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.

The Final Draft/New York Film Academy Fellowship

June 8, 2015

What happens after you win a screenwriting contest? For far too many writers, not a whole lot. Winners and finalists of the Final Draft Big Break Screenwriting Contest have a very good track record for success, but the company wanted to do more to em...

Brave New Worlds

June 5, 2015

You all know the trailer voice over cliché “In a world ... ” which was kind of the trademark of the late Don Lafontaine, who even used it in a couple of trailers for movies I wrote. There’s even a great little indie film by Lake Bell called In A Worl...

Flawed Characters We Love

June 3, 2015

This marks my second workweek without an episode of Mad Men to discuss with co-workers. All of my fellow fans know what I’m going through. The void has driven me to reflect on what it was that made me adore that series so much.

How I Broke In: Brian Duffield

June 1, 2015

It’s been said that a new door opens into Hollywood every day, you just need to figure out how to get to be in front of the door that opens. There is no set path to success in the film industry. Writers break into Hollywood in countless different way...

Echo Lake Entertainment's Zadoc Angell

May 3, 2015

Zadoc Angell is one of those names. Not only does it sounds like it belongs to a super hero, in reality it is the moniker of one of the hardest working guys in the industry, who comes from simple beginnings and has built one of the most stellar reput...

Markus Goerg of Heroes and Villains

April 30, 2015

Markus Goerg is one manager I’ve been aware of for quite some time. Though his management company, Heroes and Villains, is a relatively young one (launched in 2008), his name garners such respect among those in the know that I was delighted at the op...

David Weil, Writer of "Moonfall"

April 30, 2015

The list of David Weil’s achievements is quite extraordinary. In 2013, his first spec script Half Heard In The Stillness was featured on the Black List, Hollywood’s annual survey of the town’s “most liked” screenplays. Last year, his second spec Moon...

Myth of the Likeable Lead

April 27, 2015

The one note you always get from producers is that your lead character - your protagonist - needs to be likeable. I swear, it’s as if it’s on the checklist. You have your first meeting on the script and they insist you make the protagonist more likea...