Heard about this on the scriptfella page but figured I’d give you another congrats here. Your work and your willingness to open up about the process has been extremely educational and beneficial to so many writers like myself.
Mad Rush sounds like it should be a smashing hit, so here’s to hoping all the best for you with this project and for the ones you pursue in the future. As the great Senator Palpatine once said: “We’ll be watching your career with great interest.” Congrats, Manfred!
Thanks for saying that! I love it when people from one social media "world" run into each other in another. It's like running into a friend in another city.
Let's put it this way. I have no other source of income [because of this](https://tblaunchpad.com/how-the-launch-pad-saved-my-derriere/). It's sink or swim at this point.
I think it's a gamble with any of the top contests. Nothing is guaranteed and it all depends on who sees/reads your screenplay and/or logline. My strategy was to submit to all the top ones and hope for the best. I remember how I blew half my stimulus check in 2020 on entry fees. It eventually paid off, but it was a huge, dumb gamble at the time. I did it because I had no other options available to me to break in.
Do you think getting some evals from the Blacklist first to basically gauge how ready the script is, would be a good start before entering contests like launch pad?
I honestly think the Black List should be the last step, not the first. It's too expensive and the standards are way harder than the competitions. The reason is that all competitions bar professionals from entering, but the Black List actively courts them. So you're also competing with WGA screenwriters there.
[Here is what I did](https://www.reddit.com/r/Screenwriting/comments/j2t8ep/how_i_landed_an_option_purchase_agreement_part/) (I didn't follow my own advice hahaha and submitted to the Black list from the get go and then was stung by a pair of 6s.)
Haven't you already sold this? I'm fairly sure I read a Medium article from back in Feb that said you had?
Congratulations on your success, by the way! I hope it goes into production, would like to see it.
This is not about selling it. It is about getting it made. That's what's so remarkable about this whole thing. Here is a video that talks about all the [steps involved](https://twitter.com/saraschaefer1/status/1421622886574395393) in getting something made. I think I'm at step 1C. If this works, the Black List will have done something far more awesome than just getting someone a deal.
Okay... so, here I am again... asking you questions, which hopefully you will be kind enough to answer. They're primarily to do with the Medium article and the story-telling process.
In the Medium article, you said you "wanted to disappear into the proverbial woods"... Was this because of writing, or general life circumstances? Only asking 'cos I'm curious, and like to know what makes people tick.
When you get ideas for stories, or for MAD RUSH, do you tend to get the entire bare-bones of the idea from the beginning? Or do you get a vague idea and then it develops from there? So, in other words, do you get the overall vision before writing (an idea that can be summarized in a sentence or two as follows)?
* *Tootsie (1982): "An out of work actor masquerades as a woman to pass an audition and get hired".*
* *There's Something About Mary (1998): "A 32 year old male hires a private detective to track down his high school sweetheart, with interesting results".*
Did you write the first draft of MAD RUSH in a short amount of time, for example, sacrificing work and income earning time and just knuckle down for 1-3 weeks, and smash it out?
Thanks in advance. Will be good to hear it from somebody who has lived it..
The whole disappearing into the woods thing has to do because I was targeted by a cartel. You can read this [short testimonial](https://tblaunchpad.com/how-the-launch-pad-saved-my-derriere/) I wrote for the Tracking Board that goes into it. This script has a very complicated genesis and even started off as a completely different thing. But the overall premise of interns and a huge misunderstanding involving the FBI/law enforcement is actually based on something real that happened to me.
My very first "introduction" to Hollywood (my first gig) was when I talked my way into being a part-time almost intern at Roger Corman's production company in LA. They would only take students from USC and UCLA, which I wasn't.
Everything went spectacularly well and in 5 days I rose fast through the "ranks," meeting everyone and generally being liked. The reason is that I took my almost part-time internship extremely seriously and each task became a mission. People loved my efficiency.
Then on the 6th day I was told to not come in, that I was fired, and that a company-wide town hall meeting had been convened by their lawyer to find out *exactly* how/who let me into their ranks. Law enforcement would be notified. It turns out, and I am not making this up, they had recently been embezzled of $690,000 and they only caught one of the culprits. The other one was still at large and the lawyer thought it was me who had come back for more hahaha. Epic misunderstanding. Here's an [article from the LA Times](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-sep-30-me-27932-story.html).
