Final Draft Blog

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Circle of Confusion launches its first writers fellowship

October 6, 2021

Earlier this year talent management and production company Circle of Confusion (known for The Walking Dead, Mr. Right, and American Ultra) selected their Writers Discovery Fellows for its inaugural program, an initiative to mentor aspiring TV and fil...

Write On with ‘The Manor’ Writer-Director Axelle Carolyn

October 5, 2021

After suffering a stroke, Judith Albright moves into a historic nursing home, where she begins to suspect something supernatural is preying on the residents in this Amazon Original Movie. Writer-Director Axelle Carolyn talks about how her personal fa...

Co-writer and director Vince Marcello on completing the coming-of-age 'Kissing Booth' trilogy

October 5, 2021

Elle and Noah have just one more summer together before they go off to college, and all the plans Elle had in mind for her future are slowly slipping away, one missed phone call from admissions at a time. As her deadline to commit to a university app...

Rising Through the Ranks: Latinx comedy-horror writer April M. Sánchez

October 5, 2021

April M. Sánchez’s cheerful vibes resonate even through a computer screen, her comedic timing and charm livening up a regular morning Zoom session. The comedy/horror writer has been writing to entertain since her high school days.

5 Screenwriting Takeaways: Netflix's arresting and captivating 'Maid'

October 4, 2021

Maid is the long-awaited adaptation of Stephanie Land’s novel: "Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive". The show was brought to Netflix by a team of heavy hitters; TV veteran John Wells (ER and Southland) steered a production team ...

5 Screenwriting Takeaways: ‘The Eyes of Tammy Faye’ and the infamous rise and fall of a televangelist

October 1, 2021

When Tammy Faye was a young girl, she felt like an outcast. In a deeply religious family, she was the sole daughter of a divorced woman; her mother and stepfamily believed she would soil their name if she even stepped foot into church on Sundays. But...

Rising Through the Ranks: Screenwriter Suzanne Griffin on universality and defying age

October 1, 2021

"Putting words together in a way that transports you to another world is just so magical, so satisfying," says Brooklyn-based screenwriter Suzanne Griffin, whose writing path started with a poetry competition in the second grade. "Even then, as a you...

The Screenwriter's Toolbox Part III: The Beat Board™

September 30, 2021

In previous articles, we've covered loglines, synopses, treatments and pitches. These are all basically marketing tools used to promote the work, and guiding writers in mastering these tools can help them understand the bigger pictures in scriptwriti...

History of TV: ‘Glee’ never stopped believin’

September 30, 2021

Tackling Glee definitely gave me pre-writing jitters. But what struck me most is there’s nothing quite like a good ensemble show. They have a special kind of energy that sucks you in. Gossip Girl. Friends. The Wire. Wildly different genres with one t...