Press Release — As of today, English language writers for the stage (plays and musicals) can use the Black List website to create writer profiles, host their work for theatre, film, and television professionals, and purchase high quality feedback with a rapid turnaround from vetted theatre industry readers to further amplify their work's visibility throughout the storytelling industries.

“This is probably long overdue,” said Black List founder Franklin Leonard. “Now possibly more than ever, playwrights are often film and television writers, and film and television writers often write for the stage. Connecting all these writers and the professionals who can support their work and advance their careers in a well-structured online community is a no brainer. Doing so within an ecosystem that can also provide fast turnaround, high quality feedback for writers and pay the readers well even moreso.”

The Dramatists Guild will be hosting a virtual Town Hall on Wednesday, January 26, where the Black List’s Franklin Leonard and Megan Halpern will answer questions about the new theatre initiative.

Register for the event here.

To commemorate its theatre launch, the Black List has partnered with four award-winning theatres to commission plays for $10,000 each:

• Miami New Drama is the largest bilingual theatre company in America. They aim to only produce work that is as diverse, multicultural, and multilingual as their community. They are looking for writers that understand and are interested in exploring the unique sensibilities of a city like Miami and its connection to the larger socio-political national conversation. They are excited by writers that are actively thinking about what the future of theatre looks like in this country, and interested in the ways Miami is a part of it since, demographically, Miami - as a community - is already living in the future.
   
• The Movement Theatre Company is seeking authentic and complex stories about communities of color that are bold, risky and unapologetic. They are seeking artists exploring ambitious, herculean ideas, exploding the theatrical form and who are unafraid to re-imagine what theatre can be and who it is for.
   
• Victory Gardens nurtures and produces relevant, new theatre work that reflects the diverse stories of our world and contributes to the vitality of the American theatre. Their work inspires dialogue towards meaningful civic change and creates an inclusive theatre experience that belongs to everyone. As part of their commitment to their mission and to fostering a more inclusive American theatre canon, they are particularly excited to support work by writers with disabilities, Native writers, TGNC writers, and writers over age 50.
   
• Woolly Mammoth produces courageous and invigorating new work. They are looking for bold artistry and aesthetic innovation alongside civic provocation.

Qualified writers can opt into consideration for the commissions on the Black List website starting today. Submissions will be open through June 1, 2022.

"We're thrilled to be part of the inaugural cohort of theatres collaborating with The Black List and look forward to this opportunity to forge deeper partnerships between the worlds of theatre and film,” said Ken-Matt Martin, Artistic Director of Victory Gardens. “As both our industries look towards building a sustainable future for the arts, it's vital that we develop new models to support artists in the creation of bold, innovative new work that speaks to the beauty and challenges of our world today."

“It's an honor to be collaborating with Franklin Leonard and the Black List,” said Michel Hausmann, Artistic Director of Miami New Drama, “Their impact and transformation of the film industry is nothing short of miraculous, and we are thrilled to be a part of the theatre version that I am certain will help democratize and open opportunities for countless artists who have been overlooked.”

"As a writer I submitted a project to the Black List in 2017 and found the care around the feedback extremely helpful in my own journey as a writer interested in transitioning to TV/Film,” said Eric Lockley, Producing Artistic Leader of the Movement Theatre Company. I'm thrilled that now The Movement will be a part of the Black List's launch for theatre. As a company committed to nurturing new voices and building community, this partnership provides access to artists around the world whose work may be aligned with ours. How exciting!"

On the website, theatre industry professionals, along with the Black List’s already existing 5000+ strong film and television industry professional membership, will be able to discover and download these plays and musicals. Industry membership remains free for approved qualified industry members who can reasonably support or advance a playwright’s career in the theatre, film, or television world. In addition to our five commissioning theatre partners, inaugural theatre industry members include the American Theatre Wing, Center Theater Group, DCPA Theatre Company, Deaf West Theatre, New Dramatists, True Colors, Seattle Rep, and Yale Rep.

Through Monday, February 28, playwrights can host their plays and musicals entirely free of charge: Users who upload their work to the website on or before February 28 will automatically receive a free month of hosting for their play that will expire one month from the day of its upload. Thereafter, normal fees apply. Need-based fee waivers are available through an application on the Black List website. Black List theatre readers will be paid $60 per play or musical evaluation plus bonuses based on volume and quality.

ABOUT THE BLACK LIST

The Black List, an annual survey of Hollywood executives' favorite unproduced screenplays, was founded in 2005. Since then, at least 440 Black List scripts have been produced, grossing over $30 billion in box office worldwide. Black List movies have won 54 Academy Awards from 267 nominations, including four of the last twelve Best Picture Oscars and eleven of the last 28 Best Screenplay Oscars.

In October of 2012, the Black List launched a unique online community where screenwriters make their work available to readers, buyers and employers. Since its inception, it has hosted nearly 80,000 screenplays and teleplays and provided more than 130,000 script evaluations. As a direct result of introductions made on the Black List, dozens of writers have found representation at major talent agencies and management companies, as well as sold or optioned their screenplays. Several films have been produced from scripts showcased on the website including Golden Globe nominated Nightingale, starring David Oyelowo.

Currently, the Black List hosts over 5,000 scripts by approximately 3,700 writer members. These scripts are available for download by industry professionals ranging from agency assistants, to studio and network presidents, to A-list actors and directors.

