The Black List is where filmmakers find great material to make films and great material finds filmmakers to make them.
It began as a survey. In 2005, Franklin Leonard surveyed almost 100 film industry development executives about their favorite scripts from that year that had not been made as feature films. That first list - many of which have been made since - can be viewed here. Since then the voter pool has grown to about 500 film executives, 60% of whom typically respond.
Over 275 Black List screenplays have been made as feature films. Those films have earned over $24BN in worldwide box office, have been nominated for 197 Academy Awards, and have won 31, including Best Pictures SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, THE KING'S SPEECH, and ARGO, and seven of the last twelve screenwriting Oscars. A complete list of Black List films is here.
In September 2012, we launched a membership site for industry professionals that functions as a real time Black List and screenplay recommendation engine.