The Black List, an online service created for writers in the film and television market to make their scripts available to potential buyers, has expanded into the theatre industry. A two-prong service, playwrights can use the Black List to create a profile and host their own scripts for possible industry discovery, or they can purchase feedback on scripts from vetted theatre professionals. 

To launch the Black List's foray into theatre, the company has partnered with four high-profile regional theatres for four new $10,000 play commissions from playwrights using the service. The partner theatres are Miami New Drama in Florida, the Movement Theater Company in New York, Victory Gardens in Chicago and Woolly Mammoth in Washington, D.C.

“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.”

Leonard founded The Black List in 2005, first as a recommended list of unproduced screenplays (think Kilroys). In 2012, the company expanded to its current online profile. 

Submissions for the commissions are open through June 1. Playwrights may create a profile and host their scripts at a cost of $30 per script per month, with no fee hosting now through February 28. Feedback can be purchased at a rate of $100 per script, with $60 per play or musical paid to the evaluator. Dramatists Guild members receive a 20 percent discount. 

The Dramatists Guild will host a virtual Town Hall on January 26th at 7 PM ET with the Black List’s Franklin Leonard and Megan Halpern available to answer questions about the new theater initiative. Click here to register for the session.