Final Draft Blog
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Rising Through the Ranks: Latinx comedy-horror writer April M. Sánchez
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.
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5 Screenwriting Takeaways: Netflix's arresting and captivating 'Maid'
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 ...
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5 Screenwriting Takeaways: ‘The Eyes of Tammy Faye’ and the infamous rise and fall of a televangelist
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...
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Rising Through the Ranks: Screenwriter Suzanne Griffin on universality and defying age
"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...
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The Screenwriter's Toolbox Part III: The Beat Board™
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...
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History of TV: ‘Glee’ never stopped believin’
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...
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Write On with ‘Vida’ and ‘Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts’ Writer Taylor Orci
Taylor Orci is a TV and screenwriter known for their work on Vida and the Emmy-nominated series Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts on Netflix. Taylor is also known for creating the web video ‘Bitchy Resting Face’ that went so viral it got the term in t...
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What's the skinny on loglines?
I’m never sure if logline is two words or one, but for the purpose of this article, let’s talk about loglines as one compound word. We don’t write “screen plays” and honestly, the spelling is the least of our worries when we’re struggling to write ab...
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Last Night in Rozzie' offers window to heal past traumas
Last Night in Rozzie is a personal film for the team behind it. Screenwriter Ryan McDonough hails from Roslindale, outside of Boston (the town, according to McDonough, was not as idyllic as it is today). McDonough wrote from a combination of personal...
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What’s new in Final Draft 13?
WRITING GOALS &
PRODUCTIVITY STATS
Set goals and get valuable insights to take your work to the next level
TYPEWRITER
A new typewriter-like view option improves your focus
EMOJI
Craft more realistic onscreen text exchanges and make your notes more emotive
And so much more, thoughtfully designed to help unleash your creativity.
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