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.

On: COVERAGE and LOGLINES

Don't listen to other people's opinions about your writing unless (1) they buy scripts for a living, or (2) you really like their writing a lot.

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I really like everything 120_pages says on Reddit's r/screenwriting.  Including the above quote which I agree with.  In principle.  But I still put up a page today with a short list of coverage sites that have been recommended by users because some of us just have little choice if we want to get any kind of decent notes. 

I finished a first draft of a script today, and I have a feeling stuff is out of order.  Like - I should have done the middle thing in the beginning, that sort of feeling.  But I can't see it from this distance (immersed in the story).   I need some objective feedback. 

I suggest asking for the kind of coverage you want.  If you have a concern, if you think your characters are flat, ask them to focus on that. 

I also suggest you do not pay for someone else to write your logline.  It's too important.  Go research and read and maybe, if you trust someone and respect their opinion, get feedback until you have something that sparks for you.  If you can't write a decent logline, chances are, you don't know what story you are telling. 

A poster showed up the other day with the most unbelievably boring logline I'd ever read.  There was nowhere to start because there was no story at all.  Then, quite by accident, I saw his script posted on another forum.  I thought I'd read it and maybe get a handle on his logline.  Most boring 5 pages I'd ever read. I just gave up. 

But after you listen, also ignore.  A guy writing slasher flicks who reads your rom-com is not going to give you the best notes, more than likely, and with bigger services, you won't know who your reader was. So, keep the salt shaker handy.  Don't crawl into your closet for week like I do.

Be a smart consumer.  Put the name of the reader or service you are considering into Google and see what forum posts pop up.

Find out what you are paying for and compare.  For instance, this is what Franklin Leonard says about Black List coverage:

The Black List charges $50 per screenplay ...The reader gets half that. ...  (Three paragraphs total. No plot summary)

You can get two pages of notes for $45 from a WGA screenwriter at The Story Coach. It's worth it to take some time and comparison shop.
   

Jeff Lowell's Black List Experiment

A thread on the Done Deal forum posted by Jeff Lowell, describes his "test" of the Black List by submitting a pilot script he'd written some years ago and had much interest in. He reports he opened an anonymous account, wrote a fairly bland logline and had one download from an eager producer.  Nice.  

But he also paid for two readings and got two ratings.  A 9+ which gets him on the "shotgun loglines to producers" list, and a 6 which gets you nothing.

He did get the "discounted third read" offer the BL sends out when someone complains about getting disparate scores.  No one knows how often* that happens, but it is a recurring theme in posts by former BL users: the inconsistency of the ratings.

Mr. Lowell seems to think his experiment means everyone should be posting to the Black List:

Bottom line first: if I were breaking in, the Blacklist would be a no-brainer to try.

Let's rewind here and look at this not from the perspective of an experienced industry professional, but from the POV of the nascent screenwriter without much money.  Let's posit they submit the same script Mr. Lowell did.  But they only buy one read.  And they get back a 6.  9 or 6 is a coinflip in this case.  And quite possibly the difference between success and failure.

What is the sincere and determined screenwriter  going to do?  Rewrite what is, I am sure, a wonderfully written script into ... something decidedly less wonderful.  They have little choice if they want to use the BL unless they are prepared to experiment with their money and buy several more reads and try to luck into an 8 or 9.   

Because, without that high score, they will pay month after month for the BL to host a script that no one is going to look at.  You have to get the score.  So they rewrite because they are new and unsure and someone on a forum told them it was the way to go, resubmit and get - a 5! 

But there was nothing wrong with the script in the first place.  How badly mangled will it be if they rewrite again? 

Mr. Lowell's experiment seems to this blogger to only confirm what so many already know: the BL might be a fine venue for insiders and pros, but for the inexperienced writer, it's a Black Hole.

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*Franklin Leonard has commented that these results only happen a small fraction of the time.  There is no objective evidence to support or refute this claim.