StudioCanal, ‘Non-Stop’ Producers Team Up With Black List to Find EU Screenwriter

StudioCanal and The Picture Company, the banner run by producers Andrew Rona and Alex Heineman, have partnered with the Black List — the online script and movie community best known for its annual list of unproduced screenplays — to find a writer in the action and suspense genres.

The pact is patterned along the same lines as the Black List’s other team-ups with Warner Bros. and Disney. Writers can host their script on the Black List’s website, and by following the steps they can indicate their interest in working with The Picture Company and StudioCanal.

Per the companies’ announcement, aspirants must be EU passport holders and cannot have made more than $250,000 from screenwriting fees over the course of their careers. The writer selected will receive a blind script deal.

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Rona and Heineman have produced international action hits such as Non-Stop, as well as upcoming actioner The Gunman, with StudioCanal, which is backing their company. While the duo have primarily made their mark in the action and thriller film genres, all genres and episodic fare — digital or television — is also being developed.

Heineman said one of the goals was to “expand opportunities for new voices abroad, especially at a time when international markets are so vital to our business.”

“Great storytelling knows no boundaries, and this represents a major step forward for us in celebrating exceptional screenwriting by EU writers writing in English,” said Black List founder Franklin Leonard.

Studios aren’t the only ones tethering up to the Black List. Literary-and-talent agency Verve is listing its entire back catalog in the company’s database, while Charlie Ebersol’s The Company and the NFL have hired two writers to write football-themed scripts.

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Jason Jones