“This is really an opportunity where David can actually compete with Goliath,” Warren says of funding filmmakers. UPS had previously done collaborations in the fashion, sports, and music worlds to support small businesses, he says, and journeying into film felt like a natural next step. The collaboration with UPS materialized after a representative for the shipping company sent an email to the Black List’s customer support team-though Kevin Warren, the executive vice president and chief marketing officer at UPS, chuckles to hear that, as he hadn’t quite realized that was how the conversation began. Thanks to the funding provided by UPS, the winners of this project will no longer have to worry about cutting corners or asking for discounts, she notes. “Oftentimes, when people are making shorts, they’re begging, borrowing, and stealing because they’ve got maybe $5,000,” she says. Megan Halpern, senior vice president of the Black List, adds that the $100,000 prize will also help the filmmakers properly compensate their collaborators. I will get something like this,’ that’s a very compelling case to make.” If you can see the short film from a first-time filmmaker and say, ‘Oh, okay, this is what I’m investing in. If you know the script is good because it’s been validated by someone like us, that’s a good thing. “It’s a model that also allows people who might be financing a feature film to make responsible investing decisions. “We know that that model works,” says Leonard. The Black List and UPS will promote the Be Unstoppable initiative with activations at the American Black Film Festival, the Venice Film Festival, and the Toronto International Film Festival. Once chosen, the two winning filmmakers will have about six months to complete their respective shorts to be considered for the 2023 film festival circuit. The two winners, who will be announced November 14, will be chosen by an inclusive jury of filmmakers members of the jury will be announced in late summer and early fall. The aim of the project, done in collaboration with UPS, is to help aspiring writer-directors fund a fully realized short that will not only stand on its own but also function as a strong proof of concept to secure financing for an eventual feature.Īspiring filmmakers will be able to submit their scripts to the Black List’s site from June 9 to September 18, with shortlisted filmmakers also submitting a directing sample.

This time the mission arrives in the form of the Be Unstoppable Short Film Project, a new competition that will offer two emerging filmmakers $100,000 each in production grants to make a short film based on their feature film screenplay. The Black List is once again on a mission to discover and support aspiring storytellers from underrepresented backgrounds.

Short film scripts