Despite sharing a state with Hollywood, despite having been the source and setting for many incredible films, the Bay Area has never really been known as a center of movie and television production.

A new initiative by writer, producer, actor, and poet Rafael Casal hopes to change that perception.

The Bay List, a collaboration between Casal and producer/entrepreneur Franklin Leonard, will identify and highlight exceptional screenplays and television pilots by writers from, or with close ties to, the Bay Area. Along with a cast of high-profile partners, The Bay List will select the 10 most promising projects submitted by writers between now and April 2025, then work with them to amplify their ideas and secure educational and production opportunities.

Multi-hyphenate creative Rafael Casal is a proud East Bay native.(Courtesy of Rafael Casal)

“I think because of the multiculturalism of the Bay, the often extreme economic inequality, the diversity in our public schools, the progressive imagination of the community members, the corruption in government and policing, the multi-hyphenate nature of our self-sustaining art scenes, and on and on and on, and up and down, that powder keg has created an environment that produces some of the world's most impressive thought leaders,” says Casal. ”I have a strong feeling that if making movies and TV felt more obtainable to artists in the Bay, we would see a true renaissance of film explode from here.”

Indeed, that “powder keg” has already resulted in some unforgettable pictures, including some that Casal is especially fond of, like the documentary The Force (2017) by Pete Nicks, which captures the depths of police violence and corruption in the Bay Area, and the 1979 classic Escape from Alcatraz starring Clint Eastwood.

“La Mission (2009) by the Bratt brothers is a beautiful film [that] captures the Mission District pre-gentrification, a place that now feels like a fantasy,” says Casal. “The [Latine] community in the Bay is not often depicted on screen, and Northern California feels so different than L.A in that respect.”

'La Mission', the 2009 film by the Bratt brothers.(Courtesy of @dailychela)

Big and small, Casal tries to watch all of the productions connected to the Bay Area—and there are still infinite stories to be told. The idea to bring more equity and access to those telling them was inspired by Leonard’s pioneering project The Black List, which has a similar goal in helping overlooked scripts get noticed. Initially founded in 2005 to survey the most-liked screenplays that remained unproduced each year, the initiative has grown into a virtual marketplace democratizing access to the film industry for writers from more than 100 countries.

“The Black List has been a fantastic resource for screenwriters for quite some time now, but I have to admit that it wasn't until after I made my first film that I heard about it,” explains Casal, who wrote, produced, and starred in 2018’s Blindspotting and its 2021 Starz spinoff with childhood friend Daveed Diggs.

“The Bay List is my attempt to partner with Franklin and his team to bring awareness about The Black List to the Bay, creating a specific list just for us. The hope is that collaborations are formed through this process, which can help bridge the gap between the Bay Area writing scene and the Hollywood machine of actually getting things made.”

Even in its inaugural year, The Bay List has already secured the participation of some of the region’s biggest names in entertainment: Lucasfilm (the San Rafael production company founded by George Lucas), Playtone (the production company founded by Alameda-native Tom Hanks), Unanimous Media (founded by Steph Curry and Erick Peyton), Who Knows Best Productions (founded by W. Kamau Bell and Melissa Hudson Bell), and almost a dozen others altogether. They’ll be involved in selecting the first cohort of finalists and in providing them with various forms of support such as pitching workshops, public table reads, and business development guidance.

(L to R) Rafael Casal, Daveed Diggs, and Jon Chaffin in 2018's 'Blindspotting'.(Courtesy of @cinematic_imagery)

“This project lives and dies by the generosity and time of some of the Bay Area’s most major players, and I am so grateful that they even entertained the idea,” says Casal. “The truth is, we need to make a big splash to get folks to pay attention, and so on the front end just lending their names is incredible—but even more valuable, are some of the resources each of them have pledged to the top 10 finalists.”

The only requirement to submit a film or television script is that the writer was born in, grew up in, or currently resides in one of the Bay Area’s nine counties full- or part-time. Those who lived here for a significant period as children or adults are also eligible, and screenplays and pilots don’t need to focus on the region to qualify. The Bay List will announce its shortlist in May 2025 and declare 10 finalists in July.

“The Bay is unique in the world. There is something in the water,” says Casal. “As someone who believes art pushes a society forward, I would hate to leave that stone unturned. I'm from under that stone.”

// Bay List submissions are open now through April 8, 2025; thebaylist.org

(Courtesy of The Bay List)