How I accidentally changed the way movies get made
-
0:01 - 0:02This weekend,
-
0:02 - 0:05tens of millions of people
in the United States -
0:05 - 0:07and tens of millions more
around the world, -
0:07 - 0:10in Columbus, Georgia, in Cardiff, Wales,
-
0:10 - 0:13in Chongqing, China, in Chennai, India
-
0:13 - 0:15will leave their homes,
-
0:15 - 0:18they'll get in their cars
or they'll take public transportation -
0:18 - 0:21or they will carry themselves by foot,
-
0:21 - 0:23and they'll step into a room
-
0:23 - 0:25and sit down next to someone
they don't know -
0:26 - 0:27or maybe someone they do,
-
0:28 - 0:31and the lights will go down
and they'll watch a movie. -
0:32 - 0:36They'll watch movies
about aliens or robots, -
0:36 - 0:39or robot aliens or regular people.
-
0:39 - 0:42But they will all be movies
about what it means to be human. -
0:44 - 0:47Millions will feel awe or fear,
-
0:47 - 0:50millions will laugh and millions will cry.
-
0:51 - 0:52And then the lights will come back on,
-
0:53 - 0:56and they'll reemerge into the world
they knew several hours prior. -
0:56 - 0:58And millions of people
will look at the world -
0:58 - 1:01a little bit differently
than they did when they went in. -
1:03 - 1:06Like going to temple
or a mosque or a church, -
1:06 - 1:08or any other religious institution,
-
1:08 - 1:12movie-going is, in many ways,
a sacred ritual. -
1:12 - 1:15Repeated week after week after week.
-
1:16 - 1:18I'll be there this weekend,
-
1:18 - 1:23just like I was on most weekends
between the years of 1996 and 1990, -
1:23 - 1:25at the multiplex, near the shopping mall
-
1:25 - 1:28about five miles from my childhood home
in Columbus, Georgia. -
1:28 - 1:32The funny thing is
that somewhere between then and now, -
1:32 - 1:34I accidentally changed
part of the conversation -
1:34 - 1:36about which of those movies get made.
-
1:37 - 1:41So, the story actually begins in 2005,
in an office high above Sunset Boulevard, -
1:41 - 1:43where I was a junior executive
-
1:43 - 1:46at Leonardo DiCaprio's
production company Appian Way. -
1:46 - 1:49And for those of you who aren't familiar
with how the film industry works, -
1:49 - 1:53it basically means that I was
one of a few people behind the person -
1:53 - 1:56who produces the movie for the people
behind and in front of the camera, -
1:56 - 1:59whose names you will better
recognize than mine. -
1:59 - 2:03Essentially, you're an assistant movie
producer who does the unglamorous work -
2:03 - 2:05that goes into the creative aspect
of producing a movie. -
2:06 - 2:08You make lists of writers
and directors and actors -
2:08 - 2:11who might be right for movies
that you want to will into existence; -
2:11 - 2:14you meet with many of them
and their representatives, -
2:14 - 2:16hoping to curry favor
for some future date. -
2:16 - 2:18And you read, a lot.
-
2:19 - 2:21You read novels that might become movies,
-
2:21 - 2:23you read comic books
that might become movies, -
2:23 - 2:25you read articles
that might become movies, -
2:25 - 2:27you read scripts that might become movies.
-
2:28 - 2:31And you read scripts from writers
that might write the adaptations -
2:31 - 2:33of the novels, of the comic books,
of the articles, -
2:33 - 2:36and might rewrite the scripts
that you're already working on. -
2:36 - 2:39All this in the hope of finding
the next big thing -
2:39 - 2:41or the next big writer
who can deliver something -
2:41 - 2:44that can make you and your company
the next big thing. -
2:45 - 2:50So in 2005, I was a development executive
at Leonardo's production company. -
2:50 - 2:53I got a phone call
from the representative of a screenwriter -
2:53 - 2:57that began pretty much the way
all of those conversations did: -
2:57 - 2:59"I've got Leo's next movie."
