82. Franklin Leonard, CEO and Founder of The Black List

Hollywood meets podcasting with guest Franklin Leonard, founder and CEO of The Black List, and host of the Wolfpop show, The Black List Table Reads. Franklin tells Adam Sachs how The Black List began as an informal survey he did just looking for good scripts to read, quickly becoming an annual list of the best unproduced screenplays. In 2012 The Black List launched as a online script database letting screenwriters upload their work to be shared with and evaluated by industry professionals, and Franklin explains how the company’s business is driven by a core mission of finding great stories and helping them get told. Then he tells the story of how the idea for the Table Reads podcast was born, and recalls the day he pitched it to Adam and Wolfpop network curator Paul Scheer. They discuss how the show has evolved over the course of three, four-episode “earmovies,” and Franklin details his goals for it.