Final Draft Blog

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Nosotros Youth Program

September 20, 2018

What is the future of filmmaking? If the Nosotros Youth Program has any say in it, it will look more like inclusion.

All the Write Moves: 'Operation Finale'

September 17, 2018

Presenting the real-life story of how bold Mossad agents snuck into 1960 Argentina and captured fugitive Third Reich officer Adolf Eichmann, Operation Finale is a serviceable thriller with stylistic echoes of 2012’s Argo. Like that picture, Operation...

5 Things Writers Can Learn From 'Better Call Saul'

September 5, 2018

Unless you’ve been living under a rock these past few years, you’re probably aware that Better Call Saul is a spin-off series from the wildly successful AMC TV series Breaking Bad.

All the Write Moves: 'BlacKkKlansman'

August 20, 2018

An outrageous crime story based on real events, BlacKkKlansman ranks alongside director Spike Lee’s most entertaining and vital films, even though he didn’t develop the material. Producers acquired the memoir upon which the film is based, commissione...

Beauty in Descriptions: How to Showcase Your Unique Voice

November 22, 2016

It's often said that screenplays are blueprints for a finished film. While this is a helpful analogy, I personally like to think of screenplays as more beautiful and emotive than a static sheet of paper.

TV Pilot Writing: Developing Your World of Characters

October 13, 2016

Writing an original pilot can be just as daunting as writing a feature, though shorter in length. While a feature captures a moment in time, a pilot begins a longer journey. In a pilot, you need to tell a complete story, while also introducing the po...

The Benefit of "Negative Space" in Your Storytelling

September 9, 2016

If you have a background in the arts or graphic design, you may already have a good understanding of "negative space" - the empty space around or between objects - and the role it can play in capturing audience attention. But what can negative space ...

When Narration Works

September 6, 2016

Bad narration is like watching a movie with someone chatting in the seat behind you, except you can’t turn around and tell him or her to be quiet. Narration, or voice-over, seems counterintuitive to film, which ideally speaks to us in action, images ...

The Art of Action: Tips on Writing Elegant Action Sequences from “Run Lola Run”

August 22, 2016

Action sequences can be tricky to write. Screenwriters often struggle to strike a balance between orienting the reader/viewer and directing the scene. So how do you hit that perfect middle ground? How do you find the art in writing action sequences?