Five questions with Cassian Elwes about the Black List Fellowship

I posted this last week:

LOS ANGELES, CA (October 29, 2013) — This morning, producer Cassian Elwes and Black List founder Franklin Leonard jointly announced the creation of the Cassian Elwes Independent Screenwriting Fellowship, wherein one unrepresented writer with lifetime earnings not exceeding $5,000 with a screenplay of indie sensibility will receive an all-expense paid trip to the 2014 Sundance Film Festival and mentorship from Elwes himself.

If you don’t know who Elwes, check out his IMDB page here. Yes, that is 62 producing credits.

The Bitter Script Reader posed 5 questions to the producer. Here are the first two:

My first question: Why the Black List? What makes Franklin Leonard’s site an attractive partner for a producer who has four films being circled by Oscar buzz this year alone?

I love what the Black List is about — identifying material that should be made into films and hasn’t yet for one reason or another. In a way it energizes the people involved to actually get their movie made and also helps highlight their project to people looking for things to finance. We’re trying to take that notion and put brand new writers in front of ‘Hollywood. ‘ I know there are new voices out there looking for as way in and the Black List is a proven entry point

The Black List is going to send you ten scripts. I’m sure every writer wants to know “Will Cassian Elwes read my script in its entirety?” Do these go straight to you, or will you have one of your development people do coverage on them as a way of culling that ten down to a smaller number first?

I’m absolutely going to read the 10 scripts myself. I love finding great scripts. Anyone who knows me pretty well knows when I find something I like I’m relentless in seeing it get made. I’m not committing to finance the movie of the winner but chances are good that I will.

This is a terrific opportunity and indicative of Franklin Leonard’s forward thinking in trying to figure out innovative ways to bust down Hollywood’s doors for aspiring storytellers and filmmakers. It’s also very much in the spirit of what this blog is about. Yet another reason I’m proud to be partnered with Franklin and the Black List.

For more of The Bitter Script Reader’s Q&A with Cassian Elwes, go here.

For TBSR’s Q&A with Franklin Leonard about the Fellowship, go here.

UPDATE: Franklin talks about the Black List on Defamer.