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.

Rising through the Ranks: Comedy screenwriter Bri Morris

June 8, 2022

Screenwriter Bri Morris got her start in comedy doing improv in Chicago at the famous Second City and The iO Theater. Even before that, she was the kid who wanted to write jokes for her elementary school broadcast program.

5 Screenwriting Takeaways: Alex Garland's 'Men' is more than meets the eye

June 8, 2022

Men is the latest outing from filmmaker Alex Garland (Ex Machina, The Beach). The reviews of the film have been all over the board and some less than kind, but Garland has absolutely made a film worth talking about. It’s also worth much more than a s...

Faith-based filmmaker Brett Varvel on spreading The Word

June 7, 2022

Photo courtesy of Brett Varvel When Brett Varvel was five years old, he had an epiphany – he wanted to be a follower of Jesus Christ. As he moved through his teens and early 20s, he decided he wanted to become a filmmaker: little did he know that the...

Write On with 'Bel-Air' Creator Morgan Cooper

June 6, 2022

Photo courtesy of Ginsberg Libby Set in modern-day America, Bel-Air is a re-imagination of the beloved sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, following a young Will Smith (Jabari Banks) as he makes his journey from the streets of West Philadelphia to th...

Jane Becker on the sincerity of writing ‘Ted Lasso’

June 6, 2022

Photo courtesy of Apple TV+ Apple TV+’s hit comedy series Ted Lasso follows an American football coach (Jason Sudeikis) who is hired to manage a British soccer team, making up for what he lacks in experience with optimism, folksy charm, and biscuits....

Rising through the Ranks: Ariel Relaford is climbing ladders and reaching back

June 6, 2022

Photo courtesy of Ariel Relaford Producer and co-host of The SCREAMwriters Podcast, MMA practitioner, and horror-sci-fi-comedy writer Ariel Relaford discovered “screenwriter Twitter” during the pandemic—and it’s a good thing too because what started ...

The craft of economic writing (AKA killing your darlings)

June 6, 2022

Less is… See what your clever brain did there? Go ahead and overwrite. Get it all out... No holds barred. Seize the day. Wring out that brain sponge all over the keyboard.

5 Screenwriting Takeaways: 'Top Gun: Maverick'

June 3, 2022

After years of struggling to find the right formulas to create new content embracing the nostalgia for the 1980s, there now continues to be a flow of quality films and TV shows based on the intellectual property (IP) of 30-40 years ago. Over the last...

How writer-director Lisa Azuelos shows love for the City of Angels

June 3, 2022

Photo courtesy of Amazon Studios There isn’t a lot of “fictive universe” in Lisa Azuelos’ latest film I Love America, Azuelos admitted when discussing her eighth film. The longtime French writer and director said she doesn’t know how to make a story ...