Black List founder Franklin Leonard answers your questions about the Black List

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  • Re: Black List founder Franklin Leonard answers your questions about the Black List

    Originally posted by itsallgood View Post
    It is just a bit of frustration given my previous experiences.
    Oh, I hear you. Trust me, I hear you.

    ---

    stainjm -- I get what you're saying. And no, don't think you should dumb things down, and sure, you should write in a way where even complex plot points are understood by the reader.

    I think that for the Blacklist 3 Franklin stated that scripts are handed out to readers that already know they like that certain genre or type of script. For me, that was why the 3 from one reader and 8 from another stood out. But Franklin clarified that script was an outlier -- which makes a ton of sense.

    Comment


    • Re: Black List founder Franklin Leonard answers your questions about the Black List

      Originally posted by InfiniteJest View Post
      You're getting a shot at Pro Readers. It's unprecedented to get a shot at a read with these people.
      I certainly don't have an exact count, but at any given time there are probably several thousand people reading for agencies, managerial companies, production companies, television networks and film and television studios.

      About 120 of those readers, working primarily (if not exclusively) for studios and networks, are unionized. Some number of readers are on company staffs, and the vast majority of readers work freelance.

      The freelance readers mentioned above often also read for screen and television writing competitions.

      Based on the job description posted earlier in this thread, the BL 3.0 readers are drawn from the ranks of freelance readers as well as from the ranks of competition readers.

      That suggests that the overlap in terms of background and experience of competition and BL readers is considerable.

      In later rounds of competitions the judges are often these freelance readers' bosses - agents, executives, managers and producers.

      Comment


      • Re: Black List founder Franklin Leonard answers your questions about the Black List

        Originally posted by halloweenjak View Post
        The problem is lousy scripts find their way too.

        Your point would be stronger if this wasn't the case. Lousy scripts find their way through production and to the multiplex screen.

        The multiplex isn't this amazing treasure trove of great writing. Are you insinuating is it?

        There is no correlation, absolutely none between quality and box office. "Taken 2" got trashed on Rotten Tomatoes and made a killing opening weekend at the box office, coming in at number one.

        Great scripts don't always find their way. You think a "Remains of the Day" would find its way to a multiplex today?

        Your industry bases reads on loglines. And shuts out that one good apple writer because of the many many rotten ones. It's the loglines that are expected to glow, not the scripts.

        The scripts are rarely even being solicited.

        You say Hollywood can't wait to find them? Try cold calling a production company or talent agency with a script.

        "We do not accept unsolicited scripts".

        But what if it might be great?

        "We do not accept unsolicited scripts".

        Can I tell you the logline then?

        "We do not accept unsolicited scripts."

        This is not the stuff of science fiction. They really don't accept unsolicited scripts. Of course how can they know of a scripts existence unless they hire psychics? References from other known to them of course.

        And who are these people known to them? Other people who will not read your script.

        It would be nice to believe your industry actively finds the best talent out there, but that's not founded in any reality ( kudos to Franklin for this experiment ). It actively searches for properties that can make money, preferably opening weekend, and that means catering to the brain dead teen demographic first, because week in and week out they can be relied on to fund your careers.

        Those people who you're referring to, who might enjoy great scripts? They're watching "Breaking Bad" at home. They're not going to the movie theatre with any regularity.

        Great scripts will find a way...as long as they're marketable to a mass audience, just like lousy marketable scripts.

        Or is marketable what you mean by great. If that's the case, carry on...
        I'm sorry, but you are comparing two entirely different things.

        And the fact is, the script for Taken 2 is better than 99.9999% of what all the amateurs on this board are querying with. Far better.

        Also, there have been many GREAT scripts that have gone around Hollywood and broken writers careers that never made it to theaters.

        Many companies accept scripts. Hell, I do. But I am sent 15 query letters a day about awful sounding movies.

        Best,

        Michael
        twitter.com/mbotti

        Comment


        • Re: Black List founder Franklin Leonard answers your questions about the Black List

          For all those interested in continuing this conversation on Twitter, I'll be doing #scriptchat tonight from 8-9 PM EST.

          Will be tweeting from @theblcklst though feel free to follow me at @franklinleonard as well.

          Comment


          • Re: Black List founder Franklin Leonard answers your questions about the Black List

            Originally posted by michaelb View Post
            I'm sorry, but you are comparing two entirely different things.

            And the fact is, the script for Taken 2 is better than 99.9999% of what all the amateurs on this board are querying with. Far better.

            Also, there have been many GREAT scripts that have gone around Hollywood and broken writers careers that never made it to theaters.

            Many companies accept scripts. Hell, I do. But I am sent 15 query letters a day about awful sounding movies.

            Best,

            Michael
            So you accept unsolicited scripts?

            And I 100% agree. Just jump down to Scriptshadow for Amateur Fridays and you'll see that even the crappy Hollywood films are better than most amateur scripts.

            Comment


            • Re: Black List founder Franklin Leonard answers your questions about the Black List

              Originally posted by Chief View Post
              So you accept unsolicited scripts?

