Ep 267 - Breaking the Blacklist: Frank Monteleone’s Script Summit Success Story

Frank Monteleone, winner of Best TV Pilot at Script Summit 2022, joins Geoffrey to share how that win lit a fire under his career. From scoring high on The Black List to attaching IP and navigating the WGA strike, Frank’s story is a masterclass in strategy, persistence, and smart networking.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• Why winning Script Summit was a turning point for Frank
• How Frank “broke” The Black List with high scores and free evals
• Attaching IP to elevate your spec script
• The smart way to revise and polish a winning pilot
• Why networking (and Twitter) still matters in 2025

Key Moments:

• 01:33 – How Script Summit and a Twitter post attracted producers
• 04:58 – Frank’s high Black List scores (and how he scored free evals)
• 07:50 – Forming a producing team just before the WGA strike
• 12:40 – How Frank secured an option agreement with Yale
• 18:44 – The scene tweak that elevated an already award-winning script

About the Guest:
Frank Monteleone is the writer behind Candlestick Men, a Russian-American crime pilot that earned Best TV Pilot at Script Summit 2022. A rising talent with a pragmatic approach, Frank is blending research, IP, and polished craft to bring his stories to screens.

About the Host: With films on network television and streaming platforms, Geoffrey D. Calhoun is a screenwriter, author of The Guide for Every Screenwriter, and a passionate instructor helping writers find success through his podcast and screenplay contest, Script Summit. Resources Mentioned in the Episode:

• Script Summit Contest
• The Black List
• The Vory by Mark Galeotti (Yale University Press)

Connect with Geoffrey D. Calhoun:

• Website: TheSuccessfulScreenwriter.com
• Instagram: @screenwriterpod
• TikTok: @screenwriterpod
• YouTube: The Successful Screenwriter

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Want your script read by industry pros? Submit to Script Summit before the June 15 deadline!

#Screenwriting #ScriptSummit #TheBlacklist #TVPilot #ScreenwriterJourney #WGAstrike #FrankMonteleone #GeoffreyDCalhoun #WritingTips

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Connect with Geoffrey
📸 Instagram: @screenwriterpod
▶️ YouTube: The Successful Screenwriter

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