-
3:00 - 3:03Now in this movie,
that his client had written, -
3:03 - 3:05Leo would play an oil industry lobbyist
-
3:05 - 3:08whose girlfriend, a local meteorologist,
threatens to leave him -
3:08 - 3:10because his work contributes
to global warming. -
3:11 - 3:13And this is a situation
that's been brought to a head -
3:13 - 3:16by the fact that there's a hurricane
forming in the Atlantic -
3:16 - 3:20that's threatening to do Maria-like damage
from Maine to Myrtle Beach. -
3:20 - 3:22Leo, very sad about
this impending break up, -
3:22 - 3:24does a little more research
about the hurricane -
3:24 - 3:26and discovers that in its path
across the Atlantic, -
3:26 - 3:30it will pass over a long-dormant,
though now active volcano -
3:30 - 3:32that will spew toxic ash into its eye
-
3:32 - 3:35that will presumably be whipped
into some sort of chemical weapon -
3:35 - 3:36that will destroy the world.
-
3:36 - 3:37(Laughter)
-
3:38 - 3:42It was at that point that I asked him,
-
3:42 - 3:45"So are you basically pitching me
'Leo versus the toxic superstorm -
3:45 - 3:46that will destroy humanity?'"
-
3:47 - 3:49And he responded by saying,
-
3:49 - 3:51"Well, when you say it like that,
it sounds ridiculous." -
3:52 - 3:55And I'm embarrassed to admit
that I had the guy send me the script, -
3:55 - 3:59and I read 30 pages before I was sure
that it was as bad as I thought it was. -
3:59 - 4:02Now, "Superstorm"
is certainly an extreme example, -
4:02 - 4:04but it's also not an unusual one.
-
4:04 - 4:08And unfortunately, most scripts
aren't as easy to dismiss as that one. -
4:08 - 4:11For example, a comedy
about a high school senior, -
4:11 - 4:13who, when faced
with an unplanned pregnancy, -
4:13 - 4:17makes an unusual decision
regarding her unborn child. -
4:17 - 4:18That's obviously "Juno."
-
4:18 - 4:21Two hundred and thirty million
at the worldwide box office, -
4:21 - 4:23four Oscar nominations, one win.
-
4:23 - 4:26How about a Mumbai teen
who grew up in the slums -
4:26 - 4:28wants to become a contestant
on the Indian version -
4:28 - 4:30of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?"?
-
4:30 - 4:33That's an easy one --
"Slumdog Millionaire." -
4:33 - 4:35Three hundred seventy-seven
million worldwide, -
4:35 - 4:3710 Oscar nominations and eight wins.
-
4:37 - 4:39A chimpanzee tells his story
-
4:39 - 4:42of living with the legendary pop star
Michael Jackson. -
4:43 - 4:44Anyone?
-
4:44 - 4:45(Laughter)
-
4:45 - 4:46It's a trick question.
-
4:46 - 4:48But it is a script called "Bubbles,"
-
4:48 - 4:50that is going to be directed
by Taika Waititi, -
4:50 - 4:52the director of "Thor: Ragnarok."
-
4:52 - 4:55So, a large part of your job
as a development executive -
4:55 - 4:58is to separate the "Superstorms"
from the "Slumdog Millionaires," -
4:58 - 5:02and slightly more generally,
the writers who write "Superstorm" -
5:02 - 5:04from the writers who can write
"Slumdog Millionaire." -
5:05 - 5:08And the easiest way to do this, obviously,
is to read all of the scripts, -
5:08 - 5:10but that's, frankly, impossible.
-
5:11 - 5:14A good rule of thumb
is that the Writers Guild of America -
5:14 - 5:16registers about 50,000 new pieces
of material every year, -
5:16 - 5:18and most of them are screenplays.
-
5:18 - 5:22Of those, a reasonable estimate
is about 5,000 of them -
5:22 - 5:25make it through various filters,
agencies, management companies, -
5:25 - 5:27screenplay compositions and the like,
-
5:27 - 5:29and are read by someone
at the production company -
5:29 - 5:31or major studio level.
-
5:31 - 5:33And they're trying to decide
whether they can become -
5:33 - 5:37one of the 300-and-dropping movies
that are released by the major studios -
5:37 - 5:38or their sub-brands each year.
