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.

5 Screenwriting Takeaways: 'Licorice Pizza' is weird, wonderful, and full of hope

December 30, 2021

Licorice Pizza is about as Paul Thomas Anderson a flick as they come. Anderson somehow makes the sprawling San Fernando Valley feel manageable as kid actor and entrepreneur Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman) makes his part of town a little smaller by fr...

Ragged Heart' is a haunting and engrossing look at regret

December 30, 2021

Ragged Heart is a raw journey through the heart of a grieving musician who loses his gifted daughter after an unexpected phone call. Filmmaker Evan McNary has crafted a haunting narrative, which drifts through the secret lives of the artists of Athen...

History of TV: 'The Golden Girls' golden era

December 30, 2021

What would the world do without Betty White? The famous actress perhaps originally became that way for her role in The Golden Girls, though these days she might be better known for that meme about Captain America finally dating someone his own age — ...

Writer-director Craig Pryce and 'The Marijuana Conspiracy'

December 29, 2021

In Toronto, Canada circa 1972 when marijuana was still considered highly controversial, young women looking for a fresh start in life endure isolated captivity in a true 98-day human experiment studying the effects of marijuana on females — a manufac...

Write On with ‘Hip Hop Family Christmas’ Co-Writer Saeed Crumpler – Part II

December 29, 2021

In this special 2-part episode of Write On we talk to Flatbush Misdemeanors staff writer and co-writer of Hip Hop Family Christmas Saeed Crumpler about his career transition from rapper to screenwriter: "Coming from music, I used to look at each song...

Writer-director Sydney Freeland breaks down the authenticity of ‘Reservation Dogs’

December 27, 2021

Four Indigenous teens lunge into a truck carrying Flaming Flamers hot chips in bulk. They slip the door closed and speed back home, unseen even as they zoom past local police. Seeing these kids do almost anything to raise money for their plan to leav...

Netflix and Chad Hodge team up for 'Single All the Way'

December 24, 2021

If you interviewed a celebrity screenwriter whose Christmas romantic comedy just aired on Netflix to rave reviews and made the streaming service's top 10, would you expect the Zoom call to be delightful and fun?

5 Screenwriting Takeaways: 'Santa Claus Conquers the Martians'

December 23, 2021

Did you ever wish there was a Christmas film in which Santa Claus is kidnapped by Martians, rocketed off to Mars, and inevitably gives everyone on the planet the Christmas spirit?

The rise (and rise) of the holiday romance movie

December 22, 2021

The holiday season is known for gift giving, extreme decor, and, well, romance movies. At this time of year we’re inundated with movies about pairing up and every year the holiday programming starts earlier as networks and streamers try to pull ahead...