The 21st annual edition of the Black List, the list of the “most liked” unpublished screenplays in Hollywood, was released on Tuesday and includes 74 screenplays from 86 writers that span from thrillers and revenge to sports dramas and social critiques.
The list, which was voted on by nearly 500 film executives, was topped by Matisse Haddad’s literary thriller “Best Seller,” which follows a struggling New York writer who is pressured by her more successful husband to have a child. When she writes a viral tell-all article, it sparks a dangerous battle of seduction, manipulation and betrayal.
Other top scripts include “Rush” by Read Masino and Cassidy Alla, which follows a college student raped by a frat guy who rushes his fraternity undercover to get revenge … only to become the star of the pledge class and get in way too deep.
On the biopic side, there’s “Untouchable,” a true crime thriller by Julian Silver and Reiss Clauson-Wolf that tells the story of Eliot Ness’ pursuit of the 1930s serial killer known as the “Torso Murderer.”
And for basketball fans, there’s “With the 8th Pick” by Alex Sohn and Gavin Johannsen, which tells the story of New Jersey Nets general manager John Nash and his failed attempt to convince the organization to use their No. 8 draft pick on an untested high schooler named Kobe Bryant. The Nets instead selected Villanova All-American shooting guard Kerry Kittles, who was part of the team that lost to Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2002 NBA Finals.
“Twenty-one years into this experiment, it still feels a little miraculous that something that started as an email in 2005 is now a global community of people sharing the stories they can’t stop thinking about,” Black List founder Franklin Leonard said.
“This year’s scripts, probably unsurprisingly, seemed preoccupied with what happens when the systems we live in – economic, political, algorithmic – stop working the way they’re supposed to and, fortunately, with how we might build something better anyway. Suffice it to say that they resonate deeply. Here’s to a better tomorrow for us all,” he continued.
See the complete list below.
48 BEST SELLER by Matisse Haddad In New York’s literary scene, a struggling writer, pressured by her famous novelist husband to have a baby, pens a tell-all article that goes viral. This sparks a dangerous battle of seduction, manipulation, and betrayal in the public and private spheres. AGENT: Independent Artist Group (Nick Beldoch, Jessica Zou) MANAGEMENT: Bellevue Productions (John Zaozirny, Zack Zucker) PRODUCTION COMPANY: Peter Rice, Jason Reitman
35 EQUITY by Ward Kamel After an ambitious pharma founder sells a portion of himself to a charismatic billionaire magnate, his world spirals into a high-stakes battle to buy back control of his company, his future, and his life. MANAGEMENT: Range Media Partners (Alain Carles, Andrew Nallathambi) PRODUCTION COMPANY: Killer Films, Vertigo
34 RUSH by Read Masino, Cassidy Alla When a college student is sexually assaulted by a frat guy who faces no consequences, she and her best friend rush his fraternity undercover to get revenge – only to become the unlikely stars of Delta Iota Kappa’s pledge class and get in way too deep. AGENT: United Talent Agency (Anna Flickinger, John Kaiser) MANAGEMENT: Masino – Artists First (Haley Jones, Casey Neumeier) / Alla – Mosaic (Drew Schenfield) PRODUCTION COMPANY: Berlanti/Schechter Films
30 UNTOUCHABLE by Julian Silver, Reiss Clauson-Wolf The true exploits of Eliot Ness during his hunt for the “Torso Murderer,” a serial killer whose bloody reign terrorized 1930s Cleveland. MANAGEMENT: Fourth Wall Management (Russell Hollander)