-
5:38 - 5:40I've described it before
-
5:40 - 5:43as being a little bit like walking
into a members-only bookstore -
5:43 - 5:46where the entire inventory
is just organized haphazardly, -
5:46 - 5:49and every book has the same,
nondescript cover. -
5:49 - 5:51Your job is to enter that bookstore
-
5:51 - 5:55and not come back until you've found
the best and most profitable books there. -
5:55 - 5:58It's anarchic and gleefully opaque.
-
5:59 - 6:02And everyone has their method
to address these problems. -
6:02 - 6:04You know, most rely on the major agencies
-
6:04 - 6:07and they just assume
that if there's great talent in the world, -
6:07 - 6:09they've already found
their way to the agencies, -
6:09 - 6:12regardless of the structural barriers
that actually exist -
6:12 - 6:14to get into the agencies
in the first place. -
6:14 - 6:17Others also constantly compare
notes among themselves -
6:17 - 6:19about what they've read and what's good,
-
6:19 - 6:22and they just hope that their cohort group
is the best, most wired -
6:22 - 6:24and has the best taste in town.
-
6:24 - 6:27And others try to read everything,
but that's, again, impossible. -
6:28 - 6:30If you're reading
500 screenplays in a year, -
6:30 - 6:31you are reading a lot.
-
6:31 - 6:35And it's still only a small percentage
of what's out there. -
6:35 - 6:37Fundamentally, it's triage.
-
6:37 - 6:40And when you're in triage,
you tend to default to conventional wisdom -
6:40 - 6:43about what works and what doesn't.
-
6:43 - 6:47That a comedy about a young woman
dealing with reproductive reality -
6:47 - 6:48can't sell.
-
6:49 - 6:53That the story of an Indian teenager
isn't viable in the domestic marketplace -
6:53 - 6:55or anywhere else in the world
outside of India. -
6:55 - 6:59That the only source of viable movies
is a very narrow groups of writers -
6:59 - 7:02who have already found their way
to living and working in Hollywood, -
7:02 - 7:05who already have the best
representation in the business, -
7:05 - 7:08and are writing a very narrow
band of stories. -
7:08 - 7:12And I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit,
that that's where I found myself in 2005. -
7:13 - 7:15Sitting in that office
above Sunset Boulevard, -
7:15 - 7:18staring down that metaphorical
anonymized bookstore, -
7:18 - 7:21and having read nothing
but bad scripts for months. -
7:22 - 7:24And I took this to mean one of two things:
-
7:24 - 7:27either A: I was not very good at my job,
-
7:27 - 7:29which was, ostensibly,
finding good scripts, -
7:29 - 7:33or B: reading bad scripts was the job.
-
7:33 - 7:35In which case, my mother's
weekly phone calls, -
7:35 - 7:38asking me if my law school
entrance exam scores were still valid -
7:38 - 7:41was something I should probably
pay more attention to. -
7:41 - 7:42What I also knew
-
7:42 - 7:45was that I was about to go
on vacation for two weeks, -
7:45 - 7:48and as bad as reading bad scripts is
when it is your job, -
7:48 - 7:49it's even more painful on vacation.
-
7:49 - 7:51So I had to do something.
-
7:51 - 7:53So late one night
at my office, I made a list -
7:53 - 7:56of everyone that I had had breakfast,
lunch, dinner or drinks with -
7:57 - 8:00that had jobs similar to mine,
and I sent them an anonymous email. -
8:00 - 8:02And I made a very simple request.
-
8:02 - 8:05Send me a list of up to 10
of your favorite screenplays -
8:05 - 8:07that meet three criteria.
-
8:07 - 8:09One: you love the screenplay,
-
8:09 - 8:12two: the filmed version of that screenplay
will not be in theaters -
8:12 - 8:13by the end of that calendar year,
-
8:13 - 8:16and three: you found out
about the screenplay this year. -
8:18 - 8:21This was not an appeal for the scripts
that would be the next great blockbuster, -
8:21 - 8:24not an appeal for the scripts
that will win the Academy Award, -
8:24 - 8:27they didn't need to be scripts
that their bosses loved -
8:27 - 8:29or that their studio wanted to make.
