Franklin Leonard
Franklin Leonard is the host of the Black List Table Reads podcast (an iTunes Best of 2015 pick) and founder of the Black List, the yearly publication highlighting Hollywood’s most popular unproduced screenplays and the company birthed to continue its mission. Over 250 Black List scripts have been produced as feature films earning 243 Academy Award nominations and 45 wins including three of the last seven Best Pictures and eight of the last sixteen screenwriting Oscars. Franklin has worked in development at Universal Pictures and the production companies of Will Smith, Sydney Pollack and Anthony Minghella, Leonardo DiCaprio, and John Goldwyn. He currently serves on the advisory boards of the Young Storytellers Foundation, Project Greenlight’s Digital Studios, American Public Media’s Marketplace, and the Bernard Van Leer Foundation. He has been a juror at the Sundance, Toronto and Guanajuato Film Festivals and for the PEN Center Literary Awards. He was also a delegate and speaker at the White House’s 2015 Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Nairobi, Kenya. Since 2010, he has been named one of Hollywood Reporter’s 35 Under 35, Black Enterprise magazine’s “40 Emerging Leaders for Our Future,” The Root’s 100 Most Influential African-Americans, Fast Company’s “100 Most Creative People in Business” and was awarded the 2015 African-American Film Critics Association (AAFCA)’s Special Achievement Award for career excellence. He is a member of the Associates Branch of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.
Guest Appearances
October 26, 2021
A freak accident in South Africa causes Franklin Leonard to rethink his life plans.
Black List Official Website — blcklst.com
Franklin’s Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/
Franklin’s Twitter — https://twitter.com/
June 22, 2017
Franklin Leonard and Kate Hagen bid listeners farewell! Please listen to the many great past Earmovies!
May 11, 2017
Please enjoy the sixth Earmovie of Season 3, “The Promise” written by Chris Salmanpour. It stars Houshang Touzie (Ata), Omid Abtahi (Reza), Oded Fehr (Afshin, et al), Marshall Manesh (Said, et al), Charlie Weber (Tom), Adam Tsekhman (Sassan, et al), Brian George (Cleric Hussein, et al), Mo Gallini (Iranian Man, et al), Nazneen Contractor (Golnar, et al), and Franklin Leonard (Narrator).
May 1, 2017
Franklin Leonard and Kate Hagen of The Black List join Amy this week to pit “Juno” against “Whiplash.” Kate makes her case for “Juno” with the potency of the written dialogue and what the film signifies as a cultural watershed moment, and Franklin argues in favor of “Whiplash,” noting the enjoyability of J.K. Simmons’ character and breaking down the more intense sequences in the film. Which movie will enter the Canon? You decide! Cast your vote on the Earwolf forums now!
December 19, 2016
Franklin Leonard (The Black List) is no stranger to great stories. He founded The Black List, which has helped hundreds of Hollywood’s most popular unproduced screenplays get made into films. Franklin joins Travon to talk about becoming obsessed with the Hamilton cast album, feeling gobsmacked by the show’s ambition, and why he wants Michelle Obama to run for president. Plus, he and Travon tackle “Right Hand Man.”
This episode is brought to you by Sock Club (www.sockclub.com code: hamilton) and ZipRecruiter (www.ziprecruiter.com/first).
June 9, 2016
Dig deep into the business of podcasting with this episode of The Wolf Den, recorded live at a Fast Company Creative Counter-Conference event hosted at the Earwolf studios in Hollywood. Adam moderates a panel with Earwolf hosts Sarah Thyre (“Crybabies”) and Franklin Leonard (“The Black List Table Reads”). They answer questions from the assembled journalists, agency representatives and media industry professionals about building audience, the ethics of podcast ads, episode length, and pitching guests to hosts. First, to get everyone up to speed, Adam presents a short history of Earwolf and Midroll, and shares some very funny, and very effective podcast ad reads.
This episode is sponsored by Hired and Podcast Movement.