27 MINNOW by Zach Strauss, Chris Silber When her sister goes missing, Minnow, a seemingly troubled woman, goes to extreme lengths to hunt down the mysterious man who took her. The disturbing truth goes beyond just one missing girl, and nothing—including Minnow—is as it seems. AGENT: Strauss – Verve (Nicky Mohebbi, Isaiah Williams, Kelly Devine) / Silber – United Talent Agency (Jordan Lonner) MANAGEMENT: Strauss – Entertainment 360 (Geoff Shaevitz, Evan Silverberg) PRODUCTION COMPANY: Thunder Road, Parallel 42
25 FIXATION by Siena Butterfield, Erika Vázquez A couples therapist is drawn into a dangerous triangle of lust, lies and manipulation when she begins an affair with a stranger—who turns out to be the husband of her new client. AGENT: Gersh (Jonathan Martin) MANAGEMENT: Kaplan/Perrone (Josh Goldenberg) STUDIO: New Regency PRODUCTION COMPANY: Made Up Stories
23 BUILDING BOWIE by Alan Fox In a near-future obsessed with AI generated nostalgia, a repressed droid wrangler is assigned to build a David Bowie replica — but as the droid begins evolving beyond its programming, the wrangler must confront the creative dreams she buried, and decide whether to protect her job or risk everything to reclaim her voice. MANAGEMENT: Untitled Entertainment (Faisal Kanaan) PRODUCTION COMPANY: A/Vantage Pictures
23 LEVERAGE by Joe Ferran After a high-profile murder threatens a multi-billion dollar hostile takeover, an embattled Wall Street titan emerges as the prime suspect and must win a war of perception in order to protect her empire at all costs. MANAGEMENT: Empirical Evidence (Derrick Eppich) PRODUCTION COMPANY: Empirical Evidence, Imagine
23 UNTITLED EROTIC TEEN FAN FICTION MOVIE by Morgan Lehmann Delaney Pitts is a nerdy, teenage virgin who has a secret online life as an erotic fan fiction author. But when a publisher tasks her with writing a book about her (non-existent) high school love life, she’s forced to team up with a top expert in the field: the slutty quarterback of the football team. AGENT: Creative Artists Agency (Ilana Goren, Anna Jinks, Jacob Schiff) MANAGEMENT: Untitled Entertainment (Harry Lengsfield) STUDIO: A24, Ley Line PRODUCTION COMPANY: Fruit Tree, Ley Line
22 ALPHA by Halil Ozsan A mild-mannered American analyst climbs the ranks of a ruthless London investment firm, only to discover a horror more frightening than the industry itself: the insatiable monster awakening within him. AGENT: Creative Artists Agency (Trevor Astbury, Drew Leffler) MANAGEMENT: Aperture Entertainment (Adam Goldworm) STUDIO: Netflix PRODUCTION COMPANY: Aperture Entertainment, Safehouse
22 WEST COAST LIVING by Sam Lifshutz When a mysterious van settles outside a middle-class couple’s home, a simple noise complaint unleashes a relentless campaign of psychological warfare and escalating violence. MANAGEMENT: RAIN (Barney Slobodin) PRODUCTION COMPANY: CatchLight Studios
20 ET AL by Paul Levitt When a husband and wife research team — along with their graduate students — travel to a remote, abandoned village to study the aftermath of a mysterious mass disappearance, their scientific investigation quickly unravels into one of unexpected paranoia and terror. AGENT: Creative Artists Agency (Jonas Brooks) MANAGEMENT: 3 Arts Entertainment (Luke Maxwell) PRODUCTION COMPANY: Mortal Media
18 DO IT YOURSELF by Liv Auerbach, Daisygreen Stenhouse Tom and Helen Hempel, hosts of a wildly popular home renovation show, are America’s favorite couple. When Tom dies in his mistress Melody’s bed, polar opposites Helen and Melody decide to move his body home to conceal the scandal. What could go wrong? MANAGEMENT: Auerbach – Untitled Entertainment ((Delaney Morris, Morgan Singer, Jason Weinberg) / Stenhouse – Kings Peak Entertainment (Alex Platis) PRODUCTION COMPANY: PictureStart
18 INCIDENTS by William Gillies A woman searches for answers after surviving a mysterious abduction. AGENT: United Talent Agency (Riley MacDonald, Geoff Morley) MANAGEMENT: Kaplan/Perrone (Josh Goldenberg, Michael Wilson) STUDIO: Fox Searchlight PRODUCTION COMPANY: House Productions
