Although the number of manuscripts making the Hollywood rounds in the past few weeks has slowed to a trickle--one scout said she's hoping things pick up after the Random House reorg is officially completed--business is still happening. There was some buzz last week about the possibility of a Bernie Madoff film--at least five books on the pyramid schemer have sold since December--and one project is circulating in Hollywood. Hotchkiss & Associates has packaged two Madoff books together for potential adaptation: Erin Arvedlund's Don't Ask Don't Tell, which Portfolio acquired, and Andrew Kirtzman's currently untitled book, which Harper bought. A rep at Hotchkiss said the agency is talking to "interested producers, directors and screenwriters."
On the job moves front, Claire Lundberg is the new lit scout for MGM/UA. Lundberg, who started in publishing as a lit scout at Linda Clark, was director of development at Scott Rudin Productions and, while there, acquired A Thousand Splendid Suns and The Dangerous Book for Boys.