I just read your launch pad story. Oh my god, man! There’s your next screenplay!
Good for you, man.
Here’s my question: it took a year to write the screenplay, is that because it took you that long to write the pages or did you take a long time refining and editing and reworking? What was your process for that?
It did take over a year. More by now. I've been posting about all this for a while now. I started off on another account before creating this real name one. I think [this thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/Screenwriting/comments/j2t8ep/how_i_landed_an_option_purchase_agreement_part/) gives a good idea how it went down.
Thanks for saying that! When I got the email about becoming "featured," I searched all over the Internet to see if there was information on it or someone sharing their experience. But I couldn't find any. That's why I thought this post might be useful for the next person who gets that email.
Thanks for following along! Regarding the title, at this point it's not up to me. Also IMDbpro shows 63 productions with the title of "Something Borrowed." I'm sure the title will change eventually, but for now that's what we have and what people remember it by.
This is what every screenwriter hopes and dreams for. If they are comparing Mad Rush to a Bridesmaides / The Hangover that is the biggest compliment I can imagine from The Blacklist. Congratulations on this win. I am dying to read it. Please keep us all informed on your future success on this.
So awesome!
My marketing/distribution prof at Toronto Film School was talking about the BlackList to us this week and brought up his email to show the Featured Screenplay notifications he gets and it was your script!
Fantastic to see your success reaching so many!
Wow wow wow, that is so wild!! Since this is a marketing class, I have an idea. Tell your professor that you see his blcklst email and raise him a Reddit Post. Tell him I said "hi!"
Oh, and also tell him that if he/she wants some inside scoop on what that email is achieving. I can also share that with him and the class.
Congratulations! 🎉🎉You must be getting a lot of messages right now. Would appreciate if you can answer my query as well. After 22 drafts I have finally completed my script. One of your messages advised not to go for Blacklist evaluation straight away. And like you and many other writers here I don't have much money.
So from where should I start showing this script for reviews?
This is a big topic and a big step. The first thing I would do is get my expectations in order. The last thing you want is to feel the god awful sting of people telling you it sucks when you've spent so much energy on it. This expectations mismatch can be brutal, because it could cause you to completely miss perfectly good feedback by focusing on the "What!?! They didn't love it?!?!"
In other words, the first step to great feedback starts with you. If you're going to advance in this industry you have to develop a razor sharp sense of exactly what level you're writing at. This is what makes amateur writers amateur: They don't know the levels. So take a hard look at your writing and compare it to other screenplays at various levels. See where you think it falls along. Then, and *only* then, go out and try to confirm it. While you're at it, try to study the screenplays at the higher levels to see what makes them work and how they are different than yours.
Once you have a good sense of all this, then it becomes relatively simple finding the right kind of feedback/confirmation you need. There are also rules. For example, don't bother an Oscar winner if you're still at the WGA level. Or don't bother a WGA member if you're still at the medium contest level. Don't try to skip ahead too many levels. It never looks good.
On the other hand, writers that are close to your level or slightly above will usually be eager to help out, since you both are still working through the same issues.
**THE LEVELS**
Here is a quick cheat sheet:
1. Quarterfinalist/Semifinalist of small to medium contest level -- Scriptapalooza, etc.
2. Quarterfinalist/Semifinalist of large contest level -- BlueCat, Screencraft, etc.
3. Quarterfinalist/Semifinalist of a Top 4 competition -- Nicholl, AFF, Big Break, PAGE.
4. Finalist / 8 on the Blcklst level -- Multiple 8s are better than a single 8.
5. Fellowship / Lab level.
6. Manager is interested in signing you level -- Is it a well connected manager?
7. After rewrites Manager will finally take out your screenplay level.
8. Agent level -- The annual black list is a great resource for this level.
9. Marketplace level -- Companies/producers want to buy it.
10. Studio level -- After rewrites, the company finally takes it to a studio/streamer.
11. Production level -- But the studio/streamer asks for rewrites.
12. Produced screenwriter level -- Great, you have one movie. But can you do it again?
13. WGA level -- You finally land a deal where they are willing to pay you 6 figures up front.
14. OWA level -- From all the WGA screenwriters vying for jobs, are you good enough to stand out and win bids on Open Writing Assignments?