              And I 100% agree. Just jump down to Scriptshadow for Amateur Fridays and you'll see that even the crappy Hollywood films are better than most amateur scripts.
              Yep. I maybe request 1 in X (some large number) of the queries I am sent, but I do accept the ones I like.

              And usually I try to at least reply to most of them with at least a "no thank you"

              Best,

              MB
              twitter.com/mbotti

              Comment


              • Re: Black List founder Franklin Leonard answers your questions about the Black List

                Originally posted by michaelb View Post
                And the fact is, the script for Taken 2 is better than 99.9999% of what all the amateurs on this board are querying with. Far better.
                Perhaps from a technical aspect. But I guarantee you, the story is far worse than a lot of amateur scripts I've read.
                I'm never wrong. Reality is just stubborn.

                Comment


                • Re: Black List founder Franklin Leonard answers your questions about the Black List

                  Griping about whether someone's spec is better than this movie or that movie is a waste of time. Especially for sequels, which are a completely different animal anyway. The bottom line is someone's script got made into a movie. And they got paid for it. Right or wrong, just or unjust, they won this argument before it ever got posted.
                  Patrick Sweeney

                  Comment


                  • Re: Black List founder Franklin Leonard answers your questions about the Black List

                    Just read today an interview with Robert Zemeckis where he said flat out that there aren't that many great scripts in Hollywood.
                    http://www.pjmcilvaine.com/

                    Comment


                    • Re: Black List founder Franklin Leonard answers your questions about the Black List

                      I said this ages ago, it isn't about scripts it's about concept, take Snow White and the Huntsman.

                      Evan Daughtery just came up with the concept of a darker spin on Snow White and he got $3.2 million.

                      The studio got some big names and rewrote 50% of the script.

                      They didn't pay him for the script they paid him for the concept.

                      Obviously it should be written in fairly good way with proper structure, the area where most writers fail in.

                      Comment


                      • Re: Black List founder Franklin Leonard answers your questions about the Black List

                        Originally posted by Chief View Post
                        I said this ages ago, it isn't about scripts it's about concept, take Snow White and the Huntsman.

                        Evan Daughtery just came up with the concept of a darker spin on Snow White and he got $3.2 million.

                        The studio got some big names and rewrote 50% of the script.

                        They didn't pay him for the script they paid him for the concept.

                        Obviously it should be written in fairly good way with proper structure, the area where most writers fail in.
                        That's just one side of the coin. On the other there are tons of generic sounding scripts that still sell. One can assume it's because of their execution. Obviously from an aspiring screenwriter's perspective it's next to impossible to get read with a generic logline, but it's not like those don't get sold.

                        Comment


                        • Re: Black List founder Franklin Leonard answers your questions about the Black List

                          Originally posted by Chief View Post
                          I said this ages ago, it isn't about scripts it's about concept, take Snow White and the Huntsman.

                          Evan Daughtery just came up with the concept of a darker spin on Snow White and he got $3.2 million.

                          The studio got some big names and rewrote 50% of the script.

                          They didn't pay him for the script they paid him for the concept.

                          Obviously it should be written in fairly good way with proper structure, the area where most writers fail in.
                          Sometimes scripts with a great premise and a poor execution sell. Sometimes it's for seven figures. Almost always, they're written by people with a track record and some amount of heat that's been generated by previous work.

                          Don't bank on selling something that's written "in a fairly good way with proper structure." There are tens of thousands of scripts that fit that description, and you might as well buy a lottery ticket. If you want to improve your odds -- a lot -- work your ass off and write a great script.
                          QUESTICLES -- It's about balls on a mission.

                          Comment


                          • Re: Black List founder Franklin Leonard answers your questions about the Black List

                            For me, the weakest spot of BL 3.0 seems to be the lack of incentive for industry subscribers to rate the script.

                            Around 7-8 people downloaded my script and the only ranking I have is the one by a BL Reader.

                            Comment


                            • Re: Black List founder Franklin Leonard answers your questions about the Black List

                              Franklin was on Script Chat last night, and per my question, he said that there are 500 scripts on the site, and 1200 industry pros who are members.
                              http://www.pjmcilvaine.com/

                              Comment


                              • Re: Black List founder Franklin Leonard answers your questions about the Black List

                                Originally posted by LIMAMA View Post
                                Franklin was on Script Chat last night, and per my question, he said that there are 500 scripts on the site, and 1200 industry pros who are members.
                                Thank you also for asking about the recently discovered writer -- it's good to know he/she was found on the basis of a paid read as the site intended (that also seems like a pretty good success rate given the site's age, hope it continues).

                                It seems, to me at least, that it would be foolish to simply host the script. It's that much more work for people to find you that way (with little incentive to do so). Though who knows, if BL3.0 (or is it 2.0?) really heats up maybe interns/assistants will be tasked with sorting through every script in a certain genre/specification and selecting any that seem worthwhile.

                                For now though, 1-3 paid reads seem like the way to go (if you are, as I am, thinking about taking the plunge).

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