Client: Kaitlin Fontana – Writer
For the first time ever in the 20 year history of The Black List, a screenwriter has topped the survey of the most liked unproduced screenplays two years in a row, that being Travis Braun. This year Braun’s screenplay One Night Only scored 60 mentions, while on Black List 2023 he had Bad Boy at 49 mentions.
One Night Only follows two strangers who scramble to find someone to sleep with on the one night of the year when premarital sex is legal. The UTA and Echo Lake Entertainment repped Braun’s Bad Boy follows a rescue dog who suspects that his loving new owner is a serial killer.
The 20th edition of the Black List spanned 83 screenplays from 91 writers, up from last year’s count of 76 feature screenplays by 80 writers.
On this year’s list, there were several other repeat Black Lister-ers from 2023:
–Scribe Jack Waz who has Decoys with 18 mentions about two cocky self-proclaimed CIA badasses who learn they’re being used as diversions. The duo must prove to themselves and the world that they’re capable of being real heroes. Last year Waz had Fistmas with 14 mentions.
–Adam Best made the Black List this year with Bo Knows Infinity at 18 votes while last year he had The Wolf in Chiefs Clothing at 11.
–There’s also Marc Bloom with Mom? at 11 mentions about a deadline virus which infects mothers and turns them against their offspring. Bloom had Ferocious last year with eight likes.
–Gaelyn Golden has Saturn Return at 11 likes about Eve and Anders who dated for a decade and are seeing each other for the first time in years. Golde made last year’s Black List with Better Half at 15 mentions.
–Jackson Kellard has Onboarding! with 10 likes which follows a group of new hires who get invited to their company’s corporate retreat, which turns into a weekend of survival. A year ago, Kellard had Didier with 23 mentions.
–Arun Croll with The Road to Cold Valley at 10 mentions. He had The Lightat the End with 11 mentions a year ago.
–Will Hettinger has Dyersville at 9 mentions about two federal marshals who are guarding a cooperating witness who happens to be a legendary Chicago gangster. It’s inspired by true events. On Black List 2023, Hettinger had The Final Score with 11 mentions.
This year’s Black List screenplays had themes and conceits which canvassed retreat-like settings and social gatherings turned hostile, relationship dynamics tested by external forces, creatures not of thisworld, panic-stricken physical and economic survival situations, and dangerous climbs to power.
There were also corporate stories, i.e. Aaron Karo’s Tickle Me Elmo about the toy which took a nation by storm, and Matt Bailey’s King of the Freshman about the rise and fall of Abercrombie & Fitch.“Twenty years can feel like a long time or a blink of an eye depending on the moment,” said Black List founder Franklin Leonard. “Throughout that time, this is always the best part: Finding and sharing great stories well told with the rest of the community of folks who care about them. I look forward to these scripts finding the success and audience that previous annual Black List scripts have found and to watching these movies in theaters as soon as they’re available.”
This year’s Black List was compiled by more than 500 film executives, a record number for the survey.
Since 2005 at least 450 Black List scripts have been produced, grossing over $30 billion in box office worldwide. Black List movies have won 54 Academy Awards from 273 nominations, including four Best Picture Oscars and eleven Best Screenplay Oscars since 2007. Oscar best picture winners The King’s Speech, Slumdog Millionaire, Argo and Spotlight were all Black List sceenplays before they were made, as was 2020 Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar winner Jojo Rabbit and 2021 Best Original Screenplay winner Promising Young Woman among a dozen more Screenplay Oscar winners. This year’s awards contender, Challengers by Justin Kuritzkes was a 2021 Black List script.
Deadline Hollywood will be celebrating the Black List’s 20th anniversary tonight with writers from this year and past lists including 2x top Black List writer Braun. Check out our coverage tomorrow.
The 2024 Black List is as follows:
IS THIS YOU? by Kaitlin Fontana
Maura and her mother Jeanne have always had a tricky relationship. But when Jeanne starts publishing essays about her troubled daughter’s teenage years, those versions of her appear like hormone-fueled poltergeists hell-bent on ruining the real Maura’s tenuous adult stability.
Agency: Verve
Agent(s): Noah Liebmiller, Olivia Mascheroni, Olivia Ghersen
Management Company: SpectreVision
Manager(s): Christina Campagnola
Studio: None
Production Companies: None
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