#20 Franklin Leonard (The Black List): Ted Lasso, being a good ally, how to sell a book

Follow Friday

(Full transcript of this episode available here).

If you want to know what's going to win an Oscar in a couple years, you should talk to film and TV producer Franklin Leonard. Since 2005, he and his team at The Black List have circulated an annual list of the best screenplays floating around Hollywood that haven't yet been made into movies. But films that make it to the Black List — such as Argo, The King's Speech, and Promising Young Woman — often find later success.

When he's not making movies or helping screenwriters win trophies, however, Franklin is a soccer obsessive, a student of history, and a leader trying to educate himself about good allyship. On today's Follow Friday, he talks about an exceptionally generous young soccer star; two activists breaking barriers for disabled people everywhere; a powerful publishing executive who's spilling his industry's secrets on Instagram; and two writers who are starting important conversations about race and American history.

Follow us:

- Franklin is @franklinleonard on Twitter and @franklinjleonard on Instagram

- This show is @followfridaypod on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok

- Eric is @heyheyesj on Twitter

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Theme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan. Additional music by Purple Planet Music.