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.

Take 5: ‘She Said’ shows how two reporters started a movement

November 27, 2022

What does it take to break a story? In the film She Said, two journalists at the New York Times take on the challenge of exposing systemic sexual assault in Hollywood by going after the notorious producer Harvey Weinstein. Based on the article by rep...

Take 5: ‘Devotion’ and the art of adapting a true story

November 27, 2022

Devotion takes place in 1950 at the beginning of the Korean conflict, also known as the ‘Forgotten War.’ In some ways this is true. Rare is the movie that highlights this tumultuous time in our history with the most recognizable example being M*A*S*H...

Take 5: Writing a Coming-of-Age Story in ‘Armageddon Time’

November 21, 2022

Armageddon Time is a coming-of-age story that follows Paul Graf (Banks Repeta), a sixth-grade boy, who struggles with finding his place in the world during the generational shift from the 1970s into the 1980s. Paul not only begins to learn that his a...

Take 5: A hero must rise in ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’

November 16, 2022

In the latest Marvel Studios film, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the citizens of Wakanda are mourning the loss of their king while facing the powerful forces of a new enemy from below the sea and the world powers interested in the Vibranium found w...

Take 5: ‘Hocus Pocus 2’ scares off nostalgia for a new generation

October 7, 2022

Nostalgia is big business. The biggest movie of 2022 continues to be Top Gun: Maverick, which swims in nostalgia. Some of the most highly anticipated TV series to stream this year have been A League of Their Own and Cobra Kai, so it's no wonder that ...

Take 5: Writing 'A League of Their Own' series for new and original fans

September 12, 2022

Thirty years ago, a script about the first female professional baseball league was produced and released in theaters. A League of Their Own captured the hearts of countless movie-goers then, just as the adapted TV series of the same name does today.

5 Screenwriting Takeaways: 'The Black Phone' dials up tension by drip-feeding clues

August 31, 2022

On the surface, The Black Phone is a story about a 13-year-old boy named Finney who is kidnapped by a serial killer known as the Grabber, but something more mysterious haunts him throughout this story. In the soundproof room where he and many others ...

5 Screenwriting Takeaways: ‘The Gray Man's’ character development can level-up your craft

August 19, 2022

Moviegoers love characters who specialize, especially in violence. It’s even better if they’ve been part of a secret government program and can focus their specialty on someone more vicious than they are.

5 Screenwriting Takeaways: How ‘The Bear’ masters the specificity of kitchen life

July 25, 2022

Working in a restaurant is often a rite of passage for a creative. If you’ve never done booze or meat inventory in a commercial freezer are you even a screenwriter? That’s likely why so many have connected to The Bear. The specificity of the food ser...