-
8:29 - 8:32It was very simply an opportunity
for people to speak their minds -
8:32 - 8:33about what they loved,
-
8:33 - 8:36which, in this world,
is increasingly rare. -
8:36 - 8:40Now, almost all of the 75 people
I emailed anonymously responded. -
8:40 - 8:43And then two dozen other people
actually emailed to participate -
8:43 - 8:45to this anonymous email address,
-
8:45 - 8:48but I confirmed that they did in fact
have the jobs they claimed to have. -
8:48 - 8:51And I then compiled the votes
into a spreadsheet, -
8:51 - 8:53ran a pivot table,
output it to PowerPoint, -
8:53 - 8:55and the night before I left for vacation,
-
8:55 - 8:57I slapped a quasi subversive name on it
-
8:57 - 8:59and emailed it back
from that anonymous email address -
8:59 - 9:00to everyone who voted.
-
9:00 - 9:02The Black List.
-
9:02 - 9:05A tribute to those who lost their careers
during the anti-communist hysteria -
9:05 - 9:07of the 1940s and 50s,
-
9:07 - 9:09and a conscious inversion of the notion
-
9:09 - 9:12that black somehow
had a negative connotation. -
9:13 - 9:15After arriving in Mexico,
I pulled out a chair by the pool, -
9:15 - 9:18started reading these scripts
and found, to my shock and joy, -
9:18 - 9:20that most of them
were actually quite good. -
9:20 - 9:22Mission accomplished.
-
9:22 - 9:24What I didn't and couldn't have expected
-
9:24 - 9:26was what happened next.
-
9:27 - 9:29About a week into my time on vacation,
-
9:29 - 9:32I stopped by the hotel's
business center to check my email. -
9:32 - 9:34This was a pre-iPhone world, after all.
-
9:34 - 9:38And found that this list
that I had created anonymously -
9:38 - 9:40had been forwarded back to me
several dozen times, -
9:40 - 9:42at my personal email address.
-
9:42 - 9:46Everyone was sharing this list of scripts
that everyone had said that they loved, -
9:46 - 9:48reading them and then
loving them themselves. -
9:48 - 9:51And my first reaction,
that I can't actually say here, -
9:51 - 9:54but will describe it as fear,
-
9:54 - 9:56the idea of surveying people
about their scripts -
9:56 - 9:59was certainly not a novel or a genius one.
-
9:59 - 10:02Surely, there was some unwritten
Hollywood rule of omertà -
10:02 - 10:04that had guided people
away from doing that before -
10:04 - 10:08that I was simply too naive to understand,
it being so early in my career. -
10:09 - 10:11I was sure I was going to get fired,
-
10:11 - 10:14and so I decided that day
that A: I would never tell anybody -
10:14 - 10:15that I had done this,
-
10:15 - 10:17and B: I would never do it again.
-
10:19 - 10:22Then, six months later,
something even more bizarre happened. -
10:22 - 10:24I was in my office, on Sunset,
-
10:24 - 10:27and got a phone call
from another writer's agent. -
10:27 - 10:31The call began very similarly
to the call about "Superstorm": -
10:31 - 10:33"I've got Leo's next movie."
-
10:33 - 10:35Now, that's not the interesting part.
-
10:35 - 10:37The interesting part
was the way the call ended. -
10:37 - 10:41Because this agent
then told me, and I quote, -
10:42 - 10:45"Don't tell anybody, but I have it
on really good authority -
10:45 - 10:49this is going to be the number one script
on next year's Black List." -
10:49 - 10:51(Laughter)
-
10:51 - 10:52Yeah.
-
10:53 - 10:55Suffice it to say, I was dumbfounded.
-
10:55 - 10:59Here was an agent, using the Black List,
this thing that I had made anonymously -
10:59 - 11:01and decided to never make again,
-
11:01 - 11:03to sell his client to me.
