The GLAAD List: Best Unproduced LGBTQ+ Screenplays of 2022 Unveiled (EXCLUSIVE)
variety.comMatt Donnelly Senior Film WriterGLAAD and The Black List have released their third-ever specialty report celebrating LGBTQ+ inclusive stories.Exclusive to Variety, the list includes work from 12 notable out creators in film, along with eight television pilots.
The Black List is an annual ranking of the best unproduced screenplays in Hollywood. Founded by Franklin Leonard, the group has been working in concert with media watchdog GLAAD to identify and elevate underrepresented queer voices.In only two years, nearly 50% of projects named in the previous editions of the GLAAD List have been optioned, are in production or have been released (Billy Porter’s directorial debut, “Anything’s Possible,” is among them).
For the 2022 edition, GLAAD also called on top-tier production houses, streamers and studios to help vet the list. These companies include Berlanti-Schechter Films, Hello Sunshine, Hillman Grad, Netflix, MGM’s Orion Pictures, Ryan Murphy Productions and Village Roadshow Entertainment Group. “The industry has finally realized after a very long time that they’re not telling the stories of various communities, and when they do, they tell certain kinds of stories.
Stories of struggle, of victimization, or angels walking on Earth that must be perfect,” Leonard, who oversees the ranking with Black List’s Kate Hagen, told Variety. “Those aren’t necessarily great movies, certainly not ones that reflect the full humanity of these communities.”The selected scripts cover a range of topics, from a trans teen whose imaginary best friend is A-lister Margot Robbie, to a biopic of pioneering environmentalist Rachel Carson, to a Latinx tennis phenom looking for love.Read the titles and longlines for the complete 2022 GLAAD List:“Blu.
