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An Unconventional Start to a Career in Film
Spending any time researching more background on Franklin Leonard leads one to draw a straightforward and strong resolution; this is one incredibly badass and fascinating individual. Leonard was born in Hawaii to his father, an Army Colonel with a medical degree, and his mother, a middle school teacher. He and his family, including a younger brother and younger sister, moved around a lot before settling down in rural Georgia, where young Franklin would grow up. Growing up, he was a self-proclaimed “math nerd,” finding comfort and success when it came to numbers in the subject most of us loathe.
Leonard’s overall intelligence and mathematics skill set led him to pursue his undergraduate degree in math at Harvard University. While attending Harvard, Leonard felt dismayed at his chances of having a career in math, putting constant internal pressure on himself to be better than the rest of his classmates in what I’m sure felt like an incredibly competitive environment. This helped open his eyes to opportunities outside of math, and he developed an itch that he may want to go after something different. Also working at the literary magazine at Harvard, Leonard has a strong passion for writing. He began to aspire for a career path where he could help impact other people’s lives through his words, as opposed to just his own.
Intrigued and desiring to combine his talents, Leonard went after a degree in Social Studies, where he gained a strong understanding of America and the world. As a Black man who grew up in Georgia, Leonard felt a bit of culture shock and awakening while attending Harvard. He was inspired by the other fascinating students and teachers he interacted with, who helped open his eyes to a broader world where he could make a difference and use his voice to enact positive political and systemic changes.
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Leonard received his first job working as the Communications Director for the campaign of John Cranley, a candidate seeking a seat in Ohio’s State House of Representatives who was also a teacher of Leonard’s at Harvard. Cranley hired Leonard for his writing talent and the impression Franklin made upon him during his class. Leonard moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, the day after graduating from Harvard to dive headfirst into his new career. Cranley would, unfortunately, go on to lose the campaign but was a very progressive and influential candidate at the time. Sharing many of the same ideals, Leonard was undoubtedly inspired to use his voice to make a meaningful change. He has said, however, that the experience made him aware of how difficult it is to make any effective change as a politician operating inside the system.
After successfully working in the industry on an inspiring campaign, Leonard wanted to use the voice he had crafted as a journalist. His next job was as a columnist for the Trinidad Guardian, where he wrote weekly and lived abroad for a time in Trinidad, reporting the news for the affiliate of the Guardian. Then, not feeling like this would be a forever job for him, Leonard moved to New York to work as an analyst for McKinsey and Company.
A severe departure from what he had been doing previously, his new role was to advise companies that hired his firm to help them make changes or suggestions for improving their businesses. He was very successful in the position and stated on the podcast ‘WTF With Marc Maron’ that he was often assigned to media and entertainment companies to assist. His eyes were opened to the world of entertainment, and he was more intrigued by the production and behind-the-scenes of the businesses, instead of what he was hired to analyze.
After his team was laid off from McKinsey, he found himself with little to do and, out of boredom, dove into movies. He quickly absorbed everything he could, dating back to classic Hollywood, The Criterion Collection, and everything up to the modern day. This inspired obsession with movies would ultimately awaken the passion within him that would lead to where he is today.
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Still laid off from McKinsey, Leonard took a trip to Los Angeles to hang out with a friend who lived there, as a vacation. As he tells it, over drinks one night, a friend of his friend joined them and said an agent she works with at CAA needed a new assistant, and if Leonard was interested, she could mention his name for the job. Having never considered a career in film and knowing even less about the industry overall, Leonard took a leap of faith, interviewed for and got the job, and then immediately went home to get his things and drive back out.
He started, like most people in the industry do, working as an assistant for the agent at CAA on the ground floor. He quickly knew he did not want to become an agent after being exposed to the agency world, but he was interested in the film and television development space. Development is the behind-the-scenes process where production companies and producers read and analyze screenplays to find material they want to make, where Leonard would discover his passion.
After experiencing everything he could and crushing it as an assistant at CAA, he branched out. He began working as a development executive at Appian Way, a very successful production company founded by Leonardo DiCaprio. A good number of actors eventually form their own production companies so they can source strong material for themselves to either produce, star in, or both. Leonard was a very talented evaluator of material to rise in Hollywood to this position with such speed.
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A Vacation That Was Anything But
A well-known fact in the industry is that things completely shut down over the holidays for an excellent 2-3 week period when everyone goes on vacation. Leonard was no different over the break of 2005 when he was still working for Appian Way. While getting ready to head out on his vacation, and knowing that he would want to get some reading done, he reached out via email to 75 colleagues of similar positions and roles within the industry and asked them all for a list of their ten favorite unproduced scripts that they had read that year. Leonard planned to combine all the lists and account for crossover to generate a complete list of what he and his peers considered the best-unproduced scripts for the year. He sent the list back to everyone for them to see what each other was reading and get eyes on the names of scripts and writers they should be aware of. What happened next could not have been anywhere near his imagination.
