Spec Script Deal: “Turned On”

Twentieth Century Fox acquires comedy spec script “Turned On” written by Charlie Kesslering. From THR:

The script tells of a brilliant but awkward engineer who creates an android to fill in for her in life’s difficult situations. But things soon spiral out of control when the robot self-actualizes.

Interesting to note about the writer:

He is currently the assistant to The Late Late Show With James Corden host James Corden. Prior to that, he was an assistant at CAA and spent time interning at representation firms while writing on the side.

This is a path I’ve been promoting to my college students for years — go to L.A., do some internships, become an assistant, learn the business, and write every day. It’s that last part which is tough because being an assistant requires long hours. But as Kesslering has shown with this deal, it’s doable.

Kesslering is repped by CAA and Mosaic.

By my count, this is the 64th spec script deal of 2016.

There were 52 spec script deals year-to-date in 2015.

Spec script deals are up 19% this year over last.