The New Black List

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  • JeffLowell
    replied
    Re: The New Black List

    How'd you break through?

    Originally posted by Hamboogul View Post
    Jeff,

    I agree with your analysis. But I also come from the POV of that struggling writer with marginal contacts who lives several time zones away. In fact, that was exactly my situation a year ago.

    I want to believe that every great script will get discovered. I really do.

    I know how much I bleed and bare my soul with every script. And there's nothing more defeating and heartbreaking than when your labor of love is ignored by the gatekeepers.

    So the version of me 12 months ago would have done this BL 3.0 in a heartbeat. Because that version of me 12 months ago sent out query letters and could not even get read for a script that, ironically, is in a lot of people's radars now.

    Leave a comment:


  • stainjm
    replied
    Re: The New Black List

    Exactly! Why rate it when, if they love it, they can just contact the writer and go from there?

    There are scripts already rated on the site, but I wonder if those are just the coverage ratings or combined with industry ratings.

    Maybe time will show these worries are misguided, I hope so because this could be pretty darn cool.

    Leave a comment:


  • Howie428
    replied
    Re: The New Black List

    This concept has interesting potential as a mechanism for allowing material to be thrown into the pot and trying to distill the best stuff out.

    Originally posted by stainjm View Post
    Can someone in the business explain why you would read these scripts and take the time to score them? Would one or two good coverage scores really be enough?
    These are good questions and they raise further questions. Why would someone in the industry give a good rating to a great script they've just read? Wouldn't it be in their interest to not rate it or to score it down? Why would they want to draw other industry interest to it?

    The original Black List didn't have this problem because the scripts being considered are already in circulation in the town. The executives have had their chance to go for the project and these are the ones they admired, but which got away. The new list is essentially new material, and while industry people are trying to get something together to make a move on it they have every reason to want to keep it quiet.

    If the industry ratings become unreliable or are only infrequently provided, then all the weight falls on the reader ratings. That might be fine and it'll work out for some. But it becomes like a never ending contest in which the first round readers have the imperial thumb power.

    Leave a comment:


  • karlosd
    replied
    Re: The New Black List

    Originally posted by JeffLowell View Post
    A script that gets one or two great reviews will absolutely get quality reads, especially in the beginning.
    Absolutely - the early adopters made off like bandits with Amazon. I think there are definite advantages in diving in now while the concept is still fresh.

    Leave a comment:


  • Geoff Alexander
    replied
    Re: The New Black List

    Originally posted by stainjm View Post
    Can someone in the business explain why you would read these scripts and take the time to score them? Would one or two good coverage scores really be enough?

    That's where I still feel confused. If it was me I would likely stick to the traditional route and have my readers out there reading the slush, etc.

    I am trying it anyway, but anyone want to offer some words of comfort in this regard?
    Someone else asked if people in the business will try this service, it's a good question because it requires buy in, in the form of an investment of time, from people who don't have a lot of time to invest. I suspect that this will be the primary obstacle for this venture. At the same time, no one likes to be behind the curve, and the BL has brand currency that will generate interest, so I believe that some people will give it a shot. If their experiences are good, and they dig it, word will travel, because WOM is everything. At the same time, I doubt that many higher level folks will use the service (I could be wrong), and it will probably end up being mostly mid level CEs and hungry reps.

    Leave a comment:


  • Geoff Alexander
    replied
    Re: The New Black List

    Originally posted by gregbeal View Post
    From the beginning, the goal of the Nicholl Fellowships has been to identify and encourage new screenwriters. Administered by a non-profit organization, the competition's monetary awards and expenses exceed the income generated by entry fees by hundreds of thousands of dollars each year.

    The primary goal of the enterprise being discussed in this thread appears to be the monetization of a brand.
    All sorts of innovations can occur when there is money to be made, you could say the same thing about big pharma researching new ways to fight disease, i.e., they intend to make a lot of money from it.

    Your response seems overly simplistic to me, do you think it's something that amateur writers should consider trying?

    Leave a comment:


  • Geoff Alexander
    replied
    Re: The New Black List

    Originally posted by JeffLowell View Post

    I just don't see anything revolutionary. It's Script Shark with a better pedigree. (Which absolutely counts for something!)
    I don't know if I'd call it revolutionary, but you don't consider the interactive element to be something powerful in terms of efficient matchmaking for material and company?

    Leave a comment:


  • stainjm
    replied
    Re: The New Black List

    Can someone in the business explain why you would read these scripts and take the time to score them? Would one or two good coverage scores really be enough?

    That's where I still feel confused. If it was me I would likely stick to the traditional route and have my readers out there reading the slush, etc.

    I am trying it anyway, but anyone want to offer some words of comfort in this regard?

    Leave a comment:


  • Hamboogul
    replied
    Re: The New Black List

    Jeff,

    I agree with your analysis. But I also come from the POV of that struggling writer with marginal contacts who lives several time zones away. In fact, that was exactly my situation a year ago.

    I want to believe that every great script will get discovered. I really do.

    I know how much I bleed and bare my soul with every script. And there's nothing more defeating and heartbreaking than when your labor of love is ignored by the gatekeepers.

    So the version of me 12 months ago would have done this BL 3.0 in a heartbeat. Because that version of me 12 months ago sent out query letters and could not even get read for a script that, ironically, is in a lot of people's radars now.

    Leave a comment:


  • JeffLowell
    replied
    Re: The New Black List

    Originally posted by JoJo View Post
    Can we ask for our reader to be male or female?
    Which one would you want?

    Leave a comment:


  • JeffLowell
    replied
    Re: The New Black List

    Ham:

    First off, Nicholl operates at a hefty loss, as Greg has posted many, many times. They pay their readers well, and scripts get multiple reads.

