SPECSCOUT

I've had several run-ins with Franklin Leonard of Black List fame, most recently on r/screenwriting where he jumped bad once again when I recommended Specscout over the Black List.  Here's the last comment he made attacking Specscout:

I thought him dissing the Nicholl was a big enough foot-in-mouth, but I wanted to find out if SpecScout did have any success stories. So I asked. I emailed Specscout and asked if they had any success stories to share. This is the response I got from Tim Lambert.

We're going to be including all of this with tons of specifics in v2 of our site, which we're launching towards the end of this month.  Of the ~60 scripts that have qualified for access, 6 have had some form of success by awesome companies.  For example, David Landcaster picked up one of our scouted scripts and is producing it as his first project since departing Bold.  Or, as another example, a manger at Benderspink is now representing one of our scouted scripts.
Regards,
Tim

What's interesting is the numbers. Specscout says they have about SIXTY scripts that qualified to be in their library.  That's a very exclusive club.  And what that gets the writer is unlimited, perpetual and free access to that library to upload their other scripts without having them vetted.

Specscout seems like a big investment at $200 bucks a pop for coverage.  But the coverage is so thorough and well-done, three different people cover your script.  If they score you high enough, your script ends up in the Libraray with all that free access.

This is why I do not recommend the Black List:

Why would  you give Franklin Leonard your money to have their script on the BL? If you want coverage, there are well-priced and much more reliable options. (see "Coverage" tab above)  From the BL you get a reader being paid crap who gives you three paragraphs, essentially. And there are rather a lot of complaints in forums on the quality of those notes.   And it isn't coverage, not intended to be.

Go check out SpecScout. Read the sample coverage. Note that if you score well, you can put all your screenplays up forever and never pay another dime.

SO

Is your screenplay worth the $200? If not why do you want to give FL your $75.00?  That's for a month of hosting and one read. You know over time you are going to be giving the Black List a lot more money. More months of hosting after you rewrite, more reads trying to get to the 8 rating.  You will spend $200 anyway.  Don't do that until you are sure you have something of professional quality and choose the right service.

Here are some numbers:

  So far (and they haven't put up all their numbers as of this post Sept 4, 2014) SpecScout's ratio is 60-1. I'm not sure the BL comparison is that useful, as the 12k number is, I believe, hosted scripts, not those that made an 8 and were sent to industry professionals.

Leonard has reported 3 or 4 scripts that were sold or optioned, a few writers who got repped. But my investigation showed all had previous professional experience. were already repped or worked in the industry.  That is: I didn't find that guy in Columbus, Ohio sending his stuff in with no contacts or representation. But these are the people most likely to pay for hosting.

The question is: what do you want?  If you want coverage, go buy coverage.  If you want to be hosted someplace the industry takes seriously, IMO, that's Specscout.  Why do I think they are taken seriously by producers and development people?  Jason Scoggins.  The Scoggins Report guy.

Jason Scoggins. Jason brings over a decade of entertainment industry entrepreneurship to the table. In addition to boots-on-the-ground experience as a TV Lit agent (at Gersh and Writers & Artists) and feature lit manager (at Protocol and Eureka Canyon), he founded ItsontheGrid.com, the feature film database company he sold to TheWrap.com in 2011. His weekly film development newsletter, the Scoggins Report, has been a spec market staple since early 2009 and currently goes out to nearly 5000 industry executives and creatives.

Here's the link. Check it out.  Decide what makes sense if you take yourself seriously as a screenwriter. It's your money.