-
11:03 - 11:05To suggest that the script had merit,
-
11:05 - 11:09based solely on the possibility of being
included on a list of beloved screenplays. -
11:10 - 11:13After the call ended, I sat in my office,
sort of staring out the window, -
11:13 - 11:16alternating between shock
and general giddiness. -
11:16 - 11:19And then I realized that this thing
that I had created -
11:19 - 11:20had a lot more value
-
11:20 - 11:23than just me finding good screenplays
to read over the holidays. -
11:23 - 11:25And so I did it again the next year --
-
11:25 - 11:28and the "LA Times" had outed me
as the person who had created it -- -
11:28 - 11:30and the year after that,
-
11:30 - 11:33and the year after that --
I've done it every year since 2005. -
11:33 - 11:35And the results have been fascinating,
-
11:35 - 11:39because, unapologetic lying aside,
this agent was exactly right. -
11:39 - 11:43This list was evidence, to many people,
of a script's value, -
11:43 - 11:45and that a great script had greater value
-
11:45 - 11:48that, I think, a lot of people
had previously anticipated. -
11:48 - 11:50Very quickly, the writers
whose scripts were on that list -
11:50 - 11:52started getting jobs,
-
11:52 - 11:54those scripts started getting made,
-
11:54 - 11:55and the scripts that got made
-
11:55 - 11:58were often the ones
that violated the assumptions -
11:58 - 12:00about what worked and what didn't.
-
12:00 - 12:03They were scripts like "Juno"
and "Little Miss Sunshine" -
12:03 - 12:06and "The Queen" and "The King's Speech"
-
12:06 - 12:07and "Spotlight."
-
12:07 - 12:09And yes, "Slumdog Millionaire."
-
12:09 - 12:12And even an upcoming movie
about Michael Jackson's chimpanzee. -
12:14 - 12:17Now, I think it's really important
that I pause here for a second -
12:17 - 12:20and say that I can't take credit
for the success of any of those movies. -
12:20 - 12:24I didn't write them, I didn't direct them,
I didn't produce them, I didn't gaff them, -
12:24 - 12:26I didn't make food and craft service --
-
12:26 - 12:28we all know how important that is.
-
12:28 - 12:31The credit for those movies,
the credit for that success, -
12:31 - 12:33goes to the people who made the films.
-
12:33 - 12:36What I did was change
the way people looked at them. -
12:36 - 12:40Accidentally, I asked
if the conventional wisdom was correct. -
12:41 - 12:44And certainly, there are movies
on that list that would have gotten made -
12:44 - 12:45without the Black List,
-
12:45 - 12:48but there are many
that definitely would not have. -
12:48 - 12:51And at a minimum, we've catalyzed
a lot of them into production, -
12:51 - 12:52and I think that's worth noting.
-
12:52 - 12:55There have been about 1,000
screenplays on the Black List -
12:55 - 12:57since its inception in 2005.
-
12:57 - 12:59About 325 have been produced.
-
13:00 - 13:03They've been nominated
for 300 Academy Awards, -
13:03 - 13:04they've won 50.
-
13:05 - 13:09Four of the last nine Best Pictures
have gone to scripts from the Black List, -
13:09 - 13:13and 10 of the last 20 screenplay Oscars
have gone to scripts from the Black List. -
13:13 - 13:15All told, they've made
about 25 billion dollars -
13:15 - 13:17in worldwide box office,
-
13:17 - 13:19which means that hundreds
of millions of people -
13:19 - 13:22have seen these films
when they leave their homes, -
13:22 - 13:25and sit next to someone they don't know
and the lights go down. -
13:26 - 13:29And that's to say nothing
of post-theatrical environments -
13:29 - 13:32like DVD, streaming and,
let's be honest, illegal downloads. -
13:32 - 13:36Five years ago today, October 15,
-
13:36 - 13:39my business partner and I
doubled down on this notion -
13:39 - 13:43that screenwriting talent
was not where we expected to find it, -
13:44 - 13:47and we launched a website
that would allow anybody on earth -
13:47 - 13:49who had written
an English-language screenplay -
13:49 - 13:51to upload their script, have it evaluated,
-
13:51 - 13:54and make it available to thousands
of film-industry professionals. -
13:54 - 13:57And I'm pleased to say,
in the five years since its launch, -
13:57 - 13:59we've largely proved that thesis.
