Final Draft Blog

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What Is an Antagonist in Screenwriting?

March 11, 2025

An antagonist is a character whose story arc and character arc run in direct opposition to that of the protagonist — the central character driving the plot forward and facing the central conflict of the story head-on. The antagonist is usually the dr...

5 Ways To Win a Screenwriting Contest

March 11, 2025

Maybe you’ve started or finished writing a feature screenplay or television pilot. Perhaps you’re still at the brainstorming stage. No matter what stage of the writing process you’re at, you might plan to enter your script into a screenwriting contes...

Write On: Long Bright River Showrunner Nikki Toscano

March 7, 2025

“With an adaptation, you can never give back your first read. So, what are you taking away? What fills your soul? Why do you want to tell this story? And then that becomes sort of the North Star. And I’m tethered more by that North Star than by the a...

Screenwriter Mike White’s Journey Before ‘The White Lotus’

March 6, 2025

With the third season of HBO’s The White Lotus the acclaimed and popular series is once again capturing audience’s imaginations. With its mixture of exotic locales, sexual intrigue and existential conflict, The White Lotus has become an event show an...

‘House of David’: Bringing an Ancient Story to Today’s Audience

March 4, 2025

Filmed on location in Greece over five months, Prime Video’s new TV show, House of David, takes us back 3,000 years to tell the story of the biblical figure David (Michael Iskander), who not only defeats a giant named Goliath (Martyn Ford), but rises...

How These 7 Films Led Sean Baker and 'Anora' to the Oscars

March 3, 2025

At this year’s Oscars, Anora filmmaker Sean Baker made history by personally receiving 4 Academy Award wins for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Editing. Only Warren Beatty, Alan Menken, Alfonso Cuaron and Chloe Zhao had...

5 Ways To Get Your Script Contest Ready

March 3, 2025

Every year there’s a new wave of screenwriting contests that a screenwriter can enter in the hopes of getting more eyes on their feature screenplay or TV pilot. Some of these annual contests, like Final Draft Big Break Screenwriting Contest, show win...

What Is Screenwriting?

February 27, 2025

There is a reason why Hollywood is such a driving force in the world — a majority of the world’s population loves movies and television. The enjoyment of the stories we see on the big or small screen comes in many different ways.

‘The Monkey’ and the Art of Adapting a Short Story

February 27, 2025

When it comes to short stories being turned into movies, there is one master that comes to mind: Stephen King. His short stories have been the source material that created such films as The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, 1408, The Mist and Chi...