The consolidated list was quickly forwarded around the industry, with everyone enthralled by the concept and the original scripts. People also wanted to know who started it, but Leonard kept quiet until the LA Times eventually outed him the following year. This inaugural list became known as “The Blacklist”, all of the best-unproduced content in Hollywood. The original list featured indie darlings like ‘Juno’ and ‘Lars and the Real Girl.’ The list and process took on a life of their own and spread like wildfire across the industry. The most exciting part of the list for Development Executives and others who read it was the shortage of fresh material out there, as opposed to being forced to read retellings of the same played-out scripts.
Leonard recalls that after the list went out, an agent called and told him that a writer he represented had a script that would be on next year’s Blacklist. He had no clue he was speaking to the creator of the list, who had not yet even fathomed making the list again. Swept up in the instant success of it all, Leonard leaned in and, with his colleagues, decided to continue the tradition of creating a list of the best 100 unproduced scripts every year, which continues to this day.
The list has been an incredible avenue for getting eyes on talented writers and material that otherwise would never be seen. With the success of the annual list and its inadvertent mission statement, Leonard cultivated the idea into something more meaningful with the creation of Blcklst.com. He and his team have generated this site where writers can host and upload scripts for industry executives, managers, and agents to read over their material.
The site allows people from all different backgrounds and walks of life to have their material read. Whereas in the past, and still to some extent today, you need to be working your head in the ground at an agency for the potential chance of someone reading your stuff. Now you can have that access from a computer. There is an admitted dark side to this, as Leonard has admitted, evidenced by that first call from the agent. Many people within the industry try to use the website and the list as a selling point for writers who may already have representation, which is certainly not what it was designed for. Leonard and his team continue to fight to keep the list authentic while allowing the door and access to stay equitable for all.
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Continuing the Fight For Opportunity
With the massive success of The Blacklist and the acclaim and recognition that have come with it, Franklin Leonard has continued to stay true to his ideals. He seeks to make access to Hollywood for minority writers easier and open new avenues to get their voices out there. Of course, Leonard did not set out for this with the original Blacklist. Still, with the foundation and infrastructure he has created, he aspires to open the door for these marginalized groups to have the same access as the folks in Hollywood benefiting from nepotism or doors that were instantly opened for them just by being white men.
While continuing to work in Development at different production companies, including Will Smith’s Overbrook Entertainment, Leonard has kept up the incredible endeavor he and his team are on to provide an opportunity for marginalized voices. He has spoken about the difficulties of representation in Hollywood and how we need to continue to push our institutions to be better and not give up on marginal success, but really make changes to the systemic issues that exist so that it can be easier for the next Ryan Coogler, Ava Duvernay, or Barry Jenkins. These talented filmmakers shouldn’t have to work ten times as hard to have a fair crack at the plate that any white person has.
Franklin Leonard is doing fantastic work in helping to change and reshape Hollywood for the better so that we can reach a point where these barriers can hopefully be a thing of the past. Overall, he is an amazing person, and I felt it necessary to shout out what can be accomplished when you take a step back and think outside the box. And thanks to him and his work, we have gotten some of the best content ever that, even 20 years ago, would have gone entirely unnoticed.
By Mark Raymond
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I am sure I am speaking for a multitude of Cinema lovers all over the world when I speak of the following sentiments that this medium of art has blessed me with. Cinema taught me about our world, at times in English and at times through the beautiful one-inch bar of subtitles. I learned from the stories in the global movies that we are all alike across all borders. Remember that one of the best symbols of many great civilizations and their prosperity has been the art they have left behind. This art can be in the form of paintings, sculptures, architecture, writings, inventions, etc. For our modern society, Cinema happens to be one of them. Cinema is more than just a form of entertainment, it is an integral part of society. I love the world uniting, be it for Cinema, TV, media, art, fashion, sport, etc. Please keep this going full speed.”
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Mark Raymond is a writer and screenwriter who believes himself to be the only person desiring to work in film who originated in New York and currently resides in Los Angeles. Mark was inspired to write from a young age and has always desired to connect and uplift others through his work, as those that motivated him did for him. Mark feels very strongly that the world could use a lot more positivity and optimism, and is therefore very aligned to the mission of The Hollywood Insider to not spread hate or gossip, but instead to build each other up and shine a positive light on anyone bold enough to put their heart and soul into a piece of art. In his writing, Mark aims to use his signature wit to highlight the severity of the more serious and pressing issues of our time, to shine a beacon of light through the darkness. A devoted ally to all, he seeks to inspire and use his platform to give a voice to the voiceless and let his readers know that while everything may not be great right now, one day it can and will be.
Mark Raymond is a writer and screenwriter who believes himself to be the only person desiring to work in film who originated in New York and currently resides in Los Angeles. Mark was inspired to write from a young age and has always desired to connect and uplift others through his work, as those that motivated him did for him. Mark feels very strongly that the world could use a lot more positivity and optimism, and is therefore very aligned to the mission of The Hollywood Insider to not spread hate or gossip, but instead to build each other up and shine a positive light on anyone bold enough to put their heart and soul into a piece of art. In his writing, Mark aims to use his signature wit to highlight the severity of the more serious and pressing issues of our time, to shine a beacon of light through the darkness. A devoted ally to all, he seeks to inspire and use his platform to give a voice to the voiceless and let his readers know that while everything may not be great right now, one day it can and will be.
