The 13th edition of the "Black List" features 76 unproduced screenplays. Here are 11 of them, indexed from O to R.
You can read and download the "Black List: 2017" screenplays and scripts right here, right now. They're listed and indexed alphabetically for quick access.
For Your Consideration, the next batch of 11 scripts. Including Ryan Jennifer Jones' "On," to John Swetnam's, "Ruthless," and everything in between.
If you're a young writer looking for study guides, you've found the right place. These "Black List: 2017" scripts were chosen by industry executives as their favorite among unproduced screenplays from the past year.
What is "The Black List" you ask? To find out how it all works, scroll down a little bit.
Unsure about exactly what is the "Black List"? Read on.
Consider the name ironic.
This isn't a list of scripts written by those who are unwelcome in the industry. Rather, "The Black List" is a compilation of "most liked" unproduced screenplays from a particular year. Screenwriters, young and old, repped or voiceless, submit their works for consideration.
Annually, since 2005, film industry executives read hundreds of screenplays and choose which ones are their favorite. Referred to as a "mention" (a vote), favored scripts with the most mentions are featured on, in this regard, the "Black List: 2017." And, you may have already noticed that a great number of screenplays featured on The List have since been produced.
Past picks include "Coffee & Kareem," and "The Last Witch Hunter."
On
Written by: Ryan Jennifer Jones
Mentions: 6
In a slightly futuristic/hyper-efficient Manhattan, a newly-single book editor purchases a customizable sex android to assuage her broken heart. When her toy’s closed feedback loop starts to alter her personality, she must reevaluate the merits of a perfectly-compatible partner.
One Thousand Paper Cranes
Written by: Ben Bolea
Mentions: 13
The incredible story of Sadako Sasaki, a young girl living in Hiroshima when the atomic bomb was dropped. Years later when she gets leukemia, she hears about the legend that if someone folds one thousand paper cranes, a wish will be granted. At the same time, aspiring writer Eleanor Coerr learns of Sadako’s story and becomes determined to bring her message of hope and peace to the world.
The Other Lamb (2019)
Written by: Catherine McMullen
Mentions: 9
A young female coming-of-age story set within an alternative religion. IMDb
Panopticon
Written by: Emily Jerome
Mentions: 6
A look at the criminal justice and private prison system, told from the perspectives of a new inmate, a correctional officer, and a Wall Street hotshot.
The Poison Squad
Written by: Dreux MorelandJoey DePaolo
Mentions: 7
Based on the true story of Harvey Wiley, an eccentric chemist who conducted the first experiment on human tolerance to poison, which catalyzed a movement resulting in the founding of the Food and Drug Administration.
Power (n.k.a. Project Power) (2020)
Written by: Mattson Tomlin
Mentions: 11
When a young drug dealer is kidnapped by a man hellbent on finding his missing daughter, they must team up to get to the bottom of the mystery of the intense street drug known as Power. IMDb
The Prospect
Written by: Ben Epstein
Mentions: 7
Michael Jordan uses a year as a baseball prospect to find himself after his father’s death.
Queen Elizabeth
Written by: Shatara Michelle Ford
Mentions: 6
An uptight, high-achieving, black post-grad who becomes (increasingly) irreverent and (slightly) destructive when she realizes that the life she’s living is not the life she wants.
Rodney & Sheryl
Written by: Ian MacAllister-McDonald
Mentions: 6
Based on the unbelievable true story of serial killer Rodney Alcala–detectives have estimated Alcala’s body count to be north of 130 victims. Despite being in the midst of a killing spree, Alcala appeared on won a date with one of the contestants on THE DATING GAME.
Ruin
Written by: Matthew FirpoRyan Firpo
Mentions: 68 (1st overall in 2017)
A nameless ex-Nazi captain must navigate the ruins of post-WWII Germany to atone for his crimes during the war by hunting down and killing the surviving members of his former SS death squad.
Ruthless
Written by: John Swetnam
Mentions: 13 (19th overall in 2017)
After she is diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, a former assassin must carry out one last assignment in order to ensure her daughter’s future.
