Meditative Story Writing the main character, by Franklin Leonard
Mar 11, 2026
Franklin Leonard, film executive who created The Black List to spotlight unproduced screenplays. He recounts near-death moments and sudden pivots that pushed him from law and consulting toward creative risk. He describes founding a platform to champion writers, mapping life to a three-act story, and intentionally calling in future plot twists.
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Car Crash That Shattered A Planned Life
- Franklin Leonard recounts a car crash in South Africa that upends his tidy life script and forces mortality into focus.
- The wreck, plus John F. Kennedy Jr.'s death the same day, makes him discard law school applications and reconsider his path.
Change Happens In Small Course Corrections
- Franklin notes real life rarely delivers movie-style instant transformations; change arrives in fits, not a single epiphany.
- After the accident he feels urgency but drifts back into expectations until breaks like layoffs create openings.
Detours Between Expectations And Curiosity
- Leonard describes taking varied detours: congressional campaign work, journalism in Trinidad, bartending while writing, then accepting McKinsey.
- These experiments show his pull between expected success and creative curiosity before a layoff frees him.