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.

Tech Tips: Globally Changing Character Names

June 28, 2019

Congratulations! You’ve just typed FADE OUT on the first draft of your screenplay. You know there will be re-writing, re-working and the re-hashing of old ideas, but you’ve pushed that boulder to the top of the screenwriting hill and completed a draf...

Spec Spotlight: Peter Gaffney Sells Sci-Fi Spec 'Don't Go in the Water' to Universal Pictures

June 27, 2019

After setting up sci-fi specs at both LeVision Entertainment and Lionsgate, New York-based screenwriter Peter Gaffney went on to reportedly sell his spec script Don’t Go in the Water to Universal Pictures in the mid-to-high six figure range.

Write On with 'Murder Mystery' Writer James Vanderbilt

June 25, 2019

James Vanderbilt discusses Murder Mystery's record-breaking weekend on Netflix, his influences when writing the script, his writing process and much more.

Glow' Writers Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch on the Process Behind the Hit Series

June 24, 2019

Hold onto your spandex — GLOW is back for a third season.

All The Write Moves: 'The Haunting of Hill House'

June 24, 2019

Fans of last year’s well-reviewed Netflix horror series The Haunting of Hill House, which was based on Shirley Jackson’s 1959 novel of the same name, had to say goodbye to the cast and characters once the first season’s 10-episode storyline concluded...

The Weekend Movie Takeaway: 'Toy Story 4'

June 24, 2019

When it comes to the business of telling stories on screen, the definition of success is constantly evolving. Since the mid-to-late 1980s, we have mostly relied upon the opening weekend box office to be the key indicator, but this past weekend's resu...

Make Your Character the worst Person for the Job

June 21, 2019

If you read my last column, you may recall that impossible pairings are one of the ways I suggest injecting your Authentic Lens—the way you see the world that nobody else does—into an existing script. Another way to think of impossible pairings is:

Writer-Director Matt Kane on 'Auggie' and Exploring the Male Ego

June 20, 2019

A common complaint these days is the fact that cell phone technology, specifically its convenience and efficiency, eliminates the conflict that cinematic narratives rely on. Conversely, Matt Kane’s upcoming debut feature film Auggie shows how emergin...