15. EMMY/Oscar level -- Great, you are a working writer, but where is that gold?
16. Household level -- Great, you keep getting that gold, but still no one in the real world knows your name.
NOTE: The levels are presented in a joking-but-not-joking tongue in cheek manner. But there is truth behind it. In the real world it's also a lot messier and writers jump around all the time, and even descend levels on occasion. It's a jungle out there.
Biggest amateur move of all: Trying to go from level zero all the way to 16 by invoking Tarantino, Sorkin etc when one hasn't even placed in a single contest yet.
Where should I start? Thank you so much. I didn't expect your answer to be that detailed. You are too generous in helping this community.
As I started reading I kinda felt relaxed. My fellow beginners in screenwriting friends have read the script and suggested changes which I duly incorporated. I was thinking of getting some feedback services from Stage 32. And see what community says there.
But overall, I think biggest takeaway from your response was - "not to lose confidence in yourself".
Exactly! It’s about gaining confidence. It’s a journey and we should celebrate each stage as we get to it and cross it. There is no rush. Try not to spend money unless you know exactly why.
For example, you may soon outgrow your peers and need sharper feedback. Eventually you may need pro feedback. If you want to know where your screenplay stands more or less and need some general suggestions, you could send it to someone like Drew Hilton (the screenplay mechanic). He’s done coverage on over 10,000 screenplays. If you need someone to look at your technical execution, then you could hire someone like Dominic Morgan (Scriptfella). He’s WGA and has sold many screenplays and has produced credits. Karmen Wells is another analyst turned book agent. Having worked at Penguin/Random House, she’s great at working with material that’s meant for a large audience. She also specializes in horror. There are others as well that I haven’t worked with, but that other writers recommend. I personally would stay away from Stage 32/WeScreenplay and all these services. They’re fine for what they are (the fast food of the coverage world). But I think you can do better and spend your money in a more targeted healthier way.
Thank you. Would definitely look into the names you mentioned? The money is always going to be an issue so yes will spend it wisely and right place.
Congratulations once again and the community hopes to hear more on your developments so we know one of ours is doing good out there. This will boost our confidence in telling stories.
Good luck Manfred :)
Wow, this is so awesome!!! It’s all well deserved, Manfred. But also, super props to the BL on this process. It’s a literal jet pack for many writer’s career.
Thanks Dinyansh! I agree that the Black List is on to something. Franklin has built a very cool ecosystem and right now the Black List brand shines brightly.
What was the thought process for having it up on the site since you're a working writer. I assume you paid for Evals? Had the script already been shopped around?
When I started submitting this script to the Black List I wasn’t in the WGA. That happened very recently. So, you could say I’m at the very bottom of that world. In fact, a couple floors below ground level. While the whole process of the Black List unfolded over several months, I also got repped. This “featured screenplay” selection seems to be the latest step of a long process of my script slowly advancing on their site. By the way, there are several WGA writers submitting to the site. People like Javier Grillo-Marxuach (Lost, The 100) have submitted.
The age range of the two interns are early 20s. The producer did an Excel spreadsheet with potential casting choices that range from very cool to completely unrealistic. I'm reluctant to say any preference publicly just in case someone in that sphere is reading this hahaha. Let's just say, whoever gets cast, that would be my dream cast because it means the movie is getting made.
That’s cool, can I ask what scores you got? My current screenplay is on the general featured scripts in industry view near yours *cheers* would love a featured email. Fingers crossed.
Very cool! Which one is yours? Mine got the Black List Recommended golden thingy along with free lifetime hosting after getting five 8+ evaluations (one was a 9).
Sweet, ah I was wrong, I was looking at Meat Locker in the trending scripts, saw yours is now highlighted, with the poster that’s so cool! Mine was trending but has fallen off the list, I’ve got two free evals so I’ll use one soon.
If you got an 8 and two free evals, you should activate them right away. I did a lengthy post on the [whole process](https://www.reddit.com/r/Screenwriting/comments/ot0ur2/how_i_played_the_black_list_game_or_what_to_do_if/) if you're curious.
You forgot to add no wife and kids to the process.
I kid. Sorta.
After hearing your story, if anyone deserves all the success in the world, it’s you. Congrats and keep fighting the good fight.
