I recently decided to read through all of the Black List 2017 scripts. I've finished 10 so far and it's been an interesting experience. Some of them have definitely impressed me. Others...have not at all. Reading a few of these, I never would've guessed that they got any kind of heat at all.
For example, I just finished reading two more scripts tonight. The first one didn't do much for me. Some fun dialogue, and cute moments, but it felt pretty slapdash, had a weak plot, and overall just didn't seem like professional work. I gave it a hard pass and a really low score in my notes. The second script was extremely well-written and had some very powerful emotional content. Pretty impressive work. I gave it a strong consider and a solid score in my notes.
Well, after finishing these two, I looked them up. The script that I thought sucked won the Nicholl Fellowship this year! The other script, which I thought was much better, was only a semi-finalist.
I don't claim that my opinion is any more valid than anyone else's, but I'm genuinely stunned by how varied my reaction to these Black List scripts has been so far. A few have really impressed me. A few have seemed scarcely better than amateur stuff I read on TriggerStreet years ago. I've always believed that screenwriting is more of a meritocracy than a lottery and I still believe that undeniably great work will always get some kind of positive response, but it sure seems like "one man's trash is another man's treasure".
For example, I just finished reading two more scripts tonight. The first one didn't do much for me. Some fun dialogue, and cute moments, but it felt pretty slapdash, had a weak plot, and overall just didn't seem like professional work. I gave it a hard pass and a really low score in my notes. The second script was extremely well-written and had some very powerful emotional content. Pretty impressive work. I gave it a strong consider and a solid score in my notes.
Well, after finishing these two, I looked them up. The script that I thought sucked won the Nicholl Fellowship this year! The other script, which I thought was much better, was only a semi-finalist.
I don't claim that my opinion is any more valid than anyone else's, but I'm genuinely stunned by how varied my reaction to these Black List scripts has been so far. A few have really impressed me. A few have seemed scarcely better than amateur stuff I read on TriggerStreet years ago. I've always believed that screenwriting is more of a meritocracy than a lottery and I still believe that undeniably great work will always get some kind of positive response, but it sure seems like "one man's trash is another man's treasure".
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