The Black List's Franklin Leonard on why picking winners doesn't mean making losers

And according to box office numbers, films from the list rake in more revenue, too.In a conversation at our virtual TechCrunch Disrupt 2020 stage, Leonard expanded on the philosophy behind his efforts and why elevating the work of creators isn’t a zero-sum game.Hollywood and venture capital have both been slow to the revelation that finding overlooked talent benefits everyone — not just the people lower on the food chain.“It’s in the industry’s interest to find the people — to sort of go out into the field full of haystacks and find the needles to see if there might be something we can do with them,” Leonard said.“It’s a problem-solving thing. Instead, it amplifies the good stuff that’s already out there and helps creators get connected to the side of the industry that doles out resources.“I think the thing that I’m most proud of is that we’ve been able to create an ecosystem whereby we are not asking more of the writers than the opportunity to share the good news of their good work,” Leonard said.“We don’t have our hand in their pocket, we’re not democratizing access to us.