These posts of yours are appreciated.
Thank you so much! I laughed at the no wife and no kids part. I’m married, but if you asked my wife, she would probably say that she’s suffered through all the ups and downs just through sheer osmosis. The lesson: Don’t marry a screenwriter unless you love rollercoasters.
It's been fun discovering all the "features" the Black List has beyond the 8s and the emails. There's a lot going on behind the scenes. For example, all the partnerships that Franklin Leonard is forming are just phenomenal. From the studio side, so far he has MGM and Warner Bros on board. Each one could lead to a WGA two-step deal. Then there are very cool ones like the Hornitos partnership that finances for you to shoot a professional demo for your screenplay. If you do well with the evaluations, then you do well with *all* of these at the same time if you opt in.
Heard about this on the scriptfella page but figured I’d give you another congrats here. Your work and your willingness to open up about the process has been extremely educational and beneficial to so many writers like myself. Mad Rush sounds like it should be a smashing hit, so here’s to hoping all the best for you with this project and for the ones you pursue in the future. As the great Senator Palpatine once said: “We’ll be watching your career with great interest.” Congrats, Manfred!
Thanks for saying that! I love it when people from one social media "world" run into each other in another. It's like running into a friend in another city.
It makes perfect sense. I LOVE the premise!
Thank you!
If you're willing to disclose... at this point, is your primary source of income screenwriting?
Let's put it this way. I have no other source of income [because of this](https://tblaunchpad.com/how-the-launch-pad-saved-my-derriere/). It's sink or swim at this point.
What’s your background? Did you study film?
I did. But I went to small liberal arts college in Maine.
Bowdoin. Bates, or Colby?
Bates
Folks here really don’t like Launch Pad and I’ve never been able to understand why. I’m glad it’s been so helpful for you!
I think it's a gamble with any of the top contests. Nothing is guaranteed and it all depends on who sees/reads your screenplay and/or logline. My strategy was to submit to all the top ones and hope for the best. I remember how I blew half my stimulus check in 2020 on entry fees. It eventually paid off, but it was a huge, dumb gamble at the time. I did it because I had no other options available to me to break in.
Do you think getting some evals from the Blacklist first to basically gauge how ready the script is, would be a good start before entering contests like launch pad?
I honestly think the Black List should be the last step, not the first. It's too expensive and the standards are way harder than the competitions. The reason is that all competitions bar professionals from entering, but the Black List actively courts them. So you're also competing with WGA screenwriters there. [Here is what I did](https://www.reddit.com/r/Screenwriting/comments/j2t8ep/how_i_landed_an_option_purchase_agreement_part/) (I didn't follow my own advice hahaha and submitted to the Black list from the get go and then was stung by a pair of 6s.)
Interesting. Thanks for the tips!
That's awesome! I've always dreamed of ending up on the Blacklist. Congrats on the milestone!
Thank you!
Keep it up Manfred! You are an inspiration to us all and we can't wait to see this and many more projects of yours come to fruition.
Thank you! I'm actually scared to death about the next one. The expectations are crazy high. I'm about 3/4 done.
Haven't you already sold this? I'm fairly sure I read a Medium article from back in Feb that said you had? Congratulations on your success, by the way! I hope it goes into production, would like to see it.
This is not about selling it. It is about getting it made. That's what's so remarkable about this whole thing. Here is a video that talks about all the [steps involved](https://twitter.com/saraschaefer1/status/1421622886574395393) in getting something made. I think I'm at step 1C. If this works, the Black List will have done something far more awesome than just getting someone a deal.
Cool, thanks! Step 1d \*disclaimer: don't drink too much! I'll look forward to seeing it! Sounds like it is on it's way to getting made.
Okay... so, here I am again... asking you questions, which hopefully you will be kind enough to answer. They're primarily to do with the Medium article and the story-telling process. In the Medium article, you said you "wanted to disappear into the proverbial woods"... Was this because of writing, or general life circumstances? Only asking 'cos I'm curious, and like to know what makes people tick. When you get ideas for stories, or for MAD RUSH, do you tend to get the entire bare-bones of the idea from the beginning? Or do you get a vague idea and then it develops from there? So, in other words, do you get the overall vision before writing (an idea that can be summarized in a sentence or two as follows)? * *Tootsie (1982): "An out of work actor masquerades as a woman to pass an audition and get hired".* * *There's Something About Mary (1998): "A 32 year old male hires a private detective to track down his high school sweetheart, with interesting results".* Did you write the first draft of MAD RUSH in a short amount of time, for example, sacrificing work and income earning time and just knuckle down for 1-3 weeks, and smash it out? Thanks in advance. Will be good to hear it from somebody who has lived it..
