Final Draft Blog

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Spec Spotlight: Calvin Starnes Talks Transitioning from Grip Department to Spec Script Sales

September 19, 2016

FD: How did you get started in the entertainment industry?

Networking For The Introvert (and The Ambivert): How to “Put Yourself Out There”

August 25, 2016

Networking is a must. You have to “put yourself out there” to further your screenwriting career, but it’s not always that easy. Cue cold sweats.

How To Be a Fan Of Your Own Work

August 2, 2016

It can be hard to separate yourself from your work. You try not to make it personal but, of course, it is. Your writing is the combination of your thoughts, your skills, your life experiences and your passions. To type that first sentence on a blank ...

How To Write a Winning Spec Script

March 15, 2016

Writing a television spec script is demanding, but winning a major writing competition with one is far more difficult. We sat down with Meghan Fitzmartin, winner of the Big Break Hour-Long category for her spec of Arrow to uncover the secrets behind ...

What "Eddie the Eagle" Writers Teach Us About Perseverance

February 26, 2016

Eddie the Eagle, starring Taron Egerton and Hugh Jackman, will no doubt be added to the list of best films about athletic underdogs. The film is inspired by Michael Edwards, who earned the nickname “Eddie the Eagle” when he competed in the 1988 Winte...

Five Steps to Successful Pitching

January 14, 2016

Being able to write a decent script is just half the job of a professional screenwriter. Usually after breaking in with a spec script, an agent or manager will send you on a bunch of general meetings with production companies.

Selling the Big Pitch with Ice Cube

October 19, 2015

Humbug writers Todd R Jones and Earl Richey Jones discuss pitching, persistence and the people who ask: “So what have you worked on that we can see?”

How I Broke In: Douglas Soesbe

July 14, 2015

It’s been said that a new door opens into Hollywood every day, you just need to figure out how to be in front of the door that opens. There is no set path to success in the film industry. Writers break into Hollywood in countless different ways; cont...