    That said, I don't fault for profit operations.

    And, to be honest, if I were trying to break in, I probably would take a shot at this. A script that gets one or two great reviews will absolutely get quality reads, especially in the beginning. (I say in the beginning, because I think these services get caught in a pickle: more recommendations equals better business, but more recommendations means that people will be less likely to read the scripts.)

    But...

    But I am certain that WRITER A who posts his script on Blacklist has a better chance of getting discovered by someone in Hollywood than WRITER B who writes his script and does nothing.
    Yes. But are those really the two paths? Are your options writing a script and putting it in a drawer, or paying Black List 3.0 to list it?

    You can't query or enter a legit contest?

    Because if that's the case, then this new service is definitely a godsend.

    My problem with this is the philosophical one. I don't think Hollywood is hopelessly broken. I think managers, agents, producers and studios are constantly looking for new material and writers, and they have a voracious appetite.

    But these services play on the feeling that the above isn't true - you're being unfairly kept out! We're going to get you by the gatekeepers, for a fee!

    In my opinion, it's getting you to the gatekeepers, and it's getting you exactly what you could get with a great script and a great query letter.

    I also - and this is personal - am uncomfortable about services that will help 1% of their customers, and know it. There've been plenty of stories here from readers for companies that are reading mostly scripts from professional writers - and they talk about how few "recommends" they give out.

    And I go back to Amazon - ten thousand scripts from amateur writers, and the "winners" all were basically picked for concept and then underwent page one rewrites. Black List 3.0 isn't going to break twenty people a month - if it breaks one a month, I'd say it's a wild success.

    Again, if I were starting out, I'd probably give this a shot. I get the allure. And if you look it as paying 75-125 bucks (with two reads) to roll the dice, instead of (or to augment) querying... why not?

    I just don't see anything revolutionary. It's Script Shark with a better pedigree. (Which absolutely counts for something!)

    Leave a comment:


  • omovie
    replied
    Re: The New Black List

    Originally posted by gregbeal View Post
    The primary goal of the enterprise being discussed in this thread appears to be the monetization of a brand.
    I agree.

    Leave a comment:


  • JoJo
    replied
    Re: The New Black List

    Questions for Franklin:

    1. Can we ask for our reader to be male or female?

    2. Can someone reading our scripts download the pdf onto their computer/ereader? What's to stop our scripts from being distributed in an email or posted by a third party to some tracking board?

    Leave a comment:


  • gregbeal
    replied
    Re: The New Black List

    From the beginning, the goal of the Nicholl Fellowships has been to identify and encourage new screenwriters. Administered by a non-profit organization, the competition's monetary awards and expenses exceed the income generated by entry fees by hundreds of thousands of dollars each year.

    The primary goal of the enterprise being discussed in this thread appears to be the monetization of a brand.

    Leave a comment:


  • Hamboogul
    replied
    Re: The New Black List

    This is the history of the Nicholl fellowship.

    1986 - The first Nicholl fellowships are awarded to Allison Anders, Dennis Clontz, and Jeff Eugenides at a reception held in the Academy's Grand Lobby. In the initial year of competition, the 99 entrants were not required to submit screenplays; they could submit a screenplay, a teleplay, a TV series episode, fiction or a stageplay. The competition was limited to California college students.

    1987 - The Nicholl Fellowships expanded eligibility to include college students in nine states and to residents of Texas.

    1989 - Eligibility was expanded again to include all United States residents who had not sold or optioned a screenplay or teleplay.

    1990 - Rules for judging were modified to:
    Early rounds - paid, professional readers narrow thousands of entries to the top five percent which are then passed onto the quarterfinal round.

    1991 - Eligibility was expanded to include international entrants writing in English who had not sold or optioned a screenplay or teleplay.


    I pasted this from the Oscars.org to highlight a few points to those people who are arguing AGAINST the new Blacklist.

    In 1987, The Nicholl decided to expand the fellowship to Texas. Surely, California (more specifically, Hollywood) is where all the good scripts will come from. Why is the Nicholl expanding to include Texas? What a debranding of a wonderful fellowship backed by the prestigious Oscars.

    In 1989, they decided to include EVERY U.S. resident who has not sold or optioned a screenplay. WHY? Surely, they must not have sold for a reason. Now you are telling me anyone with a typewriter can enter a script?!?!?! Have these "writers" even seen a screenplay?

    In 1991, they decided to include EVERYONE, even "writers" whose first language isn't even English. WHY? Surely, these scripts must be terrible. Wow, they are letting anyone with a script and $30 to enter... as many scripts as they want.


    Within 6 short years of inception, The Nicholl fellowship went from being limited to 99 California college entrants who didn't even have to submit a screenplay (if there's ever a closed shop for a contest, this is it) to having thousands of entrants from around the world in 1991.

    Is the Nicholl better for it? History would say yes. Are the writers better off for it? Again, think of all the people who finished a script because of a Nicholl deadline. Think of all the people who got their first break because they became quarterfinalists, semifinalists, finalists, fellows. And think of all the people who used the Nicholl fellowship as motivation to spend those extra hours at night writing instead of sleeping, watching TV, or whatever.

    Every argument that the naysayers are saying about the new Blacklist could have been made for the Nicholl every time it broadened its reach to enable more undiscovered writers (first from Texas, then the U.S., then around the world).

    And finally to those who argue that Franklin Leonard is going to make a financial killing from this, you are using the same flawed math of:

    7,000 Nicholl entries x $50 (for simple math) - 5 $30K fellowships = $200,000.


    I don't want to overestimate the importance of the New Blacklist. But I am certain that WRITER A who posts his script on Blacklist has a better chance of getting discovered by someone in Hollywood than WRITER B who writes his script and does nothing.

    Leave a comment:

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