Final Draft Blog

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Write On: 'The Performance' Co-Writer Josh Salzberg

January 29, 2025

“Fugler [Robert Carlyle] was a character that I really connected with from the beginning. I know it sounds a little strange that the Nazi was my way into this, but it really was that idea of, ‘How can we get inside his head and make sure that he’s a ...

5 Tips for a Winning Screenwriting Strategy

January 28, 2025

The better prepared you are as a screenwriter, the greater the chances of you completing a screenplay and selling it. This is why it’s important to have a screenwriting strategy. What ideas are script worthy? How are you going to manage your time? Wh...

5 Screenwriting Lessons from Golden-Globe Winner ‘The Brutalist’

January 27, 2025

This year’s winner of the Golden Globe for Best Picture (Drama) and Best Performance by a Male Actor for Adrien Brody (Drama), The Brutalist has become one of the most intriguing films to come out of 2024. Writer/Director Brady Corbet’s mid-century t...

Big Break Contest Judge Jeff Portnoy On Why You Should Enter

January 24, 2025

According to Jeff Portnoy, literary manager at Bellevue Productions and a judge for the 2025 Final Draft Big Break Screenwriting Contest, what makes Final Draft’s screenwriting competition stand out from other screenwriting contests is its emphasis o...

Write On: 'Inside Out 2' Co-Writers Meg LeFauve and Dave Holstein

January 24, 2025

“People think sequels are easier, and I’m like, ‘No, no, it’s much harder. It is much harder to write.’ They have never written sequels, those people, because you need to do everything as well as the first and yet better, and go to new places, follow...

5 More Screenwriters You Might Not Have Heard Of

January 23, 2025

In the article “5 Screenwriters You Might Not Have Heard Of,” we spotlighted a handful of important screenwriters who had written popular or critically-acclaimed films, yet are not widely known today. Screenplay writers don’t always get the recogniti...

How Actor Julia Stiles Wrote Her First Feature Screenplay

January 21, 2025

For Julia Stiles, years of performing as an actor have provided a unique advantage in her latest creative venture—screenwriting and directing.

You Catch Ideas: David Lynch as Screenwriter

January 17, 2025

The word genius sometimes gets overused and it doesn’t always apply. Not in the case of David Lynch, who has passed away at the age of 78. Lynch was a bona fide genius who changed our cinematic language and discovered new forms of expression. From th...

Final Draft Big Break Screenwriting Contest 2025 opens March 10

January 17, 2025

Is your screenplay or TV pilot ready for the Final Draft Big Break Screenwriting Competition? With dozens of screenwriting contests out there, it’s important to consider which ones are worth your time and money. Over the past 20 years, the Big Break ...