Jennifer Grand Lands Blind Feature Film Script Deal Through MGM & The Black List Partnership

Valerie Complex
·2 min read
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MGM and The Black List have selected Jennifer Grand as the second recipient to receive a two-step guild minimum blind script deal.

As part of the partnership, Franklin Leonard and Scott Silver are on board to produce Grand’s script for the studio. The third opt-in period of the partnership, whose mission is to discover new voices from historically underrepresented communities around the world, kicks off January 27-April, 29 2022, and is open to all genres.

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“Breaking in isn’t easy for anyone and those of us coming to screenwriting after a career in another industry find that many of the paths and positions are designed for younger people just starting their careers,” said Grand. “I turned to The Black List to increase my exposure and my network and now I have my first writing deal! I’m grateful to MGM for such an incredible opportunity and to Franklin Leonard and Scott Silver for selecting me to work with.”

Michael De Luca, MGM’s Film Group Chairman and Pamela Abdy, MGM’s Film Group President commented, “We are thrilled to be able to continue championing new voices through this partnership with the Black List, and ultimately help make breaking into this industry a more equitable pursuit. When Franklin and Scott first introduced us to Jennifer, her unique path and immense talent for story immediately caught our attention, and we look forward to welcoming her into the MGM family.”

Leonard, Founder and CEO of the Black List adds, “It’s not often that a horror film set in 1589 so well recommends someone to write a screenplay with a major studio in 2022 but such is the vision of MGM, Jennifer Grand, and her script The Beast of Bedburg. We’re incredibly excited by what’s next for her, the next writer we find via our partnership with the studio, and the inclusion of playwrights’ work as part of that process.”

Launched in December 2020, the MGM/The Black List initiative is focused on discovering new writers with unique perspectives who want to tell original stories for the big screen. Every six months, The Black List delivers a shortlist of new feature film writing candidates to MGM for consideration. MGM then looks to select one writer from each six-month cycle to receive a two-step Guild minimum blind feature film script deal and the opportunity to work with the iconic studio, over a continuous period of two years. For the first time ever, during this opt-in period stage play (plays and musicals) samples will be considered for this opportunity along with feature film samples.

Further information about the partnership can be found here: blcklst.com/mgm

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