Analysis: 2019 Black List
A deep dive into the scripts named to this year’s annual Black List.
A deep dive into the scripts named to this year’s annual Black List.
The 2019 Black List rolled out Monday — you can find titles, writers and loglines for all of the selected scripts here — and as promised, today we have some statistics and analysis for you.
First some interesting stats about this year’s Black List:
- There are 66 screenplays on the 2019 Black List (There were 73 screenplays on the 2018 Black List)
- Over 250 working film executives at major Hollywood financiers and production companies contributed to the 2019 Black List
- 30% of the scripts on the 2019 Black List have a financier attached (27% on 2018 Black List)
- 68% of the scripts on 2019 Black List have a producer attached (74% on the 2018 Black List)
- There are 20 scripts written at least in part by a female writer on the 2019 Black List and 36 scripts featuring a female protagonist (based on their loglines.) Note the trendline from 2015 to present for female driven scripted projects. With the small decline in female writers represented on the Black List the last two years, that means that male writers are taking on more stories with female leads.
Drilling down into the scripts, here are some interesting notes (courtesy The Black List:
NOTE: There is a decided decrease in scripts represented on this year’s list based on real stories and/or people. Last year: 27. This year: 11. What had been about a five-year trend of these type of adaptations dropped sharply in 2019. Perhaps this reflects a desire to read — and hopefully produce —movies based on original stories.
With the ongoing dispute between the WGA and the ATA, there is a decided decline in agency representation on this year’s Black List:
Scripts By Agency
Verve 10.5
CAA 8
UTA 6.5
Gersh 2
Paradigm 2
WME 2
APA 1
Buchwald 1
NOTE: Verve has signed an agreement with the WGA and several writers have switched to them for representation. This appears to be reflected in their numbers atop the list.
Scripts By Management Company
Grandview 7
Writ Large 5.5
Bellevue Entertainment 5
Kaplan/Perrone 5
Anonymous Content 2
Circle of Confusion 2
Equitable Management 2
Fourth Wall 2
Gotham Group 2
Lit Entertainment 2
Management 360 2
3 Arts Entertainment 1
Alibi 1
Brillstein Entertainment Partners 1
Echo Lake 1
Elia 1
Farah Films & Management 1
Free Will 1
Heroes & Villains Entertainment 1
Hopscotch Partners 1
Housefire Management 1
Imagine Artist Management 1
Lighthouse Management + Media 1
Magnolia Entertainment 1
Mazo Partners 1
Mosaic 1
MXN Entertainment 1
Old Soul Entertainment 1
Rise 1
Secret Engine 1
Stride Management 1
Underground 1
Zero Gravity 1
For GITS analyses of previous Black Lists:
As always, I encourage people to read as many of these Black List scripts as possible. These 66 scripts represent, as best as we can know at this moment in time, where development execs’ heads are at and most importantly what types of stories resonate with them.