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UPDATE: Doesn’t look like it will take Ridley and Tony Scott long to name a new president for Scott Free. The name I’m hearing on the short list is Michael Schaefer, the former senior vice president of acquisitions and co-productions at Summit Entertainment who left that company after the consolidation of staff in the spring after the company was acquired by Lionsgate. Stay tuned.
EARLIER EXCLUSIVE, 2:13 PM: Michael Costigan will be leaving his post as president of Scott Free, I’m told. Costigan will move into full-time producing after spending the past seven years with the Fox-based company run by directors Ridley and Tony Scott. Costigan, a former production executive at Columbia Pictures, has already been doing a lot of producing along with managing the considerable volume of directing vehicles for the Scott brothers. I’m told Costigan’s exit is amicable and that the company expects to set a new top executive before the summer is over.
Costigan is currently producing Out Of The Furnace, the Scott Cooper-directed revenge thriller that began as a Brad Ingelsby spec script that initially had Ridley Scott prepared to direct Leonardo DiCaprio. It just wrapped, with Christian Bale, Woody Harrelson, Casey Affleck and Zoe Saldana heading the cast. He also produced Stoker, the Park Chan-wook-directed drama that stars Nicole Kidman, and he’s also producing The East, which was scripted by The Sound Of My Voice team of Zal Batmanglij and Brit Marling, with Marling starring with Ellen Page and Alexander Sarsgaard. Costigan also produced Cyrus and Welcome To The Rileys.
Ridley Scott just directed Prometheus, on which Costigan was an executive producer, and the helmer is moving right on to the Cormac McCarthy-scripted The Counselor for Fox with Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz and Cameron Diaz starring. Tony Scott has several projects percolating but hasn’t yet committed to his next film.
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It’s about time the Scott Bros. got rid of Costigan. I’ve heard each time his contract came up they have wanted to rid themselves of him. Horrible executive, liar, and never calls people back. It’s easier to get Amy Pascal on the phone than Costigan. Scott Free needs to blood and I think whomever comes in will do a better job.
“I’ve heard each time his contract came up they have wanted to rid themselves of him..!”
If that’s a sample of your dialogue, I can see why you have issues w/your career.
Costigan is a smart executive, an interesting character. I’ve known him since he was at Sony, I’ve never ended up working for him, but I respect the guy.
Fully agree.
Scott Free…theres a name i havent heard in awhile…i remember going to one of many pointless, waste of time and life meetings at Scott Free…oh if only there was a time machine, id go back and save Martin Luther King, Princess Diana, John Lennon, stop 9/11, tell Nicole Simpson not to go home, some other bad history stuff…and then WARN myself optimistic, wide-eyed, starstruck self to KEEP DRIVING and not to make that turn off of santa monica blvd onto Elm Street where Scott Free is headquartered
Exactly. Nothing blows worse than a general in Santa Monica. Half your day down the drain for bottled water.
Companies that choose to set up shop in Santa Monica should not be allowed to have generals, period. Reps, please write that down. Entertain offers and assignment work from shops in Santa Monica, do not waste your writers’ lives by sending them out there on generals.
Wow, two bitter writers. One who has never been to Scott Free based on his Santa Monica rant. And one who’s ears don’t seem to worked based on the fact that he hasn’t heard Scott Free mentioned in a while. Last time I checked Scott Free has a new project announced on deadline like twice a month.
No, I have never been to Scott Free and never claim to have been. I claimed to have had generals in Santa Monica. I am a writer, I am not bitter about writing, I am bitter about having my time wasted. I’m bitter about the fact that everytime any writer deigns to stand up for him or herself and ask for a modicum of respect, we’re called bitter. “Grovel, lowly writers! That is your rightful place in the world! If you don’t lick the bottom of my shoes it must be because you’re…..BITTER!”
Nah. Just hate generals in Santa Monica. They shouldn’t happen.
B, you know my friend, if you are going to take personal shots at me, at least try to make some sense out of the insults. Maybe I’m missing something but what does my ears have to do with Deadline articles…if I haven’t heard the name Scott Free in a long time, what does that have to do with you personally?!? Is it at all possible that you could consider that maybe, just maybe, I haven’t read Deadline in a long time or that I’m a new reader. You do realize that not everybody in the industry knows about Deadline…right?
Internet Trolls like you may hide behind anonymous usernames but I have NO PROBLEM showing you exactly who I am.
ok, you dont read DH. but that doesnt change the fact that you are uninformed about a major production company in the movie business. you are uninformed but you felt free to rant about them and tell all kind of nonsense. then you got busted. not your day amigo.
You can take pot shots and show ignorance but people aren’t allowed to respond? Get your facts straight before showing the whole world you don’t know what your’re talking about. Better yet get your facts straight before announcing to the world who you are.
@HW: Scott Free isn’t in Santa Monica.
@Gerard Keith–what is there to say? Scott Free is one of the most successful production companies in the business. I’m sure they’re going to lose sleep, though, that you feel you wasted your precious time meeting with them.Given your page on IMDBPro has exactly nothing on it.
Get a life, preferably one not in Hollywood as you don’t have a clue.
I’ve had many meetings with Tony, Jules Daly, and others at Scott Free and don’t recall their offices being in Santa Monica. I live in Venice, so it would have been nice if their offices were on the Westside, but they’re not. Get your facts straight. And if having to go all the way to Santa Monica for a potential job is too exhausting for you, there’s no way you have what it takes to really be a writer.
Scott Free is in West Hollywood off on Santa Monica Blvd and N La Peer. You sound like a bitter writer who had his pitch rejected by Costigan and Scott Free. Sorry you had to drive all the way from Reseda to get shut down by a successful production company. Maybe you should find a new job HW
Haven’t heard the name in a while?! Perhaps you’ve been living under a rock. I’m sure they picked up on that during ur meeting all those years ago.
