Final Draft Blog

All the tips, tricks and information you need to inspire your writing!
Read interviews with the pros, catch up with industry news, and listen to Write On: A Screenwriting Podcast by Final Draft.

5 Trends in the Screenwriting Marketplace Every Screenwriter Should Know

October 15, 2024

For over two decades, Lee Jessup has been coaching the careers of both emerging and professional screenwriters with the goal of helping them take their career to the next level. You may also know that Jessup has been mentoring winners of the Final Dr...

THE SUBSTANCE and how to write Body Horror

October 11, 2024

Hormones. Puberty. Weight gain. Cancer. Aging. Menopause. Mental decline.

Why Joker is the Greatest Comic Book Movie Character

October 10, 2024

What makes Joker, the Clown Prince of Gotham, the best comic book movie character of all time? Not just villain. Character. He's evil, maniacal and misunderstood – and yet, he’s the greatest comic book character to consistently appear in movies.

Co-Writer of REZ BALL Talks Writing Sports Drama And Embracing Tropes

October 10, 2024

It can be incredibly difficult to venture into an established genre like the sports drama. It’s a tried-and-true narrative with some equally tested—and beloved—tropes. Sometimes the team is a ragtag group of misfits, the underdogs no one believes in....

Why Horror Never Dies

October 8, 2024

Scary is in. Fear is fashionable. Horror is hot. That’s what we’re told. Judging strictly by box office returns and critical acclaim—not to mention the occasional Academy Award® for best screenplay—horror does seem to be having a moment in the zeitge...

HOLD YOUR BREATH Writer Explores Dark Side of Motherhood in Horror Tale

October 7, 2024

Hold Your Breath is an achingly beautiful film that resonates in many powerful ways. While hitting many of the necessary tropes of psychological horror, it’s the incredible acting performances that hook you and won’t let you escape – even when it’s h...

"Breaking into TV Writing" with Anton Schettini

October 1, 2024

Anton Schettini is a TV writer best known for writing sitcoms like Happy Together and Superior Donuts – and even a drama called Snap. But before he was an actual writer, he spent years working his way up the Hollywood ladder as a production assistant...

SATURDAY NIGHT: Jason Reitman and Gil Kenan On Telling a Real-Time Story

September 30, 2024

Chaos. Genius. Drugs. Comedy. Revolution. These five words may not seem to go together at first glance, but they perfectly sum up the rollercoaster ride that is the new film Saturday Night. Told in real time, the film takes us back to 1975 when a det...

What Francis Ford Coppola Can Teach Screenwriters

September 27, 2024

At the 79th Academy Awards, three directors stood on stage ready to reveal the Best Director Oscar. The three directors all came up in the 1970s, stretching the limits of what film could be and dazzling audiences. Those three directors were Steven Sp...