18 RIDING HURT by Buck Bloomingdale A former rodeo star, caught between his criminal past and a fragile shot at redemption, is drawn into a dangerous run of heists and betrayals while trying to find a way back to his family. AGENT: Creative Artists Agency (PJ Picon) MANAGEMENT: Range Media Partners (Michael Kagan, Andrew Nallathambi) PRODUCTION COMPANY: range Media Partners, Teton Ridge
18 UNICORN by Grady Wood When a tech mogul and his wife invite a third into their marriage for a weekend away, their sexually charged celebration devolves into a cat and mouse game of deception. MANAGEMENT: Artists First (Corrine Aquino, Haley Jones) PRODUCTION COMPANY: Artists First
18 WILD PALMS by Ellis Bahl An ambitious grifter and a seasoned reptile hunter form an unlikely partnership to exploit Florida’s exotic wildlife for profit, but their risky black-market ventures lead them into a world of danger, betrayal, and life-altering consequences. MANAGEMENT: Empirical Evidence (Derrick Eppich) PRODUCTION COMPANY: Iconoclast, Alejandro De Leon, David M. Helman
17 BLACKOUT by Kevin Yang When eco-terrorists attack Los Angeles’ power grid and orchestrate a cascading citywide blackout, a jaded former Secret Service agent and a brilliant but unassuming engineer must fight their way across the metropolis – in the dark – to restore power before the city collapses. MANAGEMENT: Untitled Entertainment (Steve Yurovsky )
17 LETTERED MEN by Cole Maute A group of fraternity brothers wake up after a night of partying nobody can remember, to find a dead body in the basement. It’s the fraternity president’s ex-girlfriend. Each of the brothers has equal cause, evidence stacked against them, and lack of alibi. AGENT: Creative Artists Agency (Seth Parker, Shannon Smith) MANAGEMENT: Heroes & Villains (Aaron Lipsett) PRODUCTION COMPANY: Rough House
16 ALTER by SK Dale In a secret military lab, a neuroscientist uses cutting-edge technology to rewire the mind of a psychopathic killer, forcing her own memories onto him in the hopes to trigger empathy. But as their minds intertwine, buried truths claw to the surface, plunging them both into a psychological battle where the boundaries of sanity begin to blur. AGENT: Gersh (Dave Alexander, David Gersh) MANAGEMENT: Artists First (Louis Heinberg, Peter Principato, Brian Steinberg)
16 EARLY ACTION by Sophie de Bruijn Two parents who go to extreme lengths to get their son into his dream college – even if it means manufacturing a traumatic experience for him to write about in his admissions essay. MANAGEMENT: Anonymous Content (Collin Litts) STUDIO: Apple PRODUCTION COMPANY: The Walsh Company
16 FLAMER by Greg Levine In his final week at wilderness camp, fifteen-year-old Aiden faces bullies, shifting friendships, and an overwhelming crush in a turbulent reckoning with his identity. Based on the acclaimed graphic novel of the same name. PRODUCTION COMPANY: Julie Oh
16 FROSTBITE by Michael Jones There are 300 frozen bodies on the way to the summit of Mt. Everest. For blind climber Lucas Mills, he can still hear them. A survival horror experience on Everest. AGENT: Paradigm (Varun Monga, Ethan Neale, Matt Snow) MANAGEMENT: Anonymous Content (Ian McKnight)
16 OUT OF THE HOLLOW by Zak Rizzo In need of funds to pay for his father’s medical care, Danny Locascio enlists his mercurial best friend Rusty in a series of jewel store robberies. However, the pair soon find themselves in the crosshairs of both the FBI and local organized crime, all while old secrets unravel and threaten to change their lives forever. AGENT: William Morris Endeavor (Max West) MANAGEMENT: Navigation Media Group (Matt Rosen) PRODUCTION COMPANY: Range Media Partners
