Final Draft Blog

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Read interviews with the pros, catch up with industry news, and listen to Write On: A Screenwriting Podcast by Final Draft.

Your Script Is In Development, But What Does That Mean?

November 13, 2020

Development is one of the most nebulous terms in Hollywood. If you spend any amount of time working in film and television, you'll hear it used constantly. But what being in development actually means can vary wildly and depend on any number of facto...

Write On with 'The Good Lord Bird' Co-Creator Mark Richard

November 13, 2020

The Good Lord Bird co-creator Mark Richard discusses the show's use of humor despite the serious subject matter, what it was like to work with Ethan Hawke, how he got his start as a writer, and more. The Showtime and BlumhouseTV miniseries is based o...

Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey' Writer-Director David E. Talbert Weaves Loss, Hope, and Heart

November 13, 2020

In Netflix’s Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey, the streaming service’s first-ever live-action musical, writer-director David E. Talbert weaves together a high-octane musical with a story filled with loss, hope and a lot of heart.

History of TV: Forever 'Charmed'

November 12, 2020

Something Wicca this way came in 1998 when the original Charmed hit The WB airwaves. Right out of the gate, the fantasy drama raked in 7.7 million viewers to be the fledgling network’s highest-rated debut at the time. Spelling Television had created ...

What Are The Responsibilities Of a Screenwriter?

November 12, 2020

One of the most searched screenwriting-related questions on Google is, "What are screenwriters responsible for?" Ending with a preposition aside, that's an incredibly loaded question that I'm going to try to answer. This question will likely prompt d...

Character Study Part I: The 3 Kinds of Character Arcs

November 11, 2020

Tony Soprano. Olivia Pope. Jack Bauer. Carrie Bradshaw. Jon Snow...

‘Come Play’ Pays Homage To the Spooky Amblin Tales of Yore

November 9, 2020

If you're looking to continue your spooky season during the spookiest year of them all, or you're an Amblin fan, Come Play is a worthy watch. The movie's writer-director Jacob Chase is living a filmmaker’s fairy tale; his short film Larry blew up the...

5 Screenwriting Takeaways: ‘The Undoing’ and Female Thriller Writing Tropes to Embrace and Avoid

November 9, 2020

The Undoing is flashy and feels familiar. But that also feels by design. The HBO show shares writers with Big Little Lies and sells itself on wealth, cheating and suspense. If it will be as big a hit as Lies is yet to be determined, but it’s a good c...

Can Screenwriters Thrive in New York City?

November 6, 2020

Can screenwriters thrive in New York City? That’s a great question. First, let me introduce myself: My name is Vanessa King. I am a self-taught screenwriter who grew up in a remote part of Canada. In the early aughts, I moved to New York to pursue my...