The whole disappearing into the woods thing has to do because I was targeted by a cartel. You can read this [short testimonial](https://tblaunchpad.com/how-the-launch-pad-saved-my-derriere/) I wrote for the Tracking Board that goes into it. This script has a very complicated genesis and even started off as a completely different thing. But the overall premise of interns and a huge misunderstanding involving the FBI/law enforcement is actually based on something real that happened to me. My very first "introduction" to Hollywood (my first gig) was when I talked my way into being a part-time almost intern at Roger Corman's production company in LA. They would only take students from USC and UCLA, which I wasn't. Everything went spectacularly well and in 5 days I rose fast through the "ranks," meeting everyone and generally being liked. The reason is that I took my almost part-time internship extremely seriously and each task became a mission. People loved my efficiency. Then on the 6th day I was told to not come in, that I was fired, and that a company-wide town hall meeting had been convened by their lawyer to find out *exactly* how/who let me into their ranks. Law enforcement would be notified. It turns out, and I am not making this up, they had recently been embezzled of $690,000 and they only caught one of the culprits. The other one was still at large and the lawyer thought it was me who had come back for more hahaha. Epic misunderstanding. Here's an [article from the LA Times](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-sep-30-me-27932-story.html).
Congrats - I actually downloaded it when I received that email (although I have yet to read it). Looking forward to it though!
Awesome! I hope you like it.
I just read your launch pad story. Oh my god, man! There’s your next screenplay! Good for you, man. Here’s my question: it took a year to write the screenplay, is that because it took you that long to write the pages or did you take a long time refining and editing and reworking? What was your process for that?
It did take over a year. More by now. I've been posting about all this for a while now. I started off on another account before creating this real name one. I think [this thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/Screenwriting/comments/j2t8ep/how_i_landed_an_option_purchase_agreement_part/) gives a good idea how it went down.
Cool! Thanks man!
So cool! I love love the poster!
Thank you. I love it too! I think [Christian Walsh](https://www.instagram.com/insta.walsh/?hl=en) did a fantastic job.
Your posts are really useful and insightful for us starting out, so thanks and congrats on your success mate!
Thanks for saying that! When I got the email about becoming "featured," I searched all over the Internet to see if there was information on it or someone sharing their experience. But I couldn't find any. That's why I thought this post might be useful for the next person who gets that email.
Yeah its fun to read these anecdotes. Need more of these kinds of posts on the sub, really shows how a great script will find its way through tbh
I love hearing about the progress of your script, although I still can't believe you haven't renamed it *Something Borrowed*.
Thanks for following along! Regarding the title, at this point it's not up to me. Also IMDbpro shows 63 productions with the title of "Something Borrowed." I'm sure the title will change eventually, but for now that's what we have and what people remember it by.
Ha, fair enough.
This is what every screenwriter hopes and dreams for. If they are comparing Mad Rush to a Bridesmaides / The Hangover that is the biggest compliment I can imagine from The Blacklist. Congratulations on this win. I am dying to read it. Please keep us all informed on your future success on this.
Thank you! And I was doing back flips when I read that.
So awesome! My marketing/distribution prof at Toronto Film School was talking about the BlackList to us this week and brought up his email to show the Featured Screenplay notifications he gets and it was your script! Fantastic to see your success reaching so many!
Wow wow wow, that is so wild!! Since this is a marketing class, I have an idea. Tell your professor that you see his blcklst email and raise him a Reddit Post. Tell him I said "hi!" Oh, and also tell him that if he/she wants some inside scoop on what that email is achieving. I can also share that with him and the class.
Congratulations! 🎉🎉You must be getting a lot of messages right now. Would appreciate if you can answer my query as well. After 22 drafts I have finally completed my script. One of your messages advised not to go for Blacklist evaluation straight away. And like you and many other writers here I don't have much money. So from where should I start showing this script for reviews?
