what if the Hollywood tail starts wagging the journalism dog? Or more likely, it’s already doing that. If I was a newspaper reporter, I’m sure I’d be thinking about possible movie deals as I researched potential features for the paper, — news be damned!
In any event, I love the premise of “Prom” and hope they do it justice, not just some slapped together teen comedy.