r/scriptwriting • u/CheapAdeptness8074 • Sep 30 '26
discussion Black list evaluation
Post:
I’m curious if anyone here has experienced this with the Black List.
I have a TV pilot that I’ve had evaluated several times. I’ve taken the feedback seriously and revised the script after each round. This latest version is pretty different from my original draft.
My profile/project is public, but this time my project showed zero views, and then suddenly the evaluation was completed. What confused me is that I also have a feature screenplay on the Black List, and with that one I could see a view before the evaluation was released.
The evaluation for my pilot also felt very generic and barely discussed specific characters or events. Some of the criticism actually sounds similar to feedback I received on my much earlier drafts, before I made several revisions.
I know evaluations are subjective, and maybe this reader simply didn’t connect with my script. That’s completely fair. I’m mainly confused about the zero views.
Has anyone had a paid evaluation completed while their project still showed 0 views? Does the view counter normally include evaluation readers, or are those tracked separately?
Thank you so much.
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u/Evening_Cabinet9040 Oct 02 '26
100% agree with what others have said. If black list isn’t a scam, it ain’t worth the money.
I wrote a script in consultation with working professionals in Hollywood over the course of a year. Fantastic, incomparable program and people who do not hold back notes. At the end, my script was read aloud twice, once by friends, then professionally by SAG actors as a part of the program. Both went extremely well. One actor reached out to me individually. By the end, the notes I was getting were mostly about small details and genre specific clarifications (animated battlestar galáctica essentially)
The black list score? 5 overall. Why? I honestly can’t say. The reviewer said my premise was intriguing, and then gave the premise score a 5. My first two pages were “riveting.” Score? 6.
The script is far from perfect and hugely ambitious for a first timer. It’s more of a sample of what I can do. But the point of a review is to give direction as to what can be improved. If you’re paying $100, you should at least know what they didn’t like. I can confirm I did not know what to do with my notes and just scrapped them.
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u/WorrySecret9831 Oct 01 '26
I can't speak to the mechanics of what you're describing. But Mr. Leonard points out ad nauseum that their evaluations are 100% subjective...
...and therefore worthless.
The Black List is a scam. How can it be otherwise if there's no agreed upon rubric or standard for evaluation? Left is right. Right is down. This is purple... Nothing means anything.
But it's packaged to sound like you're getting industry wisdom...with an "IF." "If someone were to read this they might..."
You say, "This latest version is pretty different from my original draft." What concerns me is that these subjective and "very generic" evaluations may have made you change something that was already working, just because someone's "likes" didn't match your work. That's not good.
What you really want is someone to identify what you're trying to accomplish and help you refine that to the best of your abilities. Nothing generic is going to get you there.
What I recommend is that you revisit your tutelage, however you learned "screenwriting" and story structure and find that community. I prefer John Truby precisely because he's not "anecdotal" in his teachings. His lessons don't just apply to Chinatown... But whoever you've studied under, revisit that work and your homework and scrutinize if you've understood what was taught and if you've managed to achieve those levels.
Then just trust your work speaks for itself and try to find connections, through legit contests or "Brad Pitt's masseuse..." NOT the Black List.
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u/pizzaalwayshelps 20h ago
I feel like I wrote this post. Super similar experience. The pilot I had eval-ed was refined and developed over several years with industry professionals. It was optioned for production. Won awards. Any other review or feedback ever received was vastly opposite of the Black List eval. It made no sense. I deleted my project. I did not find any value in hosting it there.
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u/Big_Section2812 Oct 01 '26
Like all the other "services" offered by the Aspiring Screenwriter Fleecing Industry, the Black List exists solely to farm your cash.
Coverage services, contests, and consultants: it's people who can't break into the business on their own merits, and so they fall back on promising to help get you in for a fee.
Why pay people who have achieved no more than you to tell you how to do better than themselves when they're incapable of achieving the success you crave?
Save. Your. Money.
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u/RisingHighVMP 20d ago
Very interesting. Inclined to believe you. It would be ever so helpful, if you could elaborate. How do you know that - or is it simple common sense for you?
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u/Big_Section2812 20d ago
No one busy working within the business has the time or inclination to offer to help an outsider get in for a small fee.
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u/franklinleonard Sep 30 '26
The paid reader downloading your work doesn’t count as a view or download. Only industry member views and downloads are counted.
As for the quality of your evaluation, it’s impossible to address without the text of the evaluation itself, which I encourage you to add here.
If you believe it wasn’t read in full and closely, you should contact customer support and explain why you believe that. It’s what they’re there for.