Reflections on the annual Black List

The 2016 annual Black List drops on Monday at 9AM Pacific.

The annual Black List is a big deal. I say this as someone who has worked in the business for three decades and tracked the emergence of the Black List over the last 12 years. I think it’s fair to say it is the most important screenwriting brand in Hollywood. For a writer to have a script make the annual Black List is the equivalent of an industry imprimatur.

As proof to the impact the Black List has in filmmaking circles, all you need to do is ask any screenwriter whose script has made the annual list, what effect that achievement had on those projects and their career. Here is a sampling of comments from interviews I have conducted:

David Guggenheim (Safe House): “The first time (Safe House), I couldn’t’ believe it. I thought it was just the coolest thing, because as an up‑and‑coming writer, you want to get on the Black List. You should aspire to write a script that people really love and that they remember. When I’d heard, I couldn’t believe it. Then with ‘Black Box,’ it was just really special as well because I really love spec writing, so it’s nice to get acknowledged for that.”

Kelly Marcel (Saving Mr. Banks): “Both (producer) Alison (Owen) and I will tell you that The Black List was a MASSIVE part of helping get this film made. It was being on that list that brought people’s attention to SMB. After the Black List, a whirlwind of attention arrived and very quickly built a hype around it. We all owe a great deal to Franklin and everyone involved in the Black List, and I cannot underestimate how important it was in the process of getting Banks noticed and into the hands of the people who would eventually give it life.

Arash Amel (Grace of Monaco): “Everybody was talking about the Black List, and the script being on the Black List — we landed number 12 if I remember right. I also had pre-booked studio meetings that went from generals to ‘We really want to be in business with you.’ That’s huge, for a writer who’s struggling and making it and working up the ladder. For them to go from leaning back, to sitting forward now … that’s what the Black List played into, a sign of quality. That’s what I view it as. I felt like I didn’t have to explain myself so much anymore.”

This Monday beginning at 9AM Pacific, Franklin Leonard will oversee the unveiling of the 2016 annual Black List. For those on Twitter, you can follow it live: @theblcklist. One script every minute until the entire list is revealed. Also I will be live-blogging the announcements.

It’s exciting and for that 90 minutes or so, pretty much the entirety of the Hollywood development community will be focused on the event. As such, it’s a great reminder to everyone in the business about how important screenwriters are in the filmmaking process. As Alfred Hitchcock said, “To make a great film, you need three things — the script, the script and the script.”

It’s something to aspire to — make the Black List. That said, here is a dose of reality from a writer whose scripts have been on the Black List twice:

Whether you are or your aren’t. Fuck it. Write more.

Your career may be up. Down. Zooming ahead. Heading sideways. Falling behind. Whatever.

You can — and always should — be writing. Daniel Kunka practices what he preaches. He set up two spec scripts in 2016: Battle of New Orleans and The Ark. This is a professional, working writer who found the time, energy, passion, and dedication to write two scripts on spec.

So yes, the annual Black List is great and making it is a terrific accomplishment which benefits writers, all to be applauded.

But we should never let anything that happens to us or we do distract us from the actual act of writing.

Good look to writers hoping to make the 2016 Black List. See you online Monday at 9AM Pacific, armed and ready to send congratulatory creative juju your way!