Skip to Content

Who really won The Oscars (with The Black List's Franklin Leonard) | Masters of Scale Rapid Response

About Franklin

  • Founder & CEO of The Black List, a platform reshaping Hollywood talent discovery
  • Black List scripts produced: 400+ films, 54 Oscars, 4 Best Picture wins (as of 2024)
  • Harvard graduate; former exec at Universal Pictures & Overbrook Entertainment
  • Harvard Business School study: Black List movies make 90% more revenue (2020)
  • Serves on boards: Young Storytellers; adviser to BoomGen Studios and Plympton

| 27:11

The Oscars aren’t just Hollywood’s biggest night. The ceremony and the scrutiny around it captures the trends and evolving values of American culture. Rapid Response host Bob Safian digs into the business implications of the Academy Awards with Franklin Leonard, Founder and CEO of The Black List, an independent platform connecting screenwriters with studios.

From Oppenheimer’s near-sweep to Killers of the Flower Moon’s shut out — and how Barbie arguably won the night without taking home the top prizes — Franklin teases out lessons about creativity, missed opportunities, and where the future of entertainment is moving.

Show Host
Host, Rapid Response
See Full Bio
RR_BobSafian_colorcutout
See Full Bio
MoS_FranklinLeonard_colorcutout
Who really won The Oscars
The Black List’s Franklin Leonard
Go to Episode
to Listen to
The Black List’s Franklin Leonard