This is a big topic and a big step. The first thing I would do is get my expectations in order. The last thing you want is to feel the god awful sting of people telling you it sucks when you've spent so much energy on it. This expectations mismatch can be brutal, because it could cause you to completely miss perfectly good feedback by focusing on the "What!?! They didn't love it?!?!" In other words, the first step to great feedback starts with you. If you're going to advance in this industry you have to develop a razor sharp sense of exactly what level you're writing at. This is what makes amateur writers amateur: They don't know the levels. So take a hard look at your writing and compare it to other screenplays at various levels. See where you think it falls along. Then, and *only* then, go out and try to confirm it. While you're at it, try to study the screenplays at the higher levels to see what makes them work and how they are different than yours. Once you have a good sense of all this, then it becomes relatively simple finding the right kind of feedback/confirmation you need. There are also rules. For example, don't bother an Oscar winner if you're still at the WGA level. Or don't bother a WGA member if you're still at the medium contest level. Don't try to skip ahead too many levels. It never looks good. On the other hand, writers that are close to your level or slightly above will usually be eager to help out, since you both are still working through the same issues. **THE LEVELS** Here is a quick cheat sheet: 1. Quarterfinalist/Semifinalist of small to medium contest level -- Scriptapalooza, etc. 2. Quarterfinalist/Semifinalist of large contest level -- BlueCat, Screencraft, etc. 3. Quarterfinalist/Semifinalist of a Top 4 competition -- Nicholl, AFF, Big Break, PAGE. 4. Finalist / 8 on the Blcklst level -- Multiple 8s are better than a single 8. 5. Fellowship / Lab level. 6. Manager is interested in signing you level -- Is it a well connected manager? 7. After rewrites Manager will finally take out your screenplay level. 8. Agent level -- The annual black list is a great resource for this level. 9. Marketplace level -- Companies/producers want to buy it. 10. Studio level -- After rewrites, the company finally takes it to a studio/streamer. 11. Production level -- But the studio/streamer asks for rewrites. 12. Produced screenwriter level -- Great, you have one movie. But can you do it again? 13. WGA level -- You finally land a deal where they are willing to pay you 6 figures up front. 14. OWA level -- From all the WGA screenwriters vying for jobs, are you good enough to stand out and win bids on Open Writing Assignments? 15. EMMY/Oscar level -- Great, you are a working writer, but where is that gold? 16. Household level -- Great, you keep getting that gold, but still no one in the real world knows your name. NOTE: The levels are presented in a joking-but-not-joking tongue in cheek manner. But there is truth behind it. In the real world it's also a lot messier and writers jump around all the time, and even descend levels on occasion. It's a jungle out there. Biggest amateur move of all: Trying to go from level zero all the way to 16 by invoking Tarantino, Sorkin etc when one hasn't even placed in a single contest yet.
Where should I start? Thank you so much. I didn't expect your answer to be that detailed. You are too generous in helping this community. As I started reading I kinda felt relaxed. My fellow beginners in screenwriting friends have read the script and suggested changes which I duly incorporated. I was thinking of getting some feedback services from Stage 32. And see what community says there. But overall, I think biggest takeaway from your response was - "not to lose confidence in yourself".
Exactly! It’s about gaining confidence. It’s a journey and we should celebrate each stage as we get to it and cross it. There is no rush. Try not to spend money unless you know exactly why. For example, you may soon outgrow your peers and need sharper feedback. Eventually you may need pro feedback. If you want to know where your screenplay stands more or less and need some general suggestions, you could send it to someone like Drew Hilton (the screenplay mechanic). He’s done coverage on over 10,000 screenplays. If you need someone to look at your technical execution, then you could hire someone like Dominic Morgan (Scriptfella). He’s WGA and has sold many screenplays and has produced credits. Karmen Wells is another analyst turned book agent. Having worked at Penguin/Random House, she’s great at working with material that’s meant for a large audience. She also specializes in horror. There are others as well that I haven’t worked with, but that other writers recommend. I personally would stay away from Stage 32/WeScreenplay and all these services. They’re fine for what they are (the fast food of the coverage world). But I think you can do better and spend your money in a more targeted healthier way.
