2017 Spec Script Deals Analysis: Genres

By my count, Hollywood studios, production companies, and financiers acquired 61 spec scripts in 2017. During this week, I’ll be breaking down those numbers.

Today we look at deals by genre. Some scripts are categorized as cross genres or sub-genres, so those are noted where relevant under their primary genre category.

Note: Genre designations are not scientific, so you have to understand these numbers are general.

2017 SPEC SCRIPT DEALS BY GENRE

Drama — 16
Historical — 6
Fantasy — 1
Political — 1
Religious — 1
Romantic — 1
Thriller — 1

Science Fiction — 12
Thriller — 2
Action — 1
Drama — 1

Thriller — 11
Supernatural — 2
Crime — 1
Psychological — 1

Action — 10
Drama — 2
Thriller — 2
Adventure — 1
Supernatural — 1

Comedy — 7
Action — 3
Romantic — 1

Horror — 5
Supernatural — 2
Thriller — 1

First let’s compare to 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016.

2008 (88 sales)

COMEDY 41
ACTION 13
DRAMA 12
THRILLER 10
FANTASY 3
SCIENCE FICTION 3
ADVENTURE 2
DISASTER 2
FAMILY 1
HORROR 1

2009 (68 sales)

COMEDY 26
THRILLER 12
ACTION 11
DRAMA 7
SCIENCE FICTION 4
ROMANTIC COMEDY 3
FAMILY 1
FANTASY 1
HEIST 1
HORROR 1
MURDER MYSTERY 1

2010 (55 sales)

COMEDY 16
ACTION 14
THRILLER 10
SCIENCE FICTION 7
DRAMA 4
FAMILY 2
FANTASY 1
MYSTERY 1

2011 (110 sales)

ACTION 29
THRILLER 20
COMEDY 19
DRAMA 14
SCIENCE FICTION 13
HORROR 8
FAMILY 2
FAIRY TALE 1
HEIST 1
SUPERNATURAL 1
WESTERN 1

2012 (99 sales)

ACTION 27
THRILLER 20
COMEDY 20
SCIENCE FICTION 12
DRAMA 10
HORROR 9
SUPERNATURAL 1

2013 (100 sales)

THRILLER 25
ACTION 20
COMEDY 18
DRAMA 17
SCIENCE FICTION 13
HORROR 3
WESTERN 2
DISASTER 1
FAMILY 1

2014 (62 sales)

ACTION 17
COMEDY 12
DRAMA 10
SCIENCE FICTION 9
THRILLER 8
HORROR 5
FANTASY 2

2015 (55 sales)

DRAMA 17
ACTION 13
THRILLER 10
COMEDY 7
SCIENCE FICTION 7
FAMILY 1

2016 (75 sales)

DRAMA 24
COMEDY 18
THRILLER 13
ACTION 10
SCIENCE FICTION 8
WESTERN 2

• The first thing to note is the decline in announced spec script deals: 75 to 61, a decline of 19%. Although the number of deals in 2017 is on par with 2014 and 2015. Still, as writers, we’d like to see totals at the 2011–2013 levels — around 100 per year.
• For the 3rd consecutive year, Drama was the #1 genre in terms of spec script deals. Indeed as a percent of spec deals, Drama scripts represented 26% of all acquisitions, pretty much on target with the previous year’s 32%. The fact Drama landed atop the acquisition list for the 3rd consecutive year and with such solid numbers suggests continuing interest in this genre in the spec market. Historically, at least back through the last decade, that is unprecedented as Drama rarely broke into the top three genres in terms of spec deals.
• Up until this year, Science Fiction has never cracked the top three, but this year lands in the second position. What’s especially interesting is several of the script are mid to big budget, as opposed to ‘big idea / small budget’ concepts a la the movie Moon.
• When we total up all of the cross genre and sub-genre elements, the totals show a somewhat different picture:

DRAMA 17
THRILLER 17
ACTION 14
SCIENCE FICTION 12
COMEDY 7
HORROR 5

Drama and Thriller comprise nearly half of the spec script deals for 2017.

What do you think when you look at these numbers? Will they have any impact on what stories you choose to write in 2018?

Click on RESPONSE to post your observations and analysis of the year in spec script deals.

2017 Spec Script Deal List