New Black List Thread - Franklin Leonard answers your questions

[EdFury]

Re: New Black List Thread - Franklin Leonard answers your questions

Not sure which guy you're referring to, but I never worked there and I received a Warner Bros blind script deal through the Black List. Tasha Huo also received a WB Blind Deal and a script discovered through the Black List site was released as a made-for-tv movie on HBO and just nominated for two emmys.

If you want to read some of the stories there are interviews with writers who found success here: https://blog.blcklst.com

There is definitely more than one, and many more than I can enumerate from memory.

I did. Optioned to a pretty good production company... And they just renewed it.

[carcar]

Re: New Black List Thread - Franklin Leonard answers your questions

Still don't have a dog in this race, but I've been on a podcast binge for the last few weeks, due to a repetitive gig that didn't need my full attention, and several times I heard managers and execs reference the Black List in a positive way, as in a high score might get you their attention or a place to go to look for interesting scripts.

There's a very good thread that winds up being about notes, and readers and the Black List,etc. under Anthony94's question about horror going too far.

[sallain]

Re: New Black List Thread - Franklin Leonard answers your questions

Has this site landed anyone a deal aside from the guy who worked there? If not, maybe that's a sign that people shouldn't be pumping so much money into it.

Not sure which guy you're referring to, but I never worked there and I received a Warner Bros blind script deal through the Black List. Tasha Huo also received a WB Blind Deal and a script discovered through the Black List site was released as a made-for-tv movie on HBO and just nominated for two emmys.

If you want to read some of the stories there are interviews with writers who found success here: https://blog.blcklst.com

There is definitely more than one, and many more than I can enumerate from memory.

[entlassen]

Re: New Black List Thread - Franklin Leonard answers your questions

Has this site landed anyone a deal aside from the guy who worked there? If not, maybe that's a sign that people shouldn't be pumping so much money into it.

[Manchester]

Re: New Black List Thread - Franklin Leonard answers your questions

Hi Franklin,

I'd like to make a (hopefully) simple request: I'd like a function on the site where you can keep your script page private while hosting (inaccessible and unsearchable to industry members) until you receive your reviews and then choose at that point whether you'd like to make your results and script public. ...

He's rejected that very good and reasonable request 1000 times. But maybe request 1001 is the charm.

BTW, Franklin hasn't posted in this thread since March, so (for whatever reasons) he may have left us.

[Rhodi]

Re: New Black List Thread - Franklin Leonard answers your questions

Hi Franklin,

I'd like to make a (hopefully) simple request: I'd like a function on the site where you can keep your script page private while hosting (inaccessible and unsearchable to industry members) until you receive your reviews and then choose at that point whether you'd like to make your results and script public.

Often I'll have no idea exactly where my script sits until I receive my reviews, upon which I'll sometimes pull it down for a major or minor rewrite. The idea that my initial unperfected draft has been floating out there for weeks, being downloaded and read, is cringeworthy to me.

I know the BL is not meant to be a notes service, but writers should be given the option to address weaknesses highlighted by readers before making their work public. Those that don't care can make their work public from the start, as the site currently functions.

[carcar]

Re: New Black List Thread - Franklin Leonard answers your questions

Was looking at the site and some of the partnerships. Leonard, how many of these are still ongoing?

For instance, the deadline date for the Sundance Intensive is listed as Jan. 27, 2015. Cassian Elwes is listed as Nov. 7, 2014. Disney is listed as May 5, 2014, but with a note that you may offer further fellowships and post that information at the time.

So what's still viable?

Thank you.

[UpandComing]

Re: New Black List Thread - Franklin Leonard answers your questions

You should still get the extra month free.

Thanks, lbs101!

[lbs101]

Re: New Black List Thread - Franklin Leonard answers your questions

Hey everyone, quick question. I know that if you buy one review off the site and three weeks pass, you get an extra month of hosting free. But what if you buy two reviews, with one of them being completed under the three week mark, and the other one passing it? Do you still get an extra month free? Thanks.

You should still get the extra month free.

[UpandComing]

Re: New Black List Thread - Franklin Leonard answers your questions

Hey everyone, quick question. I know that if you buy one review off the site and three weeks pass, you get an extra month of hosting free. But what if you buy two reviews, with one of them being completed under the three week mark, and the other one passing it? Do you still get an extra month free? Thanks.

[FranklinLeonard]

Re: New Black List Thread - Franklin Leonard answers your questions

Franklin,

Say there's a pilot called Lewis and Clark that's highly rated, but I also have a pilot called Lewis and Clark that deals with the same setting but probably (hopefully) in a different way. Is this allowed? Should I just change the name but go ahead with the same subject matter or just scrap it for a bit?


(repost in case you missed it the first time and didn't just think it was a dumb question)

Absolutely allowed, and literally no reason why you should scrap it or change the name.

[Hernan Giaggio]

Re: New Black List Thread - Franklin Leonard answers your questions

Franklin,

Say there's a pilot called Lewis and Clark that's highly rated, but I also have a pilot called Lewis and Clark that deals with the same setting but probably (hopefully) in a different way. Is this allowed? Should I just change the name but go ahead with the same subject matter or just scrap it for a bit?


(repost in case you missed it the first time and didn't just think it was a dumb question)

[FranklinLeonard]

Re: New Black List Thread - Franklin Leonard answers your questions

I have a question about the Blacklist Partnerships. In regards to the Warners Bros Blind Script Deal, how are scripts on the site chosen? Does someone associated with Warners download your script once you opt in? Or do Blacklist readers download, read, and make recommendations to Warners? Is it based on paid evaluations? I'm just curious as to how the whole process works.

Short answer: we use all of the data at our disposal about the scripts to identify the ten writers we believe will most likely succeed with a partner based on what they've described they're looking for. Then we send those writers' scripts, along with a resume and personal statement submitted by each writer, to our partner and they make a final decision based on that material.

[FranklinLeonard]

Re: Blind Readings

Can the pseudonym be "Anonymous" or "(Name Withheld)"? If so, that would accomplish the goal of not arousing unconscious bias in the reader (an issue I admit I'd never considered before, yet does seem like a legitimate concern in some cases).

Sure. Your pseudonym can be whatever you want it to be.

[FranklinLeonard]

Re: New Black List Thread - Franklin Leonard answers your questions

Apologies if I'm out of place here for voicing my opinion, but if I were perusing the Blacklist myself, say in a producer capacity, I would steer a wide berth around any writer who seemed over-anxious about looking for bias everywhere.

Doesn't seem like an ingredient for a good working relationship is all.

Judging by your post, you're not a producer, so your speculation about how producers might think about people's entirely legitimate concerns isn't particularly valuable to them.