But thanks for the mapquest details on how to get to the scot-free offices!!
You must be the idiot I met with…or maybe you’re one of these idiot studio executives who work hard answering emails, making phone calls and giving all the writing jobs to your friends at the Riviera…but then again, you can’t be an executive because with all their faults, even they don’t use Mapquest!!
Scott Free isn’t Microsoft, Apple, Google or Facebook my Thomas Guide using friend…so Im sure Im not alone in saying i haven’t heard news from them in awhile. So how about you chill out Ridley.
If you do work in the industry like you said then you should know they are quite busy…
Hey Ritz,
Do me a favor…tell me where I stated I “work in the industry”…you people on here have created your own reality in regards to my post.
Here you GERARD, I guess you haven’t been paying attention…
-http://www.deadline.com/2012/06/caa-signs-jack-ryan-reboot-scribe-adam-cozad/
-http://www.deadline.com/2012/05/world-without-end-miniseries-reelzchannel-pillars-of-the-earth-ken-follett/
-http://www.deadline.com/2012/05/toldja-fox-acquires-online-book-sensation-wool/
-http://www.deadline.com/2012/06/aes-coma-premiere-date-announced/
-http://www.deadline.com/2012/05/blade-runner-scribe-hampton-fancher-returning-for-ridley-scott-directed-sequel/
p.s. Don’t be bitter that Scott Free didn’t like you or your pitch. You should count yourself lucky that whatever boutique (shitty) agency you are repped by was able to get you a meeting with Jake Scott’s second assistant.
Hey B,
Okay I wont be bitter…because first of all, it wasn’t a pitch. I NEVER said it was. Secondly, it wasn’t an agent or manager who got me the meeting, it was myself and it was with one of the senior executives, not some assistant. Some of you people on here with your unnecessary comments are the embodiment of Ari Gold but please don’t mistake me for someone who gets easily insulted because I am so not impressed by you folks with IMDB credits as long as the Dead Sea Scrolls. Thirdly, I dont know who Jake Scott is but I’d love for you to tell me because I assume you’re itching to. Are you Jake Scott…like…THE JAKE SCOTT???
Genuinely interested: What do you do, Gerald? Are you good at it? What has your experience been like? You have a very specific attitude toward Hollywood. Curious where it comes from.
Hey Curious,
Im a failed bitter screenwriter who is ignorant of Scott Free’s federal tax ID number as well as Ridley Scott’s mother’s maiden name. My experiences in Hollywood have all been dreadful and a waste of time like hundreds of thousands of others and so Ive branched out on my own to start an entertainment blog called The G-Spot which in the last 2 weeks have been read by over 2600 people in over 15 different countries…starting my blog and having it well received by a viewing public is one of the best feelings in the world because I was put on this planet to write, not go to meeting after meeting like some of the people on here whose entire day is spent lying, cheating and stealing to get some producer to option their script. So thats who I am
Leaving a huge production company that you run to go produce for a company you want to run? The Prometheus jokes have caught up to you.
From Ridley Scott directing Leo… to Scott Cooper directing Casey Affleck.
The evolution of this package perfectly summarizes a producer’s declining career timeline.
Welcome to my world.
No, it went to Scott Cooper directing Christian Bale.
I — along with many thinking people — will take Bale over Leo any day of the week.
Christian Bale starred in the movie. Not a bad trade off, actually.
Last time I checked, Scott Cooper directed Jeff Bridges to an Oscar. Expect many noms from his latest.
Yeah, we’ll its great if you live AWOL ( Always West Of Lincoln). I love those meetings….
dear Indie producer…. Casey Affleck is one of the best actors working. And don’t forget, Christian Bale is starring in Scott Cooper’s film. Only the best actor of his generation.
Costigan is an amazing producer, as well as a very well-liked individual. This is a big loss for Scott Free. Michael will continue to generate great projects, and we’ll be seeing great films in the future from him. Michael is the one that has kept that company relevant. He’s a winner.
Is it your first year in LA or are you just completely unaware that not all screenwriters live in the valley? Before publically whining, remind yourself that not everyone lives your life. In fact, some writers decide to move to the westside once they’ve earned enough paychecks to afford it. Those of us who live in the westside don’t complain about driving to Burbank, Sherman Oaks, or Hollywood for meetings – it’s part of the job. If you don’t want to drive once in a while to Santa Monica, you’re in the wrong industry. Give your general to someone who wants it.
Stop hating. Michael has been a top exec in this town for a long time because he has a great skill set. You don’t get hired by two major players like Ridley and Tony Scott unless you are top notch.
Fantastic! Michael is one of the good guys and a great producer. Glad to hear he is going out on his own and can concentrate on just his projects.
And Scott Free is in West Hollywood on N La Peer.
I’ve worked with Michael on a couple of projects, both at Sony and when he was at Scott Free. He’s a solid guy and a smart producer; he’s savvy and respectful. And I have no problem putting my name on this. I wish him all good things and hope to have dinner with him soon, so we can discuss working together again. Because I would. In a heartbeat.
Scott Free is a great company. They have amazing projects. They will continue to acquire great material. Costigan leaving is a great thing. The executives over there are better without him. It takes months for him to return calls. He is a bad executive who is too controlling. They will do even that much better without him.
I’ve had the luck of working with Michael and found him nothing but super smart and an absolute pleasure. Here’s to great things in his future!
Both Michaels….you are both solid dudes and amazing execs. Congrats to each of you and I want to work with you both again