Final Draft Blog

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Right Story, Right Character

September 7, 2022

In my article about National Lampoon's Vacation, I wrote that one of the reasons for the film’s success was it paired the right character with the right story. Sometimes there is a tendency for screenwriters to focus more on plot and less on the prot...

Creed II Screenwriter Juel Taylor Talks His Big Break, Collaboration and the Importance of Having a ‘Fire Script’

February 7, 2019

Locking himself in a room for days is not necessarily Juel Taylor’s idea of fun, but for the 31-year-old co-writer of Creed II, it’s what got the job done.

The Sunlit Night Screenwriter on the Challenges of Book-to-Screen Adaptation

February 2, 2019

Rebecca Dinerstein, author of The Sunlit Night, never expected her novel to get published. She never envisioned the book would be made into a movie, and she certainly never thought she would be the one to write the adapted screenplay. “Every phase of...

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?

Spec Spotlight: David Hauslein from Big Break to Big Sale

November 29, 2016

Buck Run, a poignant script by David Hauslein, follows the tragic circumstances of rural Pennsylvania teen Shawn Templeton, as he grapples with hardships no one his tender age should have to face. He’s poor, his mom dies of cancer, and he receives pr...

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 ...

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...