16 THE PAROLE OFFICER by Mike McGrale A parolee looking to stay on the straight and narrow is seduced by a mysterious woman into a drug-fueled one-night stand, violating the rules of his parole. That woman turns out to be his newly appointed parole officer, who unleashes a plan to blackmail him into committing an escalating series of crimes or else he’ll be sent back to prison for the rest of his life. AGENT: Creative Artists Agency (Drew Leffler, Adam Perry) MANAGEMENT: Heroes & Villains (Aaron Lipsett) PRODUCTION COMPANY: Imagine Entertainment, HalleHolly
16 THE WAFFLE HOUSE INDEX by Andrew Nunnelly The following three things are true: 1. The WAFFLE HOUSE INDEX is a metric used by FEMA to measure the severity of a natural disaster. 2. Jane works the graveyard shift at her local Waffle House. 3. There’s a storm coming. AGENT: Buchwald (Tim Patricia) MANAGEMENT: Untitled Entertainment (Tracy Kopulsky, Erick Mendoza) PRODUCTION COMPANY: Plan B
15 BAD MEMORIES by Julian Simpson An infamous investigator of the unexplained phenomena and a highly skilled audio repair engineer work together to solve a very perplexing case file. AGENT: Gersh (Dave Alexander, Jonathan Martin, David Rubin) MANAGEMENT: Kaplan/Perrone (Andrew Murphy)
15 DON’T DO 72 by Kryzz Gautier A night janitor is warned never to clean the 72nd floor of a corporate high-rise, but when a coworker disappears, she breaks the rule…only to discover something ancient and watching, lurking just beyond the glass. MANAGEMENT: Navigation Media Group, Zero Gravity (Matt Rosen, David Romero)
15 GEEZERS by Richard Martin After surviving a prom night massacre over 50 years ago, Alice’s golden years are interrupted by a copycat killer terrorizing her small retirement community…
15 LET’S BE FRIENDS by Mia Karr An awkward 30-something woman on a quest for new friends thinks she’s hit the mother lode when she’s invited on vacation by a seemingly perfect group of lifelong besties – but she instead finds herself on the beach weekend from Hell, as the group’s co-dependent dysfunction becomes the least of their worries. AGENT: Independent Artist Group (Grace Burford) MANAGEMENT: Navigation Media Group (Matt Rosen) PRODUCTION COMPANY: Premeditated
15 LIANA by Cesar Vitale An overly ambitious young woman’s obsession with a notorious hedge fund manager leads to her increasingly disturbing behavior in a quest to get close to, and ultimately take down, her idol. AGENT: Creative Artists Agency (Adam Perry, Connie Yan) MANAGEMENT: Untitled Entertainment (Jennifer Au, Jennifer Levine) PRODUCTION COMPANY: Roth/Kirschenbaum
15 PINFALL by Sean O’Reilly Lola, a former wrestler turned manager, finally sees her chance for a big break when she discovers a once-in-a-generation talent—only to risk not just her shot at success, but the people she cares about most, when the brutal world of professional wrestling begins to take its toll. AGENT: Verve (Nicky Mohebbi, Sara Nestor, Rich Rogers) MANAGEMENT: 42 (Doorie Lee, Jev Valles) PRODUCTION COMPANY: Temple Hill
15 REVENGE BODY by Devon Kerr Inspired by the COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO by Alexandre Dumas. Fifteen years after a high school prank ruined his life, a now-unrecognizable personal trainer sets his sights on destroying the lives of the group of former students responsible. MANAGEMENT: Artists First (Brooke Shoemaker, Katie Zipkin Leed)
15 THE MILKMAN by Lucas Kavner, Dylan Dawson After his beloved cow is senselessly killed, a peaceful dairy farmer becomes a vengeance-obsessed one-man wrecking crew, setting out through our modern, curdled world to take on a corrupt conglomerate and the violent enforcers who protect it. AGENT: United Talent Agency (Strawn Dixon, John Kaiser) MANAGEMENT: Dawson – Mosaic (Patrick Newman) / Kavner – The Gotham Group (Eric Robinson) PRODUCTION COMPANY: Davis Entertainment
15 THE TEXAN by Kevin Arnovitz When a self-made Houston mogul takes a young, ambitious West Texas striver under his wing, he ignites psychological warfare between mentor and protégé over fortune, family, reputation, and life-and-death. AGENT: Creative Artists Agency (Drew Leffler, Adam Perry) MANAGEMENT: Heroes & Villains (Aaron Lipsett)
