Every year, screenwriters always hope to see their names on the Black List. Of course, many would just be happy to have their scripts go into production, but for those that are hoping to sell their idea to a studio, the Black List is a recognition that could seriously help that dream become a reality. And so, with the announcement of the 2019 Black List, we have a first look at some of the best scripts making their way through Hollywood that we’ll hopefully hear more about soon.
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For those not familiar, the Black List is a collection of spec scripts (non-commissioned, unsolicited screenplays), that are seen to be some of the most well-liked works that don’t have production dates yet or won’t begin production in 2019. The list is compiled from more than 250 film executives that name their top 10 spec scripts that they’ve come across over the past year. To find a place on the Black List, a script needs to have been mentioned at least six times by the group.
While there isn’t an official ranking of the “best” scripts, the Black List does give the number of mentions that each one has received. And leading the way in 2019 is “Move On” by writer Ken Kobayashi. That script tells the story of Teddy, a young man that is convinced that the world has been frozen in time. He’s joined by his ex-girlfriend on a journey to find out what caused the time freeze. “Move On” earned an impressive 29 mentions.
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Other scripts to garner quite a few mentions include “Field of View” by Reiss Clauson-Wolf and Julian Silver (20 mentions), “Don’t Worry Darling” by Carey Van Dyke and Shane Van Dyke (19 mentions), and “Cicada” by Lillian Yu (16 mentions).
Here are all the scripts that made it to the coveted Black List, as well as the number of mentions each received:
Megan Amram, THE REPOSSESSION (7)
Jared Anderson, THE LABORER (9)
Kyle Anderson, Michael Vlamis, BLUE SLIDE PARK (6)
Tyler Austin, Patrick Eme, RUMOURS (15)
Colin Bannon, FIRST ASCENT (7)
Cody Behan, THE DIAMOND AS BIG AS THE RITZ (8)
Gregory Bonsignore, CAN YOU TELL ME HOW? (6)
Patrick Cadigan, GRANDMA WANTS TO DIE (12)
Lauren Caris Cohan, AN AFTERMATH (8)
Cosmo Carlson, THE SHOWRUNNER (6)
Nabil Chowdhary, POD (13)
Reiss Clauson-Wolf, Julian Silver, FIELD OF VIEW (20)
Pat Cunnane, AFFAIRS OF STATE (8)
Nicolas Curcio, BARRON: A TALE OF LOVE, LOSS & LEGACY (8)
Steve Desmond & Michael Sherman, THE CABIN AT THE END OF THE WORLD (8)
Henry Dunham, THE PERDITION IN LIEGE (7)
Derek Elliott, KLEIN (10)
Kevin Etten, Tom Gormican, THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT (16)
Austin Everett, THE TRAVELER (16)
Cameron Fay, THIS IS GOING TO HURT (6)
Kaitlin Fontana, GIRLFRIEND ON MARS (6)
Aja Gabel, MJ Wesner, APEX (8)
Peter Gaffney, DON’T GO IN THE WATER (7)
Peter Gamble, Ian Shorr, 10-31 (7)
Kas Graham, Rebecca Pollack, BETTY FORD (7)
Darren Grodsky, Danny Jacobs, THE MAN IN THE WOODS (7)
Eric Gross, T (6)
MacMillan Hedges, THE SEARCHERS (8)
Ezra Herz, RIPPLE (10)
Ben Imperato, HELLDIVER (9)
Kevin Jakubowski, 8-BIT CHRISTMAS (11)
Rachel James, THE SWELLS (8)
Jessica Knoll, TIL DEATH (6)
Ken Kobayashi, MOVE ON (29)
Leah McKendrick, VOICEMAILS FOR ISABELLE (6)
Kevin McMullin, FIRST HARVEST (8)
Levin Menekse, THE PROCESS (10)
Hannah Mescon, Dreux Moreland, HIGH ON CHRISTMAS (9)
Sara Monge, A MAGICAL PLACE CALLED GLENDALE (14)
Debra Moore Muñoz, REFUGE (10)
Adam Morrison, ATLANTA ON FIRE (6)
Sontenish Myers, STAMPEDE (6)
Michael Notarile, THE MOTHER (6)
Tom O’Donnell, I HEART MURDER (12)
Esteban Orozco, NOMADS (6)
Kay Oyegun, ASSISTED LIVING (6)
Michael Paisley, DOLLHOUSE (9)
Christina Pamies, NO GOOD DEED (6)
Roy Parker, THE HOUSE IS NOT FOR SALE (10)
Justin Piasecki, THE BROKER (13)
Chris Powers, Dan Powers, MEET CUTE (6)
Seth Reiss, Will Tracy, THE MENU (10)
Tony Rettenmaier, Juel Taylor, THEY CLONED TYRONE (10)
Matt Ritter, DOLL WARS (7)
Erin Rodman, SAY SOMETHING NICE (9)
Andrew Semans, RESURRECTION (8)
Doug Simon, BREATHE (9)
Carrie Solomon, MY BOYFRIEND’S WEDDING (8)
Azia Squire, SISTER (8)
Sean Tidwell, SUPER DAD (8)
Melanie Toast, SHUT IN (14)
Lauren Tyler, BLACK MITZVAH (10)
Carey Van Dyke, Shane Van Dyke, DON’T WORRY DARLING (19)
Stephen Vitale, APEX (6)
Lillian Yu, CICADA (16)
Andrew Zilch, WAYWARD (13)
