Hollywood Pitch Sales 2011

Last week, The Grid published a this report on Hollywood Pitch Sales in 2011. For anyone interested in screenwriting, or feature film development in general, it would be a good thing to check out. A couple of takeaways:

• It’s shocking to realize how few movies Hollywood actually makes. The studios bought a combined 80 pitches and 59 spec scripts, total. I guess that’s about to be expected, but when you consider that there are probably hundreds of thousands of people trying to make those sales, it’s a little humbling.
• 90 agents and 52 managers made these sales. Wonder how many of them are going to be getting queried by writers in the next year. Seems like it might be a good idea to find the ones that sold one, and query them to see if they’re looking for more talent.
• Almost 35% of the pitches bought were comedies. 16% were thrillers, 13% action/adventure, 13% drama, 12% sci fi, and there was only one fantasy pitch and 1 horror pitch sold. I’m surprised by the fantasy number – expected more for that one, especially with all the adaptations that are constantly being made. Not surprised at all by horror – that’s a market that indie filmmakers have successfully taken away from Hollywood. I was a little surprised to see the comedy number that high, but it immediately made sense – it’s the easiest genre to pitch for a high concept and medium-to-low budget.

And now, for my favorite projects from the list:

6. First Man - Johnny Knoxville, of Jackass fame. “Centers on a man whose wife is elected president. A natural hellraiser, he has totally behaved himself during his wife’s presidential campaign, only to find the dynamic of their relationship changes after he moves into the White House and becomes First Man.”

5. Untitled Cook/Greenberg Pitch - Richard Donner to produce. “Follows the true story of Laura Vikmanis, a mother of two, who became the oldest cheerleader in the NFL at the age of 40.”

4. Who Invited Her? - Reese Witherspoon. “A woman insists on tagging along on a guy’s bachelor party weekend.”

3. 364 - Brian Grazer and Ron Howard. “The title refers to the number of days in a year that a normal guy spends each year figuring out the heroic deeds he will perform on the one day each year that he has super powers.”

2. Untitled Cook/Weisberg Female Action Pitch (formerly called Bitches 11) - “Pitched as an upside down James Bond movie told from the point of view of the women he fucked over. They’ve come together, 11 beautiful but angry bitches, ready to put him where no man wants to be.”

1. The Girlfriend Equation - “Loosely inspired by the true story of an MIT grad student who attempted to find the love of his life by creating a math equation.”