EXCLUSIVE: The Black List won’t be releasing its 20th anniversary tally until later this year, but the Franklin Leonard-founded platform is rolling into the Bay Area with a new collaboration and a deep bench of partners.
Focusing on the talent-rich San Francisco and Oakland region, the brand new Bay List will announce 10 inaugural projects next summer. If you are part of the 415, 510 or 628 area codes, among others, you have until April 8, 2025 to submit an eligible project. Find out more info about Leonard and Blindspotting creator/showrunner Rafael Casal‘s brainchild here.
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“I’ve been a longtime 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,” Leonard told Deadline on Tuesday. “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.”
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“When I was growing up in the Bay, there was no ladder to climb,” adds Loki star Casal. “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,” the Def Poetry alum notes. “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.”
To that end, the “Bay treatment,’ the very first Bay List will receive comes courtesy of some pretty big local heavy hitters. Among those participating include Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry and Erick Peyton’s Unanimous Media; Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman’s Playtone; Hasan Minhaj and Prashanth Venkataramanujam’s 186K Films; Benjamin Bratt, Peter Bratt and Alpita Patel’s 5 Stick Films; and Boots Riley, Laura Wagner, George Rush and others’ Cinemama.
Additional participants include 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), BAVC Mediaand Dolby Laboratories.
“The San Francisco Bay Area – from the Beat Poets and Oakland Black Arts movement to the muralist renaissance of the Mission district – has always nurtured and inspired artistic and cultural risk takers,” points out 5 Stick Films principals, Peter Bratt, Benjamin Bratt & Alpita Patel. “We at 5 Stick Films are honored and excited to help curate the inaugural Bay List which will continue in that rich tradition and empower the next generation of exciting voices.”
“Since day one, Unanimous Media has believed in the power of providing opportunities to underrepresented filmmakers, creators and writers across the entertainment industry,” says Unanimous Media CEO Peyton. “The Bay List provides an opportunity for us to work alongside accomplished partners to champion diverse voices across the Bay Area. We’re honored to be part of this inaugural group, uplifting immense talent, bringing a lens to these narratives that need to be heard.”
In addition to selecting 10 projects next summer, the Bay List plans to offer “various education benefits” from its partners like 5 Stick Films and Unanimous Media – with more coming in the coming months.
Today’s Bay List comes a week after the first of the Black List’s 2024 diversity lists, the CAPE List was made public. The fourth combo between the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment and the Black List seeks to spotlight talent and projects of all kinds from the AANHPI community.
More Black List diversity lists are expected in the coming weeks. And, as mentioned earlier, the 2024 Black List itself is set to drop in December.