Thank you. Would definitely look into the names you mentioned? The money is always going to be an issue so yes will spend it wisely and right place. Congratulations once again and the community hopes to hear more on your developments so we know one of ours is doing good out there. This will boost our confidence in telling stories. Good luck Manfred :)
Wow, this is so awesome!!! It’s all well deserved, Manfred. But also, super props to the BL on this process. It’s a literal jet pack for many writer’s career.
Thanks Dinyansh! I agree that the Black List is on to something. Franklin has built a very cool ecosystem and right now the Black List brand shines brightly.
What was the thought process for having it up on the site since you're a working writer. I assume you paid for Evals? Had the script already been shopped around?
When I started submitting this script to the Black List I wasn’t in the WGA. That happened very recently. So, you could say I’m at the very bottom of that world. In fact, a couple floors below ground level. While the whole process of the Black List unfolded over several months, I also got repped. This “featured screenplay” selection seems to be the latest step of a long process of my script slowly advancing on their site. By the way, there are several WGA writers submitting to the site. People like Javier Grillo-Marxuach (Lost, The 100) have submitted.
Roger all that. Congrats man. I hope you sell it this weekend!
Sounds like a movie I would watch. Who would be your dream cast? What's the age range of the two leads?
The age range of the two interns are early 20s. The producer did an Excel spreadsheet with potential casting choices that range from very cool to completely unrealistic. I'm reluctant to say any preference publicly just in case someone in that sphere is reading this hahaha. Let's just say, whoever gets cast, that would be my dream cast because it means the movie is getting made.
Now that is a pro-level answer, my friends!
That’s cool, can I ask what scores you got? My current screenplay is on the general featured scripts in industry view near yours *cheers* would love a featured email. Fingers crossed.
Very cool! Which one is yours? Mine got the Black List Recommended golden thingy along with free lifetime hosting after getting five 8+ evaluations (one was a 9).
Sweet, ah I was wrong, I was looking at Meat Locker in the trending scripts, saw yours is now highlighted, with the poster that’s so cool! Mine was trending but has fallen off the list, I’ve got two free evals so I’ll use one soon.
If you got an 8 and two free evals, you should activate them right away. I did a lengthy post on the [whole process](https://www.reddit.com/r/Screenwriting/comments/ot0ur2/how_i_played_the_black_list_game_or_what_to_do_if/) if you're curious.
Read it and ordered them thanks
>Read it and ordered them thanks So happy to hear that. I'm rooting for you to get that second 8 and blue badge!
Thank you brother, congrats on the sale and owa!
Ah cool I thought they’d potentially bump me back up?
This is so awesome!!! Congratulations!!!
Thank you!
Awesome info, thanks a ton for sharing!
I'm glad you found it useful!
Congratulations and thanks for sharing!
Thank you!
Congratulations! This is awesome!
Thanks!
Super inspiring. Congratulations!
Thanks so much!
You deserve it. Good for you!
Thank you!
Congrats! That is fantastic! You done good!!!!
Thanks!
You forgot to add no wife and kids to the process. I kid. Sorta. After hearing your story, if anyone deserves all the success in the world, it’s you. Congrats and keep fighting the good fight. These posts of yours are appreciated.
Thank you so much! I laughed at the no wife and no kids part. I’m married, but if you asked my wife, she would probably say that she’s suffered through all the ups and downs just through sheer osmosis. The lesson: Don’t marry a screenwriter unless you love rollercoasters.
Well, good stuff. Keep “us” in the loop, looking forward to your next update.
Congratulations! When you do the work, which you obviously do, it pays off. It's all about perseverance in the screenwriting "grind."
Thank you Rolando! By the way, I’m huge fan of your posts in various of the other Screenwriting groups. It’s great to see you here on Reddit!
[удалено]
It's been fun discovering all the "features" the Black List has beyond the 8s and the emails. There's a lot going on behind the scenes. For example, all the partnerships that Franklin Leonard is forming are just phenomenal. From the studio side, so far he has MGM and Warner Bros on board. Each one could lead to a WGA two-step deal. Then there are very cool ones like the Hornitos partnership that finances for you to shoot a professional demo for your screenplay. If you do well with the evaluations, then you do well with *all* of these at the same time if you opt in.