The Black List [Announcement]
On July 6, 2008, not even two months after I started this blog, I wrote this:
I’ve posted the “Top 101 Screenplays” as judged by the WGA and the Daily Variety’s 2008 list of “Ten Screenwriters to Watch.” There’s another list that has become quite popular since its unveiling back in 2005: The Black List. The New York Times has some background on Franklin Leonard, the production exec who was inspired to find out what his Hollywood cohorts thought were the best unproduced scripts.
Since that time, I have tracked The Black List, not only because of its much anticipated annual list, but also its growing influence in Hollywood. Tracking scripts like I do, it’s been interesting to see how whenever a spec gets set up that was on the List or one that was in development goes into production, the trades almost always refer to it nowadays as a “Black List script.”
I noted as much in this December 18, 2008 post titled Black List script gets set up:
Call it The Black List Effect as MGM procures “The How-to Guide for Saving the World” from writer BenDavid Grabinski with Barry Sonnenfeld attached to direct.
If imitation is the best form of flattery, then I pointed out a significant tribute to The Black List with this December 20, 2010 post called Script lists, noting the increase in popularity of script lists:
Okay, here are the various script lists that have come out in the last few months:
The Black List: The best unproduced scripts in Hollywood
The Hit List: The best spec scripts of 2010
The Brit List: The best unproduced scripts in the U.K.
The Blood List: The best unproduced horror scripts
I threw this in for good measure:
Within days of it recently going public, two spec scripts on the 2010 Black List sold: What Happened to Monday and Boy Scouts vs. Zombies.
This last point zeroes in on what has really fascinated me about The Black List: How it helps writers further their careers. In my interview with screenwriter and TV writer Kyle Killen [“The Beaver,” “Lone Star,” “Awake”], check out what he had to say in a blog post of his own [in italics] and when I asked him directly about The Black List:
So someone acquires the rights to “The Beaver.” But then something rather magical happens. Another blog excerpt dated December 10, 2010:
I’d be lying if I said that I hadn’t read the Black List in years past, then scrounged around for the scripts on it, and been inspired to imagine how awesome it would be to end up in such a spot. I have no idea what will happen to The Beaver in the future. My hopes are high, but we’ll see. What I can say without reservation is that I never imagined more than ten people would try to read it, and of those, more than five would finish it. So starting with the sixth person who said they not only completed, but liked it, I’ve been pretty sky high.
Q: Your script was named the #1 script on the 2008 Black List. What did that mean to you professionally? And when that happened, what sort of effect did it have on moving the project forward?
A: It meant an incredible amount on both fronts. Personally, it wasn’t about where I was on the list, it was just about being included among real writers. I had been outside of the world of working writers for so long that it just felt impenetrable, so to have some number of people sign off on your efforts and welcome you (as much as anyone is ever welcomed) to the club was an incredibly satisfying thing. Professionally it meant that people were suddenly not only willing to listen, but wanted to talk, and after years of outgoing phone calls they started to come the other way. It opened all the doors in television and features that I’ve been lucky enough to walk through ever since.
“It opened all the doors in television and features that I’ve been lucky enough to walk through ever since.” And I have read or heard this sentiment many times over, countless kudos from writers to the increasing importance and influence The Black List has in helping them in the script acquisition, development and production world.
Consider these facts about The Black List:
Began in December 2005 when Franklin Leonard — then an executive at Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way Productions — surveyed 93 of his peers about their most liked scripts.
Six years later, over 300 studio, financier, and production company executives contributed to the list (more than 65% of all executives in Hollywood.)
The Black List has generated tens of thousands of introductions of actors, directors, producers, studio executives, production company executives, and assistants to new material and the writers who created it.
The Black List was the first screenwriting recognition for Diablo Cody, Allan Loeb, Josh Zetumer, Kyle Killen, Chris Weekes, Noah Oppenheim, Danny Strong, Neustadter & Weber, among many others.
Since it’s inception, over 120 Black List scripts have been produced.
Those films have made over $10BN in worldwide box office, over $5.4BN domestic box office, over $4.9BN foreign box office.
Films based on Black List scripts have won 20 Academy Awards from over 80 nominations, including the last two Best Picture winners — SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (BL 2007; Oscar 2009) and THE KING’S SPEECH (BL 2009, Oscar 2010).
Black List scripts have won 4 of the last 8 screenwriting Academy Awards, including both of the 2010 Oscars — JUNO (BL 2005; Oscar 2007) SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (BL 2007; Oscar 2009)THE SOCIAL NETWORK (BL 2009; Oscar 2010) THE KING’S SPEECH (BL 2009; Oscar 2010).
8 films based on Black List scripts will premiere at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival — THE IDES OF MARCH (BL 2007), BUTTER (BL 2008), THE DESCENDANTS (BL 2008), THE ORANGES (BL 2008), SLEEPING BEAUTY (BL 2008), 50/50 (BL 2009), RESTLESS (BL 2009), and TAKE THIS WALTZ (BL 2009).
So you may be wondering, “Hey, Scott, why this sudden review of The Black List?” Because on May 14, 2011, I received this email:
Scott,
I’ve been long been a fan of your blog, and it occurred to me recently that we should get together and talk face to face. Are you LA these days?
franklin
aka the black list guy
Subsequent to that email, Franklin Leonard and I spent a lot of time talking and emailing, discussing our personal histories, our mutual obsession with movies and screenwriting, and the nature of the film business today. All those conversations have led to this:
Go Into The Story is now the screenwriting blog of The Black List.
For those of you who may have missed the tipoff last Friday:
Be assured it will still be Go Into The Story. I will still be managing the blog. I have complete 100% editorial control and in fact have been encouraged to keep doing what I’ve been doing here for 40 months. Posting multiple items per day, the usual suspects: Daily Dialogue, On Writing, Screenwriting 101, From Script To Screen, The Business of Hollywood, Great Characters, Reader Questions, Interviews, Saturday Hot Links, and all the rest you have come to expect when you visit the site.
All of that will stay the same.
Actually with this relationship, it should get better: Greater credibility in Hollywood, more access to industry insiders, a larger public platform to promote screenwriters and screenwriting, and more interviews with professionals in the movie and TV business, all with an eye toward providing GITS readers with quality information and insight to help you develop as a writer, craft better scripts, and make good movies.
We expect to make the official transition to the new website early next week. In the meantime, I want to use the next couple of days to bring you up to speed on some key aspects of why I am making this move, and how this can benefit the GITS community and writers in general.
In tomorrow’s post, we focus on the individual who started The Black List and the primary reason I am going forward with this venture: Franklin Leonard.
The Black List. Go Into The Story.
Per Rick in Casablanca: “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”
Go here for The Black List website.
Go here for press about The Black List.
Go here to access PDFs of all The Black Lists (2005–2010).