My Black List Experience

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  • Re: My Black List Experience

    Originally posted by ScreenRider View Post
    What you're saying about knowing if a script is good in the first 5 pages may be true, but I am pretty sure the Black List does claim to read your whole script even if it is pointless. They even ask you contact them if you believe the reader didn't read your script "thoroughly".
    Thanks for pointing that out. I will have a look again. For the record, I do read everything; one, because I must report on it; and two, because I love reading in general. Part of me also feels I owe the writer at least that much for what they pay, regardless of how quickly I can assess the outcome.

    The point I guess is this: as a reader, I genuinely WANT to find an engaging script. Nothing would make me happier than to be engaged and, if it's really that good, give it the recommend it truly deserves. They are just so very rare, and I think it's generally underestimated just how rare they are. One of the competitions I'm reading for so far has about 300 entries and about 4 have been given the equivalent of a Consider score. Not a single recommend (there is 1 that is a strong consider, however).

    The truly god-awful ones are sometimes a joy to read too because they can sometimes be awful in a very particular way (you can see a personality in the writing). But the majority of them are kind of in-the-middle of the road. Nothing really terrible but nothing really great either. Those are the toughest ones to get through.

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    • Re: My Black List Experience

      Originally posted by ComicBent View Post
      And, sadly, even the scripts that hooked me early, and were not painful to read, still needed a lot of work because of issues relating to logic, screwed-up scene headings, really thin second acts, and lack of interesting and complicating obstacles along the way from setup to conclusion.
      Thanks for bringing this up as I think this is also an overlooked part of the evaluation process as well.

      Even if you get to the point of dazzling the reader in the first five pages, it doesn't mean that the rest of the script is good - you have to keep reading to know for sure. But if the first five aren't, then the script likely isn't. I have yet to come across a situation to the contrary, but if anyone has, do share (curious to get my hands on the script to Killing of a Sacred Deer).

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      • Re: My Black List Experience

        I've had a script up there for about 2-3 months. Here are my stats:

        Paid evaluations: 7, 7, 7, 6
        Industry member evaluation: 7

        Views: 51
        Industry downloads: 5
        Writer downloads: 7

        I haven't done anything at all to promote it besides putting it up there. The script rating is high enough that is has some decent visibility in the overall rankings and the genre-specific lists, but 5 industry downloads isn't a huge amount after a couple months.

        Getting 7/10 from 4/5 reviewers is pretty decent, but I think you probably need to score 8+ to really get significant attention.

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        • Re: My Black List Experience

          Originally posted by DaltWisney View Post
          I've had a script up there for about 2-3 months. Here are my stats:

          Paid evaluations: 7, 7, 7, 6
          Industry member evaluation: 7

          Views: 51
          Industry downloads: 5
          Writer downloads: 7

          I haven't done anything at all to promote it besides putting it up there. The script rating is high enough that is has some decent visibility in the overall rankings and the genre-specific lists, but 5 industry downloads isn't a huge amount after a couple months.

          Getting 7/10 from 4/5 reviewers is pretty decent, but I think you probably need to score 8+ to really get significant attention.
          I recently threw my hat into the ring (am I the last one to the party?) for a vetted script and it received an overall 8, with 8s across the board on all categories except for dialogue (7). I've been offered 2 months free hosting and 2 free evaluations, but I wanted to give it about a week to sizzle and see how the weekly email blast works.

          Is there a required number of BL reviews needed before it makes its way higher?

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          • Re: My Black List Experience

            Need two ratings to be named to "top list".

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            • Re: My Black List Experience

              I've never tried Blacklist, but just curious what those scores equate to...

              What's top 1%
              What's equivalent to a quarter finalist or semi -finalist in a major contest...

              What score moves the needle?

              Is it harder to get into a fellowship or to score an 8 on the Blacklist?

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              • Re: My Black List Experience

                Originally posted by Friday View Post
                I've never tried Blacklist, but just curious what those scores equate to...

                What's top 1%
                What's equivalent to a quarter finalist or semi -finalist in a major contest...

                What score moves the needle?

                Is it harder to get into a fellowship or to score an 8 on the Blacklist?
                My understanding is that only 3-5% score an 8 or higher. Top <1% may be a 9 (someone can correct me) and top 0.003% are 10s. 8 is where your script gets sent out in a weekly email blast, though high (8+) individual component scores do include you in the Friday email blast as well.

