The New Black List

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  • #46
    Re: The New Black List

    Originally posted by figment View Post
    Per linked article: "....The script will be evaluated by professional script readers, and, depending on its evaluation(s), read by as many as 1,000 film industry professionals who are currently a part of the membership site..."

    So,I 'd want to know more about this aspect -- evaluated how -- skimmed? The first ten pages read? What would get you ten reads as opposed to a thousand?

    And how many months would you have to keep a script up -- if it was hightly rated by an industry professional -- to ensure you were getting those reads? One month? Six? A year? That could really add up.
    Our readers are required to read each script in its entirety and understand the sacred nature of the duty with which they have been entrusted. We will not hesitate to end the service of any reader we believe is not taking his or her job seriously.

    As this service is brand new, I don't have the data on what differentiates between a script getting ten reads and one getting one thousand, but I can speculate reasonably well. A microbudget horror movie with middling to good reviews may attract the interest of only a few, but it will be people who are interested in making microbudget horror movies or helping a writer who writes them. A broad comedy with a starring role for an A-list actor that can be produced at a budget and receives raves is likely to attract far more reads as that is typically of greater interest to the Hollywood community at large.

    I similarly don't have any data yet on "how long it takes." What I can say though - and this wasn't mentioned in any of the news coverage today - is that writers have the ability on our site to monitor the volume of traffic to their script generated by the site. # of views of their script page. # of downloads. # of ratings from our membership, etc. Ultimately, it's our belief that it is the writer's prerogative when to remove the script from our database and seek out access to our membership and their equivalents elsewhere.

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    • #47
      Re: The New Black List

      I'd actually prefer if the readers got a 'Finders Fee' when getting a script sold. It gives them more motivation to find a sell able script, no?

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      • #48
        Re: The New Black List

        Originally posted by Geoff Alexander View Post
        It's interesting, because you could easily get rid of 90% of the material with a single reader who was tasked with simply determining if any script in question achieved a basic level of competency. Once you do that, then you lean on classifications, and the interactive nature of the system, i.e., industry participants indicating preferences over time which generates a Netflix like "recommend" list. Ultimately, you could conceivably end up with a manageable pool of material that would be put in front of folks who have already indicated a desire for it.
        That's essentially what we're doing, but instead of culling out the 90% instantaneously, we're giving everyone a legitimate shot at being seen.

        The reality is that most scripts are going to receive poor reviews. Screenwriting is difficult and great screenwriting is rare.

        We encourage people who receive bad reviews to remove those scripts from our site and stop paying us to host them there. It's bad for them (as they're paying to chase a dream that our site will not help them realize) and it's bad for us (as our site is only as valuable as the quality of the material on it and the filters that we use to identify that quality.)

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        • #49
          Re: The New Black List

          So, you could pay $50.00 to get however many of your reader evaluations that you want, but can you choose only to post the evaluations you like?

          Also, though, you're saying that every time somebody in your HW database reads it, they give it an evaluation, too - and does that stay with it forever, or can the writer choose not to have those on there, if they are bad? Or is that one of the basic points of this? So others in your database can avoid your script?

          Obviously, if all of your evaluations from either source were bad, you should probably just take your script down altogether.
          "The Hollywood film business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." Hunter S Thompson

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          • #50
            Re: The New Black List

            How is Carson going to make his rent now?

            God bless America.

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            • #51
              Re: The New Black List

              Originally posted by cshel View Post
              It seems like you'd almost have to pay for an evaluation, and get a good one, in order to really get any reads. But then after a month or two with no takers, you could just quit. I wonder if they let you get the evaluation for $50.00 bucks first, and then decide to be listed based on that, before you have to pay the $25.00, too. If you have a kick-ass concept and log, you might be best served to just query for free, but then again, if you have the money to spare, this might be easier?
              You do have to pay the $25 to list your script before you can purchase a read of it. We did this because while we don't recommend it, we wanted to give people the option to list their script without purchasing reads. It is entirely possible, though admittedly not probable, that one of our members could stumble upon your script via a logline or genre search and decide to read it.

              If you have a kick-ass concept and log, you're welcome to query individual companies with it. The advantage of the Black List is that a positive read here results in exposure to hundreds of companies and over one thousand industry professionals instead of just one.

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              • #52
                Re: The New Black List

                Originally posted by CColoredClown View Post
                Just signed up for the $25 service and am giving it a shot. There's already been about 3,000 uploads for scripts, so it's pretty freakin' popular at the moment.

                Edit: 3,778 uploaded as of 2:30 PM PST.
                As much as I'd love to claim that in the first seven hours of our launch we had several thousand scripts uploaded, that is NOT what that number refers to.

                The ~3800 refers to the # of titles in our database (both pro and non-pro). We don't have nearly that many uploaded scripts. Suffice it to say that it's in the low three figures. The rest are title, author, rep, logline information similar to what you'd find on the Black List that exists are part of our industry pro website wherein industry professionals can find a real time Black List and recommendations on that material as well.

                Give us time though, we only launched this morning after all.

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                • #53
                  Re: The New Black List

                  Originally posted by FranklinLeonard View Post
                  You're welcome to query the people on the producers' list for free.

