Announcing The Bay List
The Black List, the world-renowned platform that has transformed the screenwriting industry since 2005, is thrilled to announce The Bay List: a new collaboration between The Black List and Rafael Casal designed to identify and highlight ten exceptional screenplays and pilots by writers from or with close ties to the Bay Area.
This project is helmed by hometown heroes and tastemakers looking to champion writing from the next class of emerging storytellers, including BAVC Media! Additional participants in the inaugural Bay List include: Unanimous Media (Stephen Curry and Erick Peyton), Playtone (Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman), 186K Films (Hasan Minhaj and Prashanth Venkataramanujam), Cinemama (Boots Riley, Laura Wagner, George Rush and more), Jingletown Films (Cheryl Dunye and Karina Hodoyan), Lucasfilm (LeAndre Thomas), Who Knows Best Productions (W. Kamau Bell and Melissa Hudson Bell), Daveed Diggs (Blindspotting, Hamilton), Life in Motion Productions (Misty Copeland), 826 Valencia (Dave Eggers), Peter Nicks (Stephen Curry: Underrated, Homeroom), Joe Talbot (The Last Black Man in San Francisco), Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden (Captain Marvel, Freaky Tales), 5 Stick Films (Benjamin Bratt, Peter Bratt and Alpita Patel) and Dolby Laboratories.
“For nearly 50 years BAVC Media has led the way for local communities to access the tools, resources, and networks for Bay Area media making. Partnering with The Bay List is a boon for the media makers we train and support” said Paula Smith Arrigoni, Executive Director at BAVC Media. “We’re excited for Bay Area rooted media makers to have their stories read, nurtured and made. It’s a huge win for all of us!”
“I’ve been a long-time admirer of the arts community in the Bay generally so it was a no brainer to jump in when Rafa reached out about being a part of it directly,” said Black List founder Franklin Leonard. “Little did I appreciate just how big the Bay does things. It’s a real honor to be partnered up with folks this committed to community and a community dedicated to helping support and find great writing within it. Everyone should pay attention to the scripts on The Bay List when it comes out.”
Photo: @rafaelcasal
“When I was growing up in the Bay, there was no ladder to climb. It was a seemingly impossible dream. Now, the Bay has an Avengers-like count of successful hometown heroes who want to help let the ladder down for the next wave of storytellers,” said Casal. “The Bay List is my hope to assemble those superheroes on the home turf and put a spotlight on the best writing emerging from the Bay. The Black List has already built the model, we are just giving it the Bay treatment.”
In addition to amplifying the ten selected projects, The Bay List will also present its writers with various educational benefits from the partner organizations listed above. Further benefits for projects on the Bay List may be announced at a later date.
In keeping with the spirit of the Bay List’s goal to lower the barrier of entry for writers, Dolby Laboratories has graciously donated fee waivers for one month of free hosting and one free evaluation for the first 150 eligible submissions. When requesting a fee waiver, writers will have to explain their close ties to the Bay Area. The Black List and partners will have the right to approve or reject each request based on eligibility.
More information about Bay List eligibility and project submissions is available on The Black List’s website.