-
13:59 - 14:02Hundreds of writers from across the world
have found representation, -
14:02 - 14:04have had their work optioned or sold.
-
14:04 - 14:07Seven have even seen their films made
in the last three years, -
14:07 - 14:08including the film "Nightingale,"
-
14:08 - 14:11the story of a war veteran's
psychological decline, -
14:11 - 14:13in which David Oyelowo's face
is the only one on screen -
14:13 - 14:15for the film's 90-minute duration.
-
14:15 - 14:18It was nominated for a Golden Globe
and two Emmy Awards. -
14:18 - 14:21It's also kind of cool
that more than a dozen writers -
14:21 - 14:23who were discovered on the website
-
14:23 - 14:25have ended up
on this end-of-year annual list, -
14:25 - 14:27including two of the last three
number one writers. -
14:27 - 14:31Simply put, the conventional wisdom
about screenwriting merit -- -
14:31 - 14:35where it was and where it could be found,
-
14:35 - 14:36was wrong.
-
14:36 - 14:39And this is notable,
because as I mentioned before, -
14:39 - 14:43in the triage of finding
movies to make and making them, -
14:43 - 14:45there's a lot of relying
on conventional wisdom. -
14:46 - 14:48And that conventional wisdom,
-
14:48 - 14:50maybe, just maybe,
-
14:50 - 14:53might be wrong
to even greater consequence. -
14:54 - 14:56Films about black people
don't sell overseas. -
14:57 - 14:59Female-driven action movies don't work,
-
14:59 - 15:03because women will see themselves in men,
but men won't see themselves in women. -
15:04 - 15:07That no one wants to see movies
about women over 40. -
15:07 - 15:11That our onscreen heroes have to conform
to a very narrow idea about beauty -
15:11 - 15:13that we consider conventional.
-
15:14 - 15:17What does that mean when those images
are projected 30 feet high -
15:17 - 15:19and the lights go down,
-
15:19 - 15:21for a kid that looks like me
in Columbus, Georgia? -
15:21 - 15:24Or a Muslim girl in Cardiff, Wales?
-
15:24 - 15:26Or a gay kid in Chennai?
-
15:26 - 15:29What does it mean for how we see ourselves
-
15:29 - 15:32and how we see the world
and for how the world sees us? -
15:35 - 15:38We live in very strange times.
-
15:38 - 15:42And I think for the most part,
we all live in a state of constant triage. -
15:42 - 15:45There's just too much information,
-
15:45 - 15:47too much stuff to contend with.
-
15:47 - 15:50And so as a rule, we tend
to default to conventional wisdom. -
15:51 - 15:55And I think it's important
that we ask ourselves, constantly, -
15:55 - 16:00how much of that conventional wisdom
is all convention and no wisdom? -
16:00 - 16:02And at what cost?
-
16:02 - 16:03Thank you.
-
16:03 - 16:07(Applause)
- Title:
- How I accidentally changed the way movies get made
- Speaker:
- Franklin Leonard
- Description:
-
How does Hollywood choose what stories get told on-screen? Too often, it's groupthink informed by a narrow set of ideas about what sells at the box office. As a producer, Franklin Leonard saw too many great screenplays never get made because they didn't fit the mold. So he started the Black List, an anonymous email that shared his favorite screenplays and asked: Why aren't we making these movies? Learn the origin story of some of your favorite films with this fascinating insider view of the movie business.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 16:20
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Oliver Friedman edited English subtitles for How I accidentally changed the way movies get made | |
![]() |
Oliver Friedman edited English subtitles for How I accidentally changed the way movies get made | |
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Oliver Friedman edited English subtitles for How I accidentally changed the way movies get made | |
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Brian Greene edited English subtitles for How I accidentally changed the way movies get made | |
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Brian Greene approved English subtitles for How I accidentally changed the way movies get made | |
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Brian Greene edited English subtitles for How I accidentally changed the way movies get made | |
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Krystian Aparta accepted English subtitles for How I accidentally changed the way movies get made | |
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Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for How I accidentally changed the way movies get made |