                I can’t speak to a fellowship but the Nicholl received something like 7100 entries last year, awarding 5 fellowships. So that’s 0.07%? This is likely an apples to oranges comparison though as they operate differently.

                In either case, both are quite a tall order.

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                • Re: My Black List Experience

                  Originally posted by Friday View Post
                  I've never tried Blacklist, but just curious what those scores equate to...

                  What's top 1%
                  What's equivalent to a quarter finalist or semi -finalist in a major contest...

                  What score moves the needle?

                  Is it harder to get into a fellowship or to score an 8 on the Blacklist?
                  I think there's probably a wider range of quality in something like the Nicholl. The BL is expensive and may not be as widely known. It stands to reason that it would attract a slightly more serious crowd and that the scripts submitted would tend to be of somewhat higher quality.

                  My current BL script is a revised version of a former Nicholl entrant that got top 10% and top 15% in that contest when I previously entered it. I have a composite 6.8 overall rating on the BL after 5 ratings, so I'd say anything that gets a 7+ overall from a decent sample size of ratings would be roughly equivalent to a Nicholl quarterfinalist (top 5%).

                  Bear in mind that there's a bit of variance/luck involved with something like the Nicholl, when maybe only 2-3 people are reading your script in the first round of judging. All it takes is one person who doesn't "get" your material or one person who falls crazy in love with it to probably skew your placement by 5-10% in either direction.

                  I don't think the BL shares all of their data about average scores with the general public, but their website shows that 50% of scripts submitted fall below the 6.00 overall cutoff. So anything above that would technically be above average, although I think you really want to be a 7.X+ before you can say you have an objectively "good" script. 9-10 ratings are basically unicorns from what I understand.

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                  • Re: My Black List Experience

                    Shia LeBeouf's script that sold recently has a lot of 9s and 10s.

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                    • Re: My Black List Experience

                      Originally posted by cvolante View Post
                      Shia LeBeouf's script that sold recently has a lot of 9s and 10s.
                      Thank goodness the Blacklist helped this young unknown break in!

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                      • Re: My Black List Experience

                        Yeah, he didn't have enough contacts in the industry already, that he or his reps figured he needed to obtain a "placement" in the BL to help him on?

                        It has to be a rep thing, and that tells you a lot about the prestige the BL has obtained against the bigger/better contests out there, and within the industry in general.

                        But a-ha, that's another thing about contests vs. most of these script hosting and coverage sites: Anonymous scripts, ie. take the name off the cover page. Am I right, that BL doesn't require (or permit) this? I mean, imagine getting a BL coverage order from Spielberg for his latest opus? A real test of the site's objectivity, I'd say.

                        Maybe Franklin L. can add one more "group" to his affirmative action initiatives over on the BL: The "poor". It would cut into his bottom line a bit, but I'll surely qualify, and then finally send my stuff on and over for a look. Otherwise, he's never going to see anything of mine till after I've already made my breakthrough.

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                        • Re: My Black List Experience

                          ....


                          Edited For Irrelevant Political Comment

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                          • Re: My Black List Experience

                            Originally posted by kintnerboy View Post
                            Thank goodness the Blacklist helped this young unknown break in!
                            I didn't even think of it that way, when I read it.

                            I thought it meant that Shia LeBeouf was acting in a movie that someone found on Black List.

                            (The old leaky brain thing, I guess.)
                            "I just couldn't live in a world without me."

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                            • Re: My Black List Experience

                              Originally posted by StoryWriter View Post
                              I didn't even think of it that way, when I read it.

                              I thought it meant that Shia LeBeouf was acting in a movie that someone found on Black List.

                              (The old leaky brain thing, I guess.)
                              I just looked it up. It's a movie (Honey Boy) about Shia LeBeouf (himself) during his "Even Stevens" years and it's about his relationship with his "abusive father." I didn't even know there was any such show as Even Stevens. I'm guessing this isn't going to be a big budget film.

                              Supposedly Shia LeBeouf co-wrote this and listed it anonymously on Blacklist as Otis Lort, which is supposed to somehow translate loosely to "Wealthy Turd."

                              https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood...c-lucas-hedges
                              STANDARD DISCLAIMER: I'm a wannabe, take whatever I write with a huge grain of salt.

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                              • Re: My Black List Experience

                                Shia's success is surely a welcome change after the success of the Black List intern. Proves it could be everyone.


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