Final Draft Blog

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How Ted Lasso Succeeds At Representing Female Friendships

April 7, 2023

The Emmy-award winning Apple TV series, Ted Lasso, is successful at a lot of things – like melding British and American humor, and making people care about the other sport called football.

5 Lessons Shazam 2 Teaches Screenwriters About Defining Characters and Destroying Cities

March 22, 2023

Kids love superheroes. For decades, kids have read comic books, dressed up like their favorite superheroes and forced their parents to buy toys, lunchboxes and shirts that show off their pride for epic crimefighters. Shazam! is the type of comic book...

An Ant-Man Retrospective: Origins, Quantum Realms and the Importance of Always Losing

February 22, 2023

When Ant-Man was introduced in 2015, it was the twelfth movie in the continuing Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) that has brought in billions of box office dollars, TV shows on Disney+ and countless products. While the world had accepted a Spider-Man,...

Take 5: ‘Shotgun Wedding’ Uses Tried-and-True Tropes For a Modern Action Rom-Com

February 10, 2023

Darcy and Tom are soon-to-be bride and groom and have chosen to have their luxurious destination wedding on a Philippines island. Unfortunately, the wedding guests are taken hostage by a group of pirates who want $45 million.

A Look at Lincoln and How to Write Historical Figures into Movie Characters

February 10, 2023

In a nod to Abraham Lincoln's birthday on the 12th, we wanted to take a look at how the nation's most written about president has been portrayed in film and what lessons you can take away when writing about a historical figures.

The Midpoint: It Doesn't Have to Be Where Your Screenwriting Dream Goes to Die

February 4, 2023

As a former screenwriting student and now as a current screenwriting instructor, one of the most common problems I've seen writers struggle with is the middle of their script. I stopped keeping track years ago of how many times I encountered a screen...

Character Breakdown: ‘Living’ Explores How a Terminal Man Finds the Meaning of His Life

February 3, 2023

What would it take for you to change your life? It’s often the basis for a plot for film and TV shows: a protagonist receives grim news about their health and becomes determined to alter how they live their life. Impending death = motivation. Living,...

How to make Rom-Coms great again

February 1, 2023

It’s Valentine’s Day and you want to watch a rom-com. There are plenty of tried-and-true classics like Pretty Woman, Sleepless in Seattle, and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, but there are also even more tired-and-dull rom-coms too (My Best Friend’s Gi...

What ‘Poker Face’ Teaches Us About Writing Procedural TV

January 30, 2023

If you’re looking to create a ‘Who Dun It,’ the master to follow these days is Rian Johnson. Known for his clever murder mysteries Knives Out and Glass Onion, this writer/director can show you plenty of ways to write a suspenseful tale with quirky ch...