                  Consider it another way though: imagine you've written a brilliant script. You pay $75 for a month's hosting and a single read from our readers. If it's reviewed incredibly well, word of your brilliant script is immediately communicated to now over 1200 film industry professionals ranging from agency assistants to multiple studio presidents of production (including Greg Silverman at Warner Brothers and Hannah Minghella at Sony who are on our board of advisors) and A list talent and directors.

                  It's not as cheap as writing 1200 query e-mails, but the upside is considerably higher, if your script is strong.
                  Yes - But only if you do get that read/feedback soon. That was why I raised that question, above.

                  As much as this seems like an interesting venture, and as much as the $50 read seems like a reasonable thing (with all of the details as to how it's handled), here's where I run into a wall with the concept:

                  If someone is going to do this, the $50 read makes sense. For starters.

                  Then... Since all of the potential buyers know about the $50 read deal, if there are any scripts posted without one - seems reasonable to assume the person (a) could not do the math, or (b) got a bad review. And if it is (b) - which would be a reasonable assumption (especially after the first month a script is posted), how many potential buyers want to check scripts that they presume received a bad review?

                  And so from a writer's perspective, this seems to be the proposition (assuming you can get the read results back within a week or so): $75 for a read and posting for one month - plus, if you get a positive read, maybe another $25-$50 to have it posted for 1-2 more months. But if the read results are bad, then $75 - and that's it.

                  As someone else mentioned above, this is kinda like a contest, from a cost perspective. OTOH, you don't have to wait 6 months or more to find out what happens.

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                  • #54
                    Re: The New Black List

                    Originally posted by FranklinLeonard View Post
                    I similarly don't have any data yet on "how long it takes." What I can say though - and this wasn't mentioned in any of the news coverage today - is that writers have the ability on our site to monitor the volume of traffic to their script generated by the site. # of views of their script page. # of downloads. # of ratings from our membership, etc. Ultimately, it's our belief that it is the writer's prerogative when to remove the script from our database and seek out access to our membership and their equivalents elsewhere.
                    Thank you for continuing to answer our questions, Franklin.

                    This new info is interesting, as it gives the writer a bit of control as s/he is able to see how many people are downloading/viewing and rating their script. That would definitely help one decide to keep a script up or pull it.

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                    • #55
                      Re: The New Black List

                      Sorry about getting those numbers wrong, Franklin.

                      And thank you for answering all of these questions. I kept thinking up of questions to ask, but most have been addressed in this thread alone. After reading up on the topic, I decided to pony up the $50 for the read too.

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                      • #56
                        Re: The New Black List

                        Originally posted by FranklinLeonard View Post
                        You do have to pay the $25 to list your script before you can purchase a read of it. We did this because while we don't recommend it, we wanted to give people the option to list their script without purchasing reads. It is entirely possible, though admittedly not probable, that one of our members could stumble upon your script via a logline or genre search and decide to read it.

                        If you have a kick-ass concept and log, you're welcome to query individual companies with it. The advantage of the Black List is that a positive read here results in exposure to hundreds of companies and over one thousand industry professionals instead of just one.
                        So do you have to list every script each month at 25, or is it just the first script that must be listed and every script after that if you pay for the read then it will automatically be listed?

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                        • #57
                          Re: The New Black List

                          Originally posted by JoJo View Post
                          Franklin, I appreciate your transparency. It would be helpful if you could post a sample review on the website. I'm interested in knowing just how close/extensive a read these scripts get.
                          Not something we're ready to do yet, but what can say is this:

                          Scripts are evaluated overall from 1-10 and along half dozen other metrics like dialogue, structure, premise, etc. in the same way. There are also three short answer questions re: the script's greatest strengths and weaknesses and how a reader assesses the commercial prospects of the script.

                          The numerical assessment is what matters to our algorithm.

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                          • #58
                            Re: The New Black List

                            Originally posted by figment View Post
                            Yep, so how many months is "ideal" for you to leave it up so it actually gets a shot if, in fact, it is a viable project for a sale? If you were only going to leave it up one month, that may be worth it -- but months and months...?

                            And JoJo -- I agree. Wow!!
                            I mention this in a few answer later in this thread but it bears repeating. All writers will be able to track the volume of traffic to their script (page views, downloads, etc.) which should give them enough information to make responsible decisions about how long to leave it up.

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                            • #59
                              Re: The New Black List

                              Originally posted by sc111 View Post
                              I'm confused. I saw a posting on Lockhart's Inside Pitch Facebook group. It says this has nothing to do with the Black List that comes out once it a year.
                              The end of year Black List will constructed using the same process we've used for the last seven years. This is a new service designed to further accomplish our mission of helping moviemakers find great scripts and helping great scripts find moviemakers to make them.

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                              • #60
                                Re: The New Black List

                                Originally posted by cshel View Post
                                Okay, so now you're saying it's best to get more evaluations, at $50.00 a pop, in order to get read. Or at least keep trying until you get a good one? But one might not be enough? Yikes. This IS getting expensive.
                                I'm saying that you have to make a decision about how many reads you'd like to get. It's a bit like deciding how many times you're going to take the SAT.

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