14 ALEX ALERT by Donald Diego Alex O’Hara is struggling through a divorce when everyone in Los Angeles County starts receiving emergency alerts on their phones, revealing the details of Alex’s depressing life. Unable to stop the alerts from coming, Alex decides to lean in and try to use the newfound accountability to turn his life around. AGENT: William Morris Endeavor (Blake Fronstin, David Meese, Max West) MANAGEMENT: Think Tank (Tom Drumm) STUDIO: Sony/Columbia PRODUCTION COMPANY: Big Name, The Detective Agency, The Walsh Company
14 AMERICAN MIDNIGHT by Connor McIntyre When several bodies are found along the highways of the American Midwest, a divorced state trooper and her estranged FBI husband must work together to find a trucker murdering young women for his sick wife… a vampire. AGENT: Creative Artists Agency (Will Watkins) MANAGEMENT: Kaplan/Perrone (Andrew Murphy) STUDIO: Netflix PRODUCTION COMPANY: Vertigo
14 CAPABLE PEOPLE by Matthew Stewart While hosting a fundraiser for an election with a razor thin margin, a morally conflicted congresswoman and her staff desperately try to contain a ballooning scandal that threatens to destroy her career, her marriage, and the balance of power in Washington D.C. MANAGEMENT: Range Media Partners (Jacob Snyder) PRODUCTION COMPANY: Range Media Partners
14 CUT OUTS by Isaac Louis Garcia A detective whose mind is deteriorating after a tragic misstep becomes obsessed with an unexplainable case: unrelated people keep claiming that their bodies have been stolen from them, and they’ve been left stranded as someone else. AGENT: Independent Artist Group (Joe Fronk) MANAGEMENT: Heroes & Villains Entertainment (Joseph Cavalier) STUDIO: New Line Cinema PRODUCTION COMPANY: BoulderLight Pictures
14 INFESTATION by Chris Freyer A suburban family’s life spirals into horror after their young son is bitten by a strange beetle, and begins transforming into a monstrous insect. As a massive infestation simultaneously infects their family home, the father realizes he must confront the darkness lurking in his past in order to save his son. MANAGEMENT: Zero Gravity (Cam Cubbison, Elissa Friedman)
14 TRACE by Jackson Kellard A forensic sketch artist’s life is upended when her latest composite of a serial killer looks identical to her husband of 6 years. AGENT: Creative Artists Agency (PJ Picon) MANAGEMENT: RAIN (Lucius Cary) PRODUCTION COMPANY: Blinding Edge Pictures, Range Media Partners
13 HOUSE OF TIME by Tommy White, Miles Hubley When an eccentric billionaire invites five guests to an extravagant weekend at his secluded chateau, what starts as an elaborate time-travel game quickly turns deadly real. Or so we think… AGENT: William Morris Endeavor (Olivia Burgher, Bash Naran) MANAGEMENT: Writ Large (Michael Claassen, Noah Rosen) PRODUCTION COMPANY: Jo Henriquez, SK Global
13 LORDS OF THE DANCE by Greg Wayne When a 35-year-old Chicago ditch digger gets the opportunity of a lifetime to represent his ancestral homeland at the world’s biggest music competition, he unleashes a blockbuster dance phenomenon that will make Ireland a global superpower and finally set his people free. Based on the true story of Riverdance. MANAGEMENT: Mutiny (Ryan Casey) PRODUCTION COMPANY: Mutiny
13 MR. BLACKBURN by Alex Kavutskiy, Ryan Perez A passionate inner city high school teacher discovers that he’s accidentally inspired his former students into a life of meaningless minimum wage work and insurmountable student loan debt. Together, they pick up a life of crime to pay off their debts and realize the American dream he had once promised them. AGENT: Creative Artists Agency (Bryant Barile, Joe Mann, Jacob Schiff) MANAGEMENT: Artists First (Haley Jones, Peter Principato, Itay Reiss) PRODUCTION COMPANY: Hyperobject
