In October 2016, Hannah sent the finished script, titled The Post, out to agents, with the hope of finding representation. On October 28, she received a call from Producer Amy Pascal, the former chair of Sony Pictures. The script appeared at number two on the 2016 Black List, an annual Hollywood survey of the 'most liked' film screenplays not yet produced. Pascal won an auction for the script soon after, and quickly enlisted Steven Spielberg, Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks as Director and stars, respectively.