ICM Signs To Rep New York Magazine Articles For Film And Television

EXCLUSIVE: After brokering over 30 film and TV option deals for articles from The New York Times since signing the daily as a client, ICM has just signed New York Magazine. It will rep the magazine in all areas to broaden its reach in Hollywood. Under the tenure of editor-in-chief Adam Moss, the magazine is a good read and has won 17 National Magazine Awards. Much like The Times does, New York Mag will share in the revenue and would receive credit in any film made from its articles. There is a wide gulf between an option deal and an actual film, but more and more publications have been getting in on the action over the past several years. Some prominent writers are able to retain screen rights, and they still have agents make deals that the publications don’t share.

New York Magazine does have a track record for articles on Gotham-centric subjects being turned into films.  The TV series Taxi was based on Mark Jacobson’s article Night-Shifting for the Hip Fleet; the John Travolta-starrer Saturday Night Fever was hatched from Nik Cohn’s article Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night; Goodfellas came from a Nicholas Pileggi article based on the book Wiseguy; American Gangster came from Jacobson’s feature The Return of Superfly; and Grey Gardens was in part inspired by the Gail Sheehy article The Secret of Grey Gardens.