13 NICK OF TIME by Patrick Pittis While defending an unscrupulous billionaire in a landmark antitrust lawsuit, a tenacious young attorney begins to question his sanity as he unravels a time-bending secret – something from the past that could threaten his future. MANAGEMENT: Navigation Media Group (Matt Rosen)
13 OH YOKO! by Allison Lee Born in war-torn Tokyo, Yoko Ono forges her path as a groundbreaking modern artist in New York, but her life changes forever when she dives into a whirlwind romance with John Lennon — and becomes known as the “witch” who broke up the Beatles. AGENT: Gersh (Mark Hartogsohn, Lee Keele) MANAGEMENT: Night Drive Management (Jon Hersh)
12 CAPRICORN by Edwin Cannistraci A married couple spice things up by starting a sexual relationship with a mysterious young woman, and it entangles them in a web of deception and danger. AGENT: Gersh (Danny Toth) MANAGEMENT: Bellevue Productions (John Zaozirny) PRODUCTION COMPANY: Talking Pictures
12 RENEGOTIATE by Mark Townend A troubled FBI crisis negotiator finds himself stuck in a time loop, re-living the events of a suicide bombing and struggling to stop it before time runs out. AGENT: Paradigm (Babacar Diene, Varun Monga) MANAGEMENT: Bellevue Productions (Jeff Portnoy) STUDIO: Lionsgate PRODUCTION COMPANY: CineMachine, Range
12 SISTER by Lauren Kilbride Sister Molly is not a Sister anymore – not after falling in love and leaving the convent behind. But two years later, when her relationship ends, she returns to the convent to figure out who she idolizes more: God, or her ex-boyfriend.
12 STANDBY by Derek Steiner On her final voyage as a flight attendant, a woman finds herself trapped on a transpacific flight with a passenger who is adamant that they’re perfect together and will do everything he can to win her over. AGENT: Gersh (Dave Alexander, Jimmy Cheng) MANAGEMENT: Atlas Artists (Ethan Harari) PRODUCTION COMPANY: Dog Ear
12 THE BLACK ECHO by Peter Haig After a hostage rescue mission goes wrong, an elite SWAT team is forced into a vast underground tunnel system — cut off and stripped of their tactical advantage by an enemy unlike any they’ve ever encountered, who’s turned the labyrinth into their killing field. MANAGEMENT: Entertainment 360 (Kathleen Dow, Marc Mounier, Geoff Shaevitz) PRODUCTION COMPANY: CineMachine, Parallel 42
12 THE PIRATE by Will Dunn On the storm-tossed seas of the 18th Century, a fisherman infiltrates a murderous pirate warship. AGENT: Verve (Nicky Mohebbi, Chase Northington, Adam Weinstein) MANAGEMENT: Think Tank (Tom Drumm) STUDIO: Amazon MGM PRODUCTION COMPANY: 87North, On The Roam
11 ALTS by Seth Worley After years of consequence-free time travel, a man, Guy, discovers his reckless behavior has created dozens of alternate versions of himself who all want him dead. AGENT: United Talent Agency (Jason Burns, Jordan Lonner) MANAGEMENT: Rise (Justin Letter)
11 CRUSH by John Fischer When a woman goes for a solo hike in the Everglades and falls, she wakes up with a massive snake curled around her ankles, ready to slowly kill her. AGENT: Verve (David Boxerbaum) STUDIO: 20th Century Studios PRODUCTION COMPANY: 1201 Films, Temple Hill Productions
11 GUYS WITH NO FRIENDS by Deb Kaplan, Harry Elfont When four friendless, middle-aged men are pushed into a ‘man date’ by their fed-up wives, they stumble into a night of misadventures that leaves them bruised, bonded, and forever changed. AGENT: Verve (Bryan Besser, Nicky Mohebbi) MANAGEMENT: Entertainment 360 ( Jill McElroy, Geoff Shaevitz) STUDIO: Paramount PRODUCTION COMPANY: Safehouse Pictures
11 HEARTLAND EXPRESS by Trevor James In rural Wyoming, a stressed-out single mom on the brink of an empty nest gets dragged into disastrous dates, honky-tonk nights, family blowups, and a new, possibly-fated romance — pushing her to discover that the hardest road to navigate is the one back to herself.
