Universal snaps up Cameron Ali Fay pitch 'We Are Your Pets' with Amblin producing

Universal Pictures has bought 'We Are Your Pets', a family comedy pitch from writer Cameron Ali Fay, as reported by Deadline on 15 September.

A pitch is an idea sold before a full script exists. Fay will now write the screenplay.

Amblin Entertainment is attached to produce, which means the company is lined up to guide the project from development to the screen. Fay brought the idea to Amblin first, and Amblin set up the project at Universal.

The sale was pre-emptive. In practice, that means Universal moved early to close the deal before rival studios could make competing bids.

Erik Baiers will oversee the film for Universal, according to Deadline. He is Senior EVP of Production Development, a senior executive who supervises films while they are being developed by the studio. His job is to steer the script and the creative team toward production.

Fay has worked with Universal before. He made his feature directorial debut with 'Maybe It's You', a 2023 romantic comedy for Universal and Peacock, the studio's streaming service, as noted by Deadline. That was his first time directing a feature film. The new deal keeps him with the same studio group, this time developing an idea for cinemas from the page up.

His writing credits stretch across genres. He wrote 'Thorny Rose', an action Western with Paul Feig attached to direct and produce. Attached, in industry language, means formally lined up for the job before filming begins.

He adapted the novel 'There's a Word for That' for Hilary Swank to produce and star in. He also penned 'Brother Nature' for Paramount. Each project pairs a writer with producers and a studio that then organise financing, casting and release.

Outside individual scripts, Fay is a co-founder of the Middle Eastern Writers Committee of the WGA, the American union for screenwriters. The committee supports writers of Middle Eastern heritage within the wider membership.

He is also attached to direct two films for Di Novi Pictures, 'This Is Going to Hurt' and 'Until You'. He is represented by Paradigm, Kaplan/Perrone and Lichter, Grossman, Nichols.

For audiences, this means a wait. No cast, director or release date was announced with the sale, and plot details were not disclosed. The news for now is the starting gun. A writer, a production company and a studio have agreed to build a family comedy from an idea upward.