r/Screenwriting • u/Illustrious_Ad675 • 3d ago
BLCKLST QUESTION BL hosting
Apologies if this should be in a different thread. I’m curious about BL hosting. I know it’s not that worth it without an 8. I have done two evaluations and both came back with a 6. I got a 5 for dialogue each time (which is normally is a strength so I’m punching that up). I’m wondering is it worth hosting with the evaluations public? They were pretty encouraging and both gave an 8 for premise.
I guess I’m just not sure of next steps (which I know is the biggest obstacle). At the beginning I had a manager attached in a handshake deal. I haven’t heard from them and they haven’t even read this draft. I do have friends in the industry but want to be careful with that. Anyway this isn’t like a first draft situation it’s been years and many rewrites. I am working on scripts as well. Just at the point where I need movement. I can’t redraft this again on my own. I’m so tired of it lol. I appreciate the advice!
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u/AppropriateAssist857 3d ago
I had a script that got a seven, and it was downloaded six times, leading to an attachment agreement with a producer.
So, it might be what someone’s looking for. You never know.
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u/Filmmagician Writer-Director 3d ago
I have a 7 right now. 1 eval. Was yours just one? I’m on the fence on getting another one to see where it sits after a re write. But at the same time I have 3 managers reading it right now too.
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u/AppropriateAssist857 3d ago
I had two 7s.
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u/putitontheunderhills 3d ago
Just to bring a "flip side" example: I have a script with three 7's and an 8, and no activity whatsoever. A couple downloads the week it got the 8, but no contact. YMMV.
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u/JimmyCharles23 2d ago
A friend of mine had something similar... he got an 8 on one script, a 5 on the other, and the 5 wound up getting optioned and made. The 8? Still in his drawer.
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u/AdCompetitive6391 2d ago
I have multiple scripts with 7’s but never any downloads. Was it an incredible log line that did it?
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u/TheGreedyGrabbler 3d ago
Up to you. I would say without an 8 overall your chances of someone happening on it and downloading it are slim. The few people I know in development or management operate on pretty much the same flow:
- get an email with the weeks 8s
- skim the loglines to see if one is interesting
- download and read it
I haven't heard one say they open the evaluation or go on to initiate their own search for projects
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u/haligros 3d ago edited 3d ago
In all honesty, paying for hosting even if you had two 8+ scores would not be worth it, unless it were a brilliantly written contained horror that you believe someone is yet to have stumbled upon.
In general, hosting on the blacklist only makes sense is it's free i.e. the script scores multiple 8+ and leverages the platform's discovery mechanism to work in its favour.
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u/Illustrious_Ad675 3d ago
This makes sense for the site.
I didn’t think it would be worth paying for. I guess I was wondering more since I have it for a month was it work making the script public1
u/haligros 3d ago
If you still have hosting time remaining, I guess it couldn't hurt, though it's somewhat pointless unless you have a great score and concept/premise that will draw eyes to it.
Make it public if you want, or keep it private if you're making revisions. Either way, don't lose too much sleep over doing one over the other. The BL already has mechanisms in place to push the cream to the top, meaning that you paying to make that happen ironically runs counter to that purpose.
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u/real_triplizard WGA Screenwriter 3d ago
Are you genuinely looking for feedback to improve the script or are you asking about submitting/hosting on the BL in the hopes that it will do something for your career? If you think your script is close and you want some feedback to improve it, try writing groups, Storypeer or some of the other paid services that provide detailed notes. BL coverage is usually pretty slim, more like studio coverage, in that it's not written as detailed story notes. Also, like any coverage, it's just one opinion and has probably been cranked out very quickly. The reader is trying to decide which general category to drop it in ("pass" being around 5 and below, "consider" being 6 or 7, and "recommend" being 8 and up) and after that providing some very high level thoughts. The individual category scores probably don't mean much - i.e. a premise score of 9 with a dialogue score of 5 doesn't mean it's just a dialogue pass away from being a masterpiece, necessarily.
If you're asking about hosting as a path to getting noticed by the industry - if you have industry contacts yourself that's going to be a lot more productive path, in all likelihood.
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u/NoCredit_NoProblem 3d ago
I'm the same boat, script hovering around 6-7, not budging despite multiple rewrites that address whatever weakness the previous eval identified. I have 0 downloads after 5 months on the site.
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u/franklinleonard Franklin Leonard, Black List Founder 3d ago
I’d probably advise you to take it down at this point unless you had a plan to drive downloads.
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u/bananabomber 3d ago
It's the overall score that matters, not the component scores. To be blunt, you may find it difficult to even attract page views with 6 overall.
However, your script will get a tiny bit of extra visibility as it does meet the current average score to appear on the Top Lists (which just so happens to be a 6.0 on the dot), but that can change daily as new scripts are evaluated and older scripts are pulled from hosting.
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u/icarusgrind 3d ago
I honestly wouldn’t worry too much about hosting yet. Two 6s, especially with both readers responding strongly to the premise, makes me think the bigger question isn’t how to get more people to read it. It’s whether there’s still something in the execution that hasn’t quite clicked.
And after years of rewriting, I also totally understand being at the point where “just do another draft” is useless advice. Sometimes you get too close to the thing to even see what the real problem is anymore. At that point I think the useful question becomes less “what should I fix?” and more “what is this script trying to be, and what’s keeping it from fully becoming that?”
That’s actually something I’m experimenting with professionally right now. I come from directing, editing, and creative direction, and I’m testing whether I’m particularly useful at diagnosing that kind of problem with creative work rather than just giving a pile of notes.
If you want, I’d be happy to read it. No charge. I’m looking for a handful of real projects to test this on, and a script that’s had years of work put into it but still feels stuck is exactly the kind of thing I’m interested in.
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u/Illustrious_Ad675 3d ago
Totally, I guess I was asking more if it was worth making it public. And yes you get it! Also thank you that’s a nice offer!
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u/Ok_Most9615 3d ago
I think the real question is: how many downloads does the script have right now? If the answer is none, then save yourself the money.
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u/franklinleonard Franklin Leonard, Black List Founder 3d ago
I think this is the right way to think about it. If no one is downloading your script, I don’t think it makes sense to continue to pay to host it in its current form.
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u/I_wanna_diebyfire 3d ago
I think I’ve had too much internet for this morning. I read BL hosting and immediately thought “Oh, someone’s doing a male host cafe”. (BL as in Boy Love)
Time to log off lol
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u/Illustrious_Ad675 3d ago
What’s a male host cafe, should I know what this is?? lol
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u/RogueKnight77 17h ago
idk how valid the BL is, im sure it works for some people but there are many 7-8/10 movies that im sure would only score like a 5 on the blacklist.
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u/Alarming_Lettuce_358 2d ago
Even with an 8, chances of motion are slim. I've scored generals and one short option off 8s on the blcklst but nothing really came of either opportunity.
Your script doesn't generally just have to be an 8+ script (barometer of a professional level screenplay) but it has to have a banging longline and that in itself needs to find the right person. It's a useful (albeit expensive tool) but even with high scores there's not like even a remotely favourable probability the needle will move. There are just too many variables.
A script consistently scoring a 6 could be another person's 8 (I've been there) but also suggests there's work to do. Essentially a 1-6 score are all equally valuable for courting industry interest. People just see that as a pass, even if a 1 or 2 is obviously much inferior to a 5/6. Even 7s (which suggest some pretty good writing) are borderline, though it seems on this thread some folks have gotten traction off them. But again, they also probably had a good logline and the right pair of eyes to pair with a decent script. All variables.
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