Spec Script Deals Analysis 2014: First-Timers
As we continue our analysis of spec script sales in 2014, today we check out the first-timers, writers who broke into the business via a spec script.
Darkness — Francis Jay and C.B. Liffer (FlickBag and Turtle Bag Productions) — 1/9/14
When a woman with night blindness is abducted and wakes in a dark place with strangers, she must use only touch and hearing to decide who and what to believe.
The Forger — Alex Allrich (Fox International Productions) — 1/31/14
A story about an ex-CIA forger who is living in Istanbul and must return to the world of espionage when his former agency handler turns up dead and a female Iranian intelligence agent needs to defect to the West. As time ticks away, the forger must rely on all he has learned to get her out of the country, only to find that there is more to her than he initially realized.
Terrestrial — Peter Gaffney (Lionsgate) — 4/2/14
Story about a massive spaceship in the middle of the Mojave Desert.
The Garden at the End of the Earth — Gary Graham (Warner Bros.) — 4/9/14
Story follows a reclusive engineer who attempts to save our dying planet by growing trees in what is now a post-apocalyptic wasteland. He must also protect an abused girl from men who are hunting her.
Work It — Laura Solon (Universal Pictures) — 7/13/14
It’s the first feature sale for Solon, who most recently wrote on TV Land’s “Hot In Cleveland.” The spec, formerly known as Work It, will be retitled and plot details are being kept under wraps. This is an option deal.
Terminal Point — Stuart C. Paul (Universal Pictures) — 7/18/14
Details are under wraps on the script which [Will] Packer and fellow producer David Alpert snagged in a pre-emptive buy. It’s the first spec sale for Paul, who recently wrote and directed short film The Lord of Catan, about a young married couple (Amy Acker and Fran Kranz) whose game night descends into cutthroat competition.
Untitled Arabian Nights Project — David Weill (Warner Bros.) — 7/25/14
In a most unusual spec script deal, Warner Bros has preemptively acquired an untitled “script-ment” from tyro screenwriter David Weil. Essentially, the studio bought the blue print for a 7-part movie franchise featuring interconnected stories contained in The Arabian Nights.
The Wall — Dwain Worrell (Amazon Studios) — 11/12/14
A deadly cat-and-mouse contest waged by an American sharpshooter and the Iraqi sniper who has him pinned behind a small chunk of concrete. The sniper has commandeered the communications frequency and the enemies talk to each other through a standoff that will prove fatal for one of them.
Matriarch — Eric Koenig (Paramount) — 11/12/14
The thriller follows two powerful female characters going head to head as a prison psychologist has 48 hours to convince a serial killer to disclose the location of her final victim before she is executed.
Nottingham & Hood — Brandon Barker (Walt Disney Pictures) — 12/5/14
Nottingham & Hood has a Pirates Of The Caribbean tone and the hope is to launch a new adventure franchise that fits Disney’s global brand.
Congratulations to all the first-timers!
Special treat: Come back tomorrow for a Q&A with one of the 2014 first-timers.
[Note: The list above does not include the many writers who used a spec script to gain representation and/or land an assignment base on their spec as a writing sample.]
That’s it, a full week’s worth of recaps and analysis of the 2014 spec script deals market. Please post your overall reactions and thoughts in comments.
Thanks to Wendy Jane Cohen for her help with this year’s spec script deals market analysis!
To see all of the posts from this week’s analysis, go here.
Now Hollywood, start buying some spec scripts!