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.

How a filmmaker used her low-budget skills to create a $50k union feature

December 22, 2022

What does “low budget” mean? It’s all based on context. One person’s $50,000 film might be low budget, but so would a $10 million dollar Ridley Scott studio picture.

Big Story, Small Budget

December 16, 2022

Many aspiring screenwriters don’t consider budgets when writing a spec script, even though it’s a major factor to why certain scripts get bought and produced.

‘The Apology’ Spins Horror’s Tired Revenge Trope To A Deeper Direction

December 13, 2022

On the eve of Christmas, a lonely mother sits in an empty house waiting for a daughter who is never coming home. Suddenly, there's a strange knock at her door. It's late. She's by herself. She's been by herself for twenty years. She opens the door to...

Embracing Entrepreneurship As a Screenwriter Part 2: Patience and Process

November 25, 2020

In Embracing Entrepreneurship Part 1 we discussed the importance of taking initiative as a screenwriter using my film, Poor Greg Downing, as a case study. Now that we had the movie in the can, the real work was just beginning. Starting with: backing ...

Kajillionaire' Is A Cautionary Tale of the Great American Grift

September 24, 2020

Miranda July’s long-anticipated new film Kajillionaire opens on a shot of her main characters (a family of Los Angeles grifters) standing in front of a downtown Los Angeles Post Office. At the time July conceived the movie, the USPS was not in danger...

Director Dan Pritzker On His Jazz Film 'Bolden'

May 14, 2019

Charles “Buddy” Bolden might be the most mythical American musician you've never heard of.

The Weekend Movie Takeaway: February 19th, 2019

February 20, 2019

Blockbuster cinema titan James Cameron (The Terminator, Aliens, Titanic, Avatar) has been planning an adaptation of the Japanese manga known in English as Battle Angel Alita for more than a decade.

Write On with Writer-Director Isabella Eklöf

February 20, 2019

With the support of the Danish Film Institute, Swedish writer-director Isabella Eklöf premiered her feature debut ‘Holiday’ at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. Eklöf discusses her creative and development process and her overall career in filmmaking.