The Black List, an annual survey of Hollywood executives’ favorite unproduced screenplays, has joined forces with GLAAD to promote the “most promising” potential LGBTQ-themed films.
Writes GLAAD: “The scripts on The GLAAD List represent the type of stories that GLAAD would like to see studios producing. With the proper attention, and with the collaboration of the right directors and actors, these scripts show tremendous promise and should one day become films that will both entertain audiences and change hearts and minds around the world.”
The GLAAD List is curated from a pool of the highest-rated scripts provided by The Black List which feature lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and/or queer (LGBTQ) characters.
GLAAD’s criteria for being added to its list are fair, accurate and inclusive LGBTQ representation, boldness and originality, potential impact, overall quality, and whether the script passes the ‘Vito Russo test’.
To pass the ‘Vito Russo test’, “a script must contain a character that is identifiably lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ). That character must not be solely or predominantly defined by their sexual orientation or gender identity (i.e. the character is comprised of the same sort of unique character traits commonly used to differentiate straight/non-transgender characters from one another). Additionally, the LGBTQ character must be tied into the plot in such a way that their removal would have a significant effect. Meaning they are not there to simply provide colorful commentary, paint urban authenticity, or (perhaps most commonly) set up a punchline. The character should matter.”
Here are the first entries on The GLAAD List with their plot summaries.
The Ecdysiasts, by Mary F. Unser – Soon the 13-year periodical cicadas will emerge from underground by the millions, molt and fill the air with their joyous, deafening song. Above ground, 13-year-old Trygg is struggling with his own emergence since the death of his older sister Katie. When lesbian entomologist Allison Armstrong moves in next door, she and Trygg become fast friends and make plans to celebrate the appearance of the cicadas.
The Enclosed, by Chris Basler – In 13th-century England, Brigid, an anchoress living a hermetic existence in a church cell, stumbles upon a holy relic that may give her life new meaning — but when a sinister entity after the relic threatens her, she’s forced to confide in an impertinent servant girl with plans of her own.
Me & Tammy Faye at the Betty Ford Clinic, by Pamela García Rooney – The totally MADE-UP story of the unlikely bond between a Latina transgender woman and the queen of Christian televangelism, inspired by the very real life of Tammy Faye Bakker.
Paragraph 175, by Diane Hanks – In the storm of persecution that is Hitler’s rise to power, two lovers are torn apart and find themselves on opposite sides of the conflict: one a prisoner in a concentration camp, the other his captor.
Queen, by Harry Tarre – Based on the inspiring true story of the world’s first openly transgender high school Prom Queen, Corey Rae.
Scott, by Anna Rose Moore – After her best friend dies, a success-driven lawyer is left with an unwinnable case – a female inmate’s accusations of rape by her prison guards. She soon uncovers a massive systemic scandal of sexual abuse by prison staff and the network used to cover it up.
Three Months, by Jared Frieder – After being exposed to HIV the weekend of his high school graduation in 2011, a queer teenager from Miami must survive the three months it takes to get tested in this coming-of-age dark comedy about shame and resilience.
Trouble Man, by David Carlson – The incredible true story of unsung hero Bayard Rustin, the gay African American architect of the Civil Rights Movement and right-hand man to Martin Luther King, Jr.
What If?, by Alvaro Garcia Lecuona – An unassertive 17-year-old turns his high school on its head when he asks out his crush, a transgender girl.
Your Boy, by Matt Whitaker – Home for the summer on Long Island, a shy black college student comes out to his oldest and closest friend. But after an internship in Manhattan leads him to an exhilarating gay social scene, the 21-year-old is caught between his newly confident lifestyle and the unpopular straight friend who once knew him best.
Which one of these would you be interested in seeing made?
