I just read this post and the post on the Black List site. I'm a little unclear how it all works. You pay $25 / month so that industry insiders can view your screenplay? But will/can industry insiders view your script if you don't purchase an evaluation? Suppose your script gets a negative evaluation? There would be no point to continue paying the $25 / month at that point, right? It sounds like a great service but the details seem a little fuzzy to me.

Sounds like a good deal. In fact, the $50 fee to get a read is a bargain, even with the $25 per month script hosting fee. My concern is that it's too inexpensive and they will be inundated with scripts forcing them to hire many more script readers. It could be difficult to find enough experienced readers to handle a potentially enormous workload.

"But will/can industry insiders view your script if you don’t purchase an evaluation?" That's what I'm wondering. I'm sure the script would be *available* to read (searchable by title, logline, genre, keywords, etc.). But is it *likely* to be read without a paid evaluation? Or will it sit there for months with maybe one or two looks? And is that really any different than sending query emails? I suppose it would save a writer some time and effort, but I'm not sure it's worth $25/per month. Don't get me wrong. I absolutely see the need for charging a small fee. And this sounds like it's being done with the best possible intentions. I'm just curious as to how it actually turns out. (I love the "do no harm" idea, though)

Franklin answered our question at the Done Deal Pro forums: http://messageboard.donedealpro.com/boards/showthread.php?t=69183&page=6 "It is entirely possible, though admittedly not probable, that one of our members could stumble upon your script via a logline or genre search and decide to read it. If you have a kick-ass concept and log, you're welcome to query individual companies with it. The advantage of the Black List is that a positive read here results in exposure to hundreds of companies and over one thousand industry professionals instead of just one."

I'm wondering - is it possible for a repped writer registered as an "industry professional" to upload an available script of theirs? Right now the site seems to redirect you to the registration page - and if you're already a member, it further redirects you to the industry professional members dashboard.

Update from Franklin. Obviously he has been getting a lot of questions on a variety of forums. He is copying the questions here and combining them with others, will answer them, then I will do a blog post here with his responses. Another thing about Franklin: He is totally unafraid of criticism, in fact WANTS to hear your critiques in order to make things, and specifically in this case the new Black List online service, the best utility possible for writers.

I wonder how many industry professionals will actually use the service to look for scripts. I suspect many who do will use it minimally - take a brief look, be disappointed, and not log in again. I'll wait for the service to prove itself before I dive in.

Its also $25 per month PER script which is probably a deal breaker for some. Still, will be interesting to see how this plays out. Cheers Inger

This is a fantastic idea. The cost is minimal, and the rewards for a great script are very high. The pre-screen evaluation is a great idea, there are just too many bad scripts (even with representation) that don't even have proper / basic formatting. The cream will rise to the top - hopefully.

This may sound pollyanish, but ... I think this is nothing short of awesome.

As a guy who has been 'staring at' this goofy business for over 25 years now, always on the fringe, outside-looking-in, I can tell you that, outside of The Quest, this is one of the most revolutionary things I've seen. As in any act of revolt, there's bound to be hiccups along the way but, like anything in life, things will shake out accordingly, in time. Dare I say this is a GREAT TIME to be a spec screenwriter? Now if I could just get this draft of my script into some sort of damned readable shape...grrrrr.

I agree with Teddy. I'm worried that so many scripts will be thrown at this, that it will get bogged down.

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I know from previously answer questions that if you take the script down, "ratings data is retained to identify similarities in taste between members." Here's a few questions that stems from that. Say an uploaded script is highly rated, but it hasn't been picked up yet (as many Black List scripts fall into this scenario). Even though the script is good, the traffic on the script dwindles and for whatever reason, the writer can no longer afford to pay the $25/month (perhaps they have a new script to post and can't afford more than one). Will that script ever make it onto the yearly Black List, which I understand is a separate entity? Is crossover ever possible? I'm guessing no one will know that there was a highly rated script on the site after the script is taken down (much like listing a house). If a writer were to relist the same script at a later date, do they need to build an all new rating, or is history taken into account? Does a writer build a reputation based on past script ratings that can also affect a future script's rating? Or perhaps not a reputation rating, but something like a confidence rating, based on past performance, that stays with the writer at all times? Thanks.

A question about ratings: Are reviewers given a rubric to help determine a rating or do they just pick a number from 1-10 ("This feels like a 5")? Also, can you provide more detail on what the rating numbers mean? For example, what makes a script a "5" versus a "6" (or another number)? Sharing a rating rubric would be great. Thanks!

Oh one other thing, you need to get 2 ratings for your script for it to make it onto the black list search engine or any of the lists. So you'll need 2 paid reviews (most likely) or 1 paid and 1 industry review. I think it's better then querying if your script is good. It will have a rating so people can see before requesting the script whether or not it's at the level it needs to be to turn into a movie. At the least it's helping provide us writerly types with some good feedback on what level we are at with our writing.

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