11 LAST STOP IN THE DESERT by Noah Sellman A disgraced journalist visits a hippie commune to rekindle an old flame, but when a body turns up in the middle of his first acid trip, he takes it upon himself to investigate — even as the trip turns his search for truth into a kaleidoscope of clues, visions, and lies.
11 OBJECT PERMANENCE by Alessandra DiMona Peter Donnely has it all: best selling novel, an impeccable home, tenured professor. More importantly, he and his wife, Jamie, are madly in love. When Jamie inconveniently disappears, his perfect life and devotion to his wife are put to the test as society and everyone around him rush to convict him of murder. MANAGEMENT: Range Media Partners (Tanya Cohen, Jeff Barry) PRODUCTION COMPANY: Mariela Villa (Level Up)
11 PEACHES by Sarah Rothschild Molly, a loveable mess, newly divorced, and drinking way too much, after one particularly reckless night, finds the unlikely lifeline she needs in Peaches, an enormous St. Bernard rescue dog. AGENT: Verve (Parker Davis, Pamela Goldstein) MANAGEMENT: Entertainment 360 (Susie Fox, Marc Mounier) PRODUCTION COMPANY: Temple Hill
11 SERPENT GIRL by Matthew Carnahan When he wakes up naked by the highway, Bailey Quinn is only sure of a few things: He’s in a world of testicle pain, he’s tripping out of his head on peyote, and someone seems to have made a half-assed attempt at slashing his throat. He can’t for the life of him remember what happened—and then it all comes flooding back—the circus, the heist, the betrayal. And even though Bailey starts on a bloody bender for retribution, he winds up finding love and an unexpected state of grace. AGENT: Verve (Adam Levine, Noah Liebmiller, Chris Noriega) MANAGEMENT: Echo Lake (Dave Brown)
11 THE LIGHT FROM THE ARCADE by Derek Pastuszek On a nostalgic hometown visit, a disillusioned dude is sucked into his favorite childhood arcade game, where he must team up with his teenage self to fight a horde of mind-bending monsters and find a way home…together, they’re forced to confront their past to save their future. MANAGEMENT: Range Media Partners (Alain Carles, Andrew Nallathambi)
11 THE STAG AND THE BULL by Kelly Walker Desperate to revive their marriage, a suburban couple invites a stranger into their bedroom only to discover that some fantasies can really kill the mood. MANAGEMENT: Kaplan/Perrone (Sean Perrone, Bill Zotti) PRODUCTION COMPANY: Barnstorm, Megamix, Mazo Partners
10 AMPHORA by Greg Jardin A dramatic thriller that takes place over two parts of a man’s life. MANAGEMENT: 3 Arts Entertainment (Harley Copen) PRODUCTION COMPANY: Jason Baum, Temple Hill
10 DEAD MAN’S ISLAND by Jordan Santacana A pirate is marooned on a mysterious island, only to discover that he’s being stalked by a bloodthirsty creature. MANAGEMENT: Alex Elliott PRODUCTION COMPANY: Elliott Pictures
10 ENTERTAINING by Hannah Hafey, Kaitlin Smith Cooking show superstar Celeste Bell and her upstart rival Josie Baker vie food media’s most coveted broadcast – Thanksgiving – over the course of a decade. AGENT: Gersh (Eric Garfinkel) MANAGEMENT: The Arlook Group (Jack Greenbaum)
10 HANDY MAN by Teddy Schenck When a frustrated stay-at-home father in Brooklyn feels increasingly threatened by the charismatic handyman hired by his wife, their simmering rivalry escalates into a volatile battle of wills that threatens to unravel their families. MANAGEMENT: Hopscotch Pictures (Sukee Chew)
