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After altering how Hollywood discovers scripts, The Black List is now targeting the book world. Founder and CEO Franklin Leonard proved that overlooked scripts like Slumdog Millionaire and I, Tonya can become commercial and artistic hits. Now, grounded in his belief that the Black List can act as a giant metal detector for uncovering great fiction, he explains his reasoning and plans for this expansion.  

It is a deeply courageous thing to share something you’ve written, that is 100 or more pages long, and ask for judgment. That requires courage,” says The Black List founder and CEO Franklin Leonard.

That is the courage that defines all artists on some level, right? So I think that we have an obligation given that dynamic to be as respectful and considerate as possible, and treat writers’ work with care and consideration. Even if we disagree about the quality of it.

The Black List founder argues low-budget productions still ”comes from a fundamental desire to increase and improve the economics of the industry“ The Atlantic

It’s important that people who are in this system recognize that there is a viable, profitable business in making films that are representative of the diversity that exists in the country and the world. The assumptions that Hollywood makes about what is commercially viable aren’t always accurate.

Riding out the pandemic in his Los Angeles home, Franklin Leonard has seen industry downloads on his Black List website rise more than 60 percent compared with this period last year.

Hollywood insiders have created "The Black List," which helps surface good but often overlooked scripts. Does the wisdom of the crowd work at the box office? #Harvard Business School

This excerpt from Will Sommer's new book 'Trust the Plan' tells the story behind QAnon's twisted fixation on Franklin Leonard

The #OscarsSoWhite campaign pushed that conversation into the mainstream. Franklin Leonard, a producer and founder of the Black List, a survey of Hollywood’s top unproduced screenplays, noted that the feedback loop of studios using awards to attract artists, who turn around to work with the studios they perceive as being able to serve their careers, can be a “virtuous or vicious cycle.”

“Major media companies pay McKinsey to help them navigate difficult business situations,” Leonard tells The Hollywood Reporter, adding that the significance of this report is McKinsey’s reputation as a corporate entity squarely focused on business efficiency. “So why not get the people that they normally pay to do this work, to tell everybody this is what the reality is, this is how much money you’re leaving on the table, and this is the way forward?”

The Silver List aims to do for photography what the Black List did for screenwriters, bringing broader recognition to the most exciting up-and-coming talents in their field.

Some 125 critics, curators, publishers, and academics compiled the list of names to watch.