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.

‘The Gateway’ brings redemption to the crime thriller

September 2, 2021

Parker (Shea Whigham) is a down-on-his-luck social worker who doesn’t seem to love what he does, but rather loves what he tries to do for others. And while he can’t seem to catch a break, he refuses to give up on those he tries to help. Therefore whe...

History of TV: We're not getting any 'Younger'... or are we?

September 2, 2021

"Youth is wasted on the young." So said playwright George Bernard Shaw (or Mark Twain or Oscar Wilde, depending on your source). And Darren Star examines just that sentiment with his 2015 foray into what happens when a recently divorced 40-year-old w...

Write On with ‘American Crime Story: Impeachment’ Writer-Producer Sarah Burgess

September 1, 2021

The playwright turned screenwriter talks about what it’s like to write material based on real people for the FX TV series. "My job was to adopt 20-something Monica [Lewinsky]'s point of view… and so I wrote based on Monica's story, and then I had the...

A pair of (literally) killer jeans is the star of Elza Kephart's 'Slaxx'

September 1, 2021

If you've ever struggled to put your jeans on, Slaxx is for you. The horror/comedy is about a pair of killer jeans seeking revenge on an "eco-conscious" retailer. That premise alone made me rush to interview co-writer and director Elza Kephart, solid...

Monuments' writer-director Jack C. Newell on scripting grief for the screen

August 31, 2021

For Monuments writer-director Jack C. Newell, it was sticking to the script and dialogue exactly as it was written for his film, leaving zero room for improv, which proved to be a challenge.

5 Screenwriting Takeaways: 'Reservation Dogs' is an engrossing dramedy of long-overdue firsts

August 31, 2021

Reservation Dogs is a historic, unique and highly watchable show. It’s the first series in U.S. television history with an all-Native writers' room and a Native showrunner. It’s a genuine look at young lives lived on Native territory with the simulta...

Write On with 'Ted Lasso' Co-Creator Brendan Hunt

August 28, 2021

Brendan Hunt, who plays Coach Beard on the hit show Ted Lasso, talked to Write On about writing the second season of the series along with his co-creators Jason Sudeikis, Bill Lawrence, and Joe Kelly: "I think we were very fortunate that we had our f...

Ted Bundy is 'No Man of God'

August 27, 2021

Theodore Robert Bundy, best known as Ted Bundy, is perhaps the most profiled serial killer in the media. There have been Bundy movies, television series, shorts, podcasts, and documentaries since his reign of terror during the late 1970s. On Friday, ...

5 Screenwriting Takeaways: ‘The Defeated’ looks at the chaos of a surrendered nation

August 27, 2021

The year is 1946. The most destructive war in history has concluded and Berlin, the epicenter of the Third Reich, lays in ruin. There are countless stories of men and women sacrificing their time, freedoms and lives to help save the world from tyrann...