The Black List’s first feature production, Come As You Are, debuted at SXSW in 2019 and is Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes (98% Critics, 80% Audience). Its second feature, Breaking News in Yuba County, directed by Oscar-nominated director Tate Taylor and starring Allison Janney, Mila Kunis, Regina Hall, Awkwafina, Wanda Sykes, and Juliette Lewis, was released in February 2021 by MGM Studios.

More information on the Black List is available at www.blcklst.com. For regular updates, join our mailing listor follow the Black List on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

ABOUT MIAMI NEW DRAMA

Miami New Drama is a nonprofit professional theatre company based in Miami Beach, Florida committed to artistic excellence and groundbreaking work, with a vision of theatre as a powerful form of social engagement. It is the largest bilingual theatre company in America. In residence at the historic Colony Theatre on Miami Beach, the company focuses on the development of new plays and musicals in both English and Spanish, most notably 7 Deadly Sins, winner of the prestigious Drama League Award, the first ever multilingual adaptation of Thornton Wilder’s classic Our Town, The Cubans by Michael Leon, Confessions of a Cocaine Cowboyby Billy Corben & Aurin Squire, Queen of Basel by Hilary Bettis, ¡Viva La Parranda! by Betsayda Machado, and La Parranda El Clavo, in collaboration with Juan Souki, Gente Ociosa by Karin Valecillos, and the world premiere development of the new Louis Armstrong musical A Wonderful World. Miami New Drama is also the winner of two Knight Arts Challenge awards and a Knight New Works Miami award from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. It was the 2018 Miami New Times Best Theater for Drama.

ABOUT THE MOVEMENT THEATRE COMPANY

The Movement Theatre Company creates an artistic social movement by developing and producing bold new work by artists of color. Under the leadership of David Mendizábal, Deadria Harrington, Eric Lockley, Ryan Dobrin, and Taylor Reynolds, their work engages multicultural audiences in a rich theatrical dialogue, enlightens communities to the important issues affecting our world, and empowers artists to celebrate the many sides of their unique voice. Founded in 2007, The Movement has established itself as an artistic staple in New York theatre, championed by community and acclaimed by the industry (OBIE-Award Winner, Drama Desk and Drama League Award Nominee). As an organization run by producers of color, The Movement is passionate about shifting the status quo of American theatre both on-stage and behind the scenes. Past productions include: What to Send Up When It Goes Down by Aleshea Harris, directed by Whitney White (NY Premiere and Northeast Tour, 2018 - 2021), 1MOVE: DES19NED BY... (2020), Harrison David Rivers' And She Would Stand Like This (2016) choreographed by Kia LaBeija, and Look Upon Our Lowliness (2014), both directed by David Mendizábal, Bintou by Koffi Kwahulé, translated by Chantal Bilodeau, directed by David Mendizábal (2010) and Hope Speaks, devised and directed by Jonathan McCrory (2008).

ABOUT VICTORY GARDENS

Under the leadership of Artistic Director Ken-Matt Martin and Acting Managing Director Roxanna Conner, Victory Gardens is dedicated to artistic excellence while creating a vital, contemporary American theatre that is accessible and relevant to all people through productions of challenging new plays and musicals. Victory Gardens is committed to the development, production and support of new plays, which has been the mission of the theatre since its founding, set forth by Dennis Začek, Marcelle McVay, and the original founders of Victory Gardens Theater, and continued by former Artistic Director Chay Yew.

Victory Gardens Theater is a leader in developing and producing new theatre work and cultivating an inclusive Chicago theatre community. Victory Gardens’ core strengths are nurturing and producing dynamic and inspiring new plays, reflecting the diversity of our city’s and nation’s culture through engaging diverse communities, and, in partnership with Chicago Public Schools, bringing art and culture to our city’s active student population.

Since its founding in 1974, the company has produced more world premieres than any other Chicago theatre, a commitment recognized nationally when Victory Gardens received the 2001 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre. Located in the Lincoln Park neighborhood, Victory Gardens Biograph Theater includes the Začek-McVay Theater, a state-of-the-art 259-seat mainstage, and the 109-seat studio theatre on the second floor, named the Richard Christiansen Theater.

ABOUT WOOLLY MAMMOTH

Woolly Mammoth creates badass theatre that highlights the stunning, challenging, and tremendous complexity of our world. For over 40 years, Woolly has maintained a high standard of artistic rigor while simultaneously daring to take risks, innovate, and push beyond perceived boundaries. One of the few remaining theatres in the country to maintain a company of artists, Woolly serves as an essential research and development role within the American theatre. Plays premiered here have gone on to productions at hundreds of theatres all over the world and have had lasting impacts on the field. Co-led by Artistic Director Maria Manuela Goyanes and Managing Director Emika Abe, Woolly is located in Washington, DC, equidistant from the Capitol Building and the White House. This unique location influences Woolly’s investment in actively working towards an equitable, participatory, and creative democracy.

Woolly Mammoth stands upon occupied, unceded territory: the ancestral homeland of the Nacotchtank whose descendants belong to the Piscataway peoples. Furthermore, the foundation of this city, and most of the original buildings in Washington, DC, were funded by the sale of enslaved people of African descent and built by their hands.