10 KAMPF by Sang Kyu Kim An actor from a hit medical show disappears for years before suddenly reappearing in history channel reenactments playing one role repeatedly: Joseph Goebbels. His reasons for such an odd professional choice remain unknown until he meets a young girl dying of cancer… through Make a Wish. AGENT: Paradigm (Jonny Gutman, Devon Schiff, Bill Weinstein) MANAGEMENT: Kaplan/Perrone (Mike Fera, Aaron Kaplan) PRODUCTION COMPANY: 10 by Ten Entertainment
10 PLACE TO BE by Aimee Pham, Kai Sampadian James, a good dad who flies a bit too close to the sun, hasn’t seen his kids in 10 years… but not by choice. When he decides to make his grand return at his daughter’s destination wedding weekend but no one recognizes who he actually is, James must fight to win his family’s trust so he can walk his daughter down the aisle. AGENT: CAA (Eddie Lau) MANAGEMENT: Untitled Entertainment (Brennan O’Donnell)
10 SUGAR FREE by Kirill Baru When their sugar daddy and sugar mommy dump them to be together, a self-absorbed gold digger and a loveable slacker join forces to break up their exes and get back on easy street. MANAGEMENT: Bellevue Productions (Jeff Portnoy, Kate Sharp) PRODUCTION COMPANY: Olive Bridge Entertainment
10 SUNLIGHT by Kit Steinkellner A husband and wife’s marriage is tested when the husband is bitten by a bat and becomes a vampire. AGENT: United Talent Agency (Marissa Devins, Dan Erlij, Abby Glusker, Amanda Hymson, Julien Thuan) MANAGEMENT: Circle of Confusion (Josh Adler) PRODUCTION COMPANY: Mood Bath Pictures
10 THE SURVIVAL LIST by Tom Melia Against her wishes, highbrow reality TV producer Annie is assigned to a new show hosted by macho survival expert Chopper Lane. However, when a shipwreck strands the two of them on a deserted island, Annie discovers Chopper is a fraud and knows nothing about survival, leaving her in charge of keeping them alive. Forced to work together, the two soon discover an unlikely chemistry. AGENT: WME (Connor Armstrong, Max West) MANAGEMENT: Kaplan/Perrone (Alex Lerner, Ben Neumann) STUDIO: Lionsgate PRODUCTION COMPANY: Marc Platt Productions, Nlake Lively
10 THE VALLEY OF HINNOM by Jacob Marx Rice When a rudderless teenager in an extremist group goes undercover at a synagogue he’s plotting to bomb, he finds himself relying on the very people he is supposed to destroy. MANAGEMENT: Night Drive Management (Jon Hersh)
10 VIENNA by Lindsay Michel An interpreter at the US Embassy in Vienna must act quickly when she’s pulled into a late-night meeting between the American and Russian presidents and discovers that they are negotiating the outcome of a pre-planned nuclear war. AGENT: WME (Connor Armstrong) MANAGEMENT: Bellevue Productions (Kate Sharp) PRODUCTION COMPANY: Persons Attempting
10 WITH THE 8TH PICK by Alex Sohn, Gavin Johannsen In the 1996 NBA draft, New Jersey Nets GM John Nash fights against his own organization and wants take an untested high schooler named Kobe Bryant AGENT: Verve (David Boxerbaum, Adam Levine, Valarie Philips) MANAGEMENT: Lit Entertainment (Kendrick Tan) STUDIO: Warner Bros. PRODUCTION COMPANY: Star Thrower
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