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.

The Weekend Movie Takeaway: November 14, 2018

November 15, 2018

Universal Pictures jump-started the holiday family movie season over the weekend with The Grinch, which earned a robust $66 million at the box office, proving audience goodwill for Dr. Seuss characters isn't going anywhere (despite that nobody has pa...

Write on with David E. Talbert

November 15, 2018

Acclaimed playwright and filmmaker David E. Talbert discusses his 25-year career in theater, honing his cinematic skills by learning on the job, and how his experiences growing up influence the stories he tells. David is currently developing an origi...

The Weekend Movie Takeaway: November 5, 2018

November 6, 2018

That Bohemian Rhapsody’s opening weekend brought in $51 million appears to demonstrate the resilience of a rock biopic that delivers the musical goods: Queen is about as strong a brand as exists within popular music, and love for the late Freddie Mer...

What I Did At Austin Film Festival 2017

October 10, 2018

I could pontificate about the panels, the superstars, the midnight discussions; new friends I made, old friends I missed. The utter lack of sleep, compounded by the overabundance of liquor.

Sublime Primetime 2018: Writing Advice from Emmy-Nominated Writers

September 28, 2018

Photo credit: Michael Lynn Jones Several of this year’s Emmy®-nominated writers gathered on September 12 for Sublime Primetime; an annual panel hosted by the Writers Guild of America, West, the Writers Guild Foundation and Variety. Moderator Lisa Joy...

Jane Anderson on her 15-Year Journey to Adapt 'The Wife'

August 24, 2018

Jane Anderson waited 15 years to see The Wife on the big screen and patience has paid off: The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2017 and was released in New York and Los Angeles on August 17. Now, it is rolling out across ...

Jeremiah Zagar on his Sundance-Winning Film 'We the Animals'

August 17, 2018

Though Jeremiah Zagar’s adaptation of Justin Torres’ We the Animals made its debut only months ago at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, critics are already praising it.

How screenwriter Noga Landau took her contained sci-fi, "Tau" from film school to Netflix

August 15, 2018

Have you heard the film school fairy tale of a woman who wrote a script for a screenwriting class; attracted top agents overnight, secured Gary Oldman as the voice of her robot, and distributed the film worldwide as a Netflix original?

San Diego Comic-Con: Inside the Writers' Room with Mark A. Altman

July 17, 2018

If you notice fewer geeks, fangirls and nerds in your neighborhood this week, it could be because they’ve fled to Comic-Con International: San Diego 2018 (SDCC). The convention is where comic book, movie and science fiction aficionados gather for fiv...