The State of the Studio Deals: Who’s Doing What Where
Every year the trades provide an overview of Hollywood movie studio deals with producers. It’s helpful for screenwriters to know who has what pact where. For example from a new THR article, here is their synopsis for Warner Bros:
WARNER BROS.
No other studio can boast its level of A-list talent-based shingles: Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way, Robert Downey Jr. and Susan Downey’s Team Downey and Clint Eastwood’s Malpaso Productions, which annually shows up with a prestige picture. Zack Snyder’s Cruel and Unusual Films provides action and fantasy, and Todd Phillips’ Green Hat Films brings the laughs. Financing/producing partners Village Roadshow Pictures and Legendary Pictures (The Dark Knight Rises) share deep pockets and credibility. Alcon Entertainment has proved a reservoir of surprise hits (Dolphin Tale), and Dan Lin’s Lin Pictures and Kevin McCormick’s Langley Park Productions are run by former studio execs with an eye for good material. Several New Line pacts, including Adam Shankman’s Offspring Entertainment (Rock of Ages), remain after the company was folded into WB proper.
Highlights:
Green Hat Films: Todd Phillips
Phillips has turned The Hangover into the biggest comedy franchise of all time while turning himself into a major brand. He is a producer on the low-budget WB comedy Project X, which opens in March, but the writer-director takes his time and his slate remains on the thin side.
Appian Way: Leonardo DiCaprio
His first film for Warners, Red Riding Hood, stumbled, but DiCaprio is a magnet for material — though much of it sits idle while he remains highly selective with regard to what he pushes. High-profile projects making headway include a long-in-the-works English adaptation of Akira, which just got a green light, and a Twilight Zone movie.
Pearl Street Films: Ben Affleck & Matt Damon
The studio can’t get enough of Affleck, whose growing directing career (he’s now filming Argo) has him looking like Clint Eastwood’s heir. And Damon is clearly prepared to follow: The studio has grabbed several scripts for him to direct, including a drama screenplay the actor co-wrote. The duo also has the Whitey Bulger story in the works.
The article also covers deals at Disney, DreamWorks, 20th Century Fox, Paramount, Sony, and Universal.
One interesting set of numbers is a comparison of producing deals now compared to 2003. It’s pretty stark:
DISNEY
Active producer deals 2011: 18
Active producer deals 2003: 24
DREAMWORKS
Active producer deals 2011: 5
Active producer deals 2003: 22
20TH CENTURY FOX
Active producer deals 2011: 20
Active producer deals 2003: 26
PARAMOUNT
Active producer deals 2011: 12
Active producer deals 2003: 22
SONY PICTURES
Active producer deals 2011: 27
Active producer deals 2003: 32
UNIVERSAL PICTURES
Active producer deals 2011: 27
Active producer deals 2003: 27
WARNER BROS.
Active producer deals 2011: 31
Active producer deals 2003: 32
Two studios essentially flat (Universal, Warner Bros.), three with 5–6 less deals (Disney, 20th Century Fox, Sony), one with 10 less deals (Paramount), and one with a whopping 17 less deals (DreamWorks).
The operative word there is less. If you want further evidence of Hollywood’s current fiscal austerity, you need look no further than this set of stats.
That said I saw something recently where producing deals actually have gone up in 2011 over 2010, so perhaps another indication — along with the active spec script and acquisition market — that the purse strings are started to open up a bit.
By the way, there is a notable pair of emerging deals involving two sets of high profile producers: Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci are reportedly leaving DreamWorks (their 2-year deal is up in December) for a deal with Skydance, the company headed up by producer David Ellison, son of Oracle co-founder and billionaire Larry Ellison. Meanwhile producers Frank Kennedy and Kathleen Marshall are evidently leaving Sony (ending their 2-year deal there) and heading to DreamWorks. As Kurtzman & Orci are probably the biggest writer-producers currently in Hollywood in terms of the sheer number of movie and TV projects they have going, and Kennedy & Marshall didn’t get one movie greenlit during their term at Sony, this is a most interesting shift. While from the outside it may appear a case of musical chairs, one assessment of what it means:
* By signing a deal with Kurtzman & Orci, Ellison is making a big-time aggressive play to elevate Skydance’s position in Hollywood.
* By signing a deal with Kennedy & Marshall, DreamWorks brings back a trusted pair of producers who have worked with Steven Spielberg on many projects in the past.
It will be intriguing to see how thing shake out on both of those fronts over the next few years and with producing deals as a whole.
For more of the Hollywood Reporter article, go here.
Tomorrow: Another THR article with some reflections and analysis by producers of the current state of affairs for the movie business from their perspective.
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