The Black List has partnered with Onyx Collective on an initiative that will put an unpublished manuscript on the pipeline to production with the offer of an 18-month film or TV option deal.
The Black List, known for its annual list of the most-liked unproduced screenplays and its screenplay submission service, will assist Onyx Collective, the content brand behind such projects as “How to Die Alone,” “Reasonable Doubt,” the Emmy-winning docuseries “The 1619 Project” and the Oscar-winning documentary “Summer of Soul,” in identifying a shortlist of outstanding fiction manuscripts that elevate themes and perspectives of the Black experience. The initiative will offer an option film or TV deal for a period of no less than 18 months for the selected manuscript.
“Tara Duncan is one of my favorite people on Earth, much less in Hollywood, so it’s an utter joy to partner with Onyx Collective under her leadership to help find a novel that they will option for film or television adaptation,” said Franklin Leonard, founder and CEO of The Black List. “Honestly, the only thing more exciting than doing so is knowing that the work we find will be in the best of hands once we do.”
Added Onyx Collective president Tara Duncan: “Amplifying underrepresented artists is at the heart of our mission. The Black List has been an important resource for identifying a new generation of storytelling, for Onyx to support The Black List expansion is a no brainer. I am personally excited to collaborate with Franklin and showcase great stories on a global scale.”
The initiative marks the next step in The Black List’s evolution, as the organization prepares to celebrate its 20th anniversary. The Black List expanded into fiction in September, allowing fiction writers to use blcklst.com to create a free profile that showcases their completed novels regardless of publication status, purchase professional feedback from The Black List’s experienced readers, and submit their manuscripts to various fiction-specific programs.
For the Onyx Collective initiative, unpublished fiction manuscripts that have received at least one evaluation are eligible for opt-in consideration; opting in is free. The Black List will then use all available data related to manuscript submissions to determine a shortlist to be shared with Onyx Collective. The submission period is open on the blcklist.com now through August 6, 2025.
Established in 2005 as an annual survey of Hollywood’s most-liked unproduced screenplays, The Black List has since grown into a comprehensive resource for film, TV, publishing, and theater. More than 400 scripts from The Black List have been produced, grossing over $28 billion at the worldwide box office and winning four best picture Oscars and 12 best screenplay Oscars. In 2012, The Black List launched online, where it has hosted more than 100,000 scripts and provided more than 130,000 script evaluations.
