Gotham book market still pays off for H'w'd
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That question has dogged producers since Hollywood's love affair with the New York book world began to chill in the late 1990s, when studio chiefs began slashing development costs, and one studio after another pulled the plug on their Gotham book offices.
Today, a handful of studio-based shingles -- among them Scott Rudin Prods., Laura Ziskin Prods. and Wendy Finerman Prods. -- retain office space in New York.
And one glance at their development slates reveals how a foothold in the New York book market pays dividends in Hollywood, often in intangible ways.
All of these companies serve as incubators for films based on books and adapted by New York screenwriters, many dealing with New York subjects.
Producer Scott Rudin's Gotham office has secured some of the most high-profile books this year, including Jonathan Franzen's National Book Award-winner, "The Corrections" and "Cold Mountain" author Charles Frazier's next, as-yet-untitled novel.
Ziskin has hired New York playwright and "Full Frontal" writer Coleman Hough to pen a film about newspaper magnate Katharine Graham. Along with Miramax, Ziskin also commissioned an adaptation of Paul Watkins' thriller, "The Forger," by Tony- and Pulitzer-winning playwright David Auburn.
Finerman has hired New York-based screenwriter Peter Hedges ("About a Boy") to adapt "The Devil Wears Prada," an as-yet-unpublished satire of a New York fashion magazine by Lauren Weisberger.
Finerman, like Ziskin, is based in L.A. But having a New York office, she says, "leads us to so much material, and it's different material than what's available here. It also helps me attract different talent."
There are also fewer buyers in Hollywood, Finerman notes. In a shrinking market, she says, seeing literary material a day or two before it hits L.A. is crucial.
THESE ARE SMALL OUTFITS. Ziskin has one New York exec, senior VP Jason Anthony. Finerman's office is run by VP Drew Reed.
That's a significant change from a decade ago, when virtually every studio had a Gotham office, with a staff of execs and large roster of freelance readers.
Until it closed in 1999, Universal's ancient Park Avenue office was a relic from another era, with its cracked leather sofas and fox-hunting paintings arranged by Edie Wasserman. Mandalay's midtown digs had an English colonial look, complete with hand-crafted imported furniture from British Khakhi. Sonnenfeld/Josephson occupied a fashionable Soho loft with guest offices that were rarely used.
Those were the days when John Grisham novels were selling for record sums, and formula thrillers sold overnight without the backing of major talent. "You used to be able to read a book, call your boss and say this is a great book, we have to buy it," one former scout says. "And the material would be judged on the story alone. Now you can't set something up without an A-list star."
But many of those books stalled in development, and New York became an easy target for cost-cutting studio accountants.
Paramount is now the only studio with a dedicated book office. Disney, Universal and Warner Bros. rely on book scouts to keep abreast of the latest books, magazine features and plays. So do Imagine Entertainment, Lynda Obst Prods. and Jerry Bruckheimer Prods.
A good book scout may keep these producers competitive. They can guarantee access to a wide range of material, and they can help navigate the exploding kids book market -- a new frontier for many producers.
But their real value, like the value of a New York office, will only be known when the books they bring in become movies -- three, five or 10 years from now.
