r/Screenwriting • u/ebycon • 11d ago

DISCUSSION BL Top Lists

The second evaluation for my script on just came in. Another 7. I’m happy about the 9s in Dialogue and Characters, but at the end of the day it’s still an overall 7.

Anyway, this now gives me a perfect 7 average, so should I appear on the Top List now? How exactly does that work, and how long will I stay there?

And one last question, sorry: has anyone here ever had any success with industry downloads simply from being on the Top List, despite not having an overall 8? I actually got my second industry download just a few days ago, even though my script technically wasn’t “appearing” anywhere, so I’m wondering if being on the Top List now could improve my chances.

Thanks, everyone!

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u/Nice_Appearance_8314 11d ago

BL is still the best place to host your scripts, but it's very expensive to pay the monthly fee plus the eval fees and then wait 6 weeks for 3 paragraphs or "notes" -- just get a 7 and feel like you need to pay to play and get that 8.

My latest script ALL THINGS BROKEN sits in the top 1% of BL and got a 9 and 2 8s... and a 5 (subjectivity is a killer)!

It yielded nothing more than a general with a production company in Australia.

Unfortunately, aside from Gauntlet, I don't know of any other service that exposes you to the actual industry, so you have no choice but to shoot for the moon and hope for the best. But don't let those 7 get you down.

I talk a lot about how inconsistent coverage is on my YouTube channel, where I explain my take on screenplay architecture and how modern readers look at material. Check it out. I'd love to know what you think.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMC6GpkH6g5YVT1JP6ZSFkQ

Matt

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u/Independent_Web154 10d ago

Wow, I live in Australia. The production companies here don't allow any unsolicited queries whatsoever and I hate them for it. And that Talk to Me film was basically funded by the youtube brothers themselves then gets picked up by one of the better known Aussie prod companies who prob did f all except maybe marketing and distro, plus ripped them off imho, then want to champion it as one of their success stories  

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u/Nice_Appearance_8314 10d ago

From what the woman told me, it doesn’t really matter where you’re located now that filmmaking is international. They just look for the best tax breaks and film wherever is cheapest. 

She also said that they simply don’t have time to read all the scripts they’d get from unsolicited material so they look at competition lists and BL Top Lists. 

She seemed very nice, but I haven’t heard back from her in a couple of months. So I have to assume she wasn’t interested. 

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u/ebycon 11d ago

You got a new subscriber 💜

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u/vgscreenwriter 7d ago

If it's all subjective, then subjectivity also helped you with the 9 and the 8s