Final Draft Blog

All the tips, tricks and information you need to inspire your writing!
Read interviews with the pros, catch up with industry news, and listen to Write On: A Screenwriting Podcast by Final Draft.

Write On with 'The Hot Zone' Screenwriting Team Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson

May 23, 2019

Screenwriting team Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson discuss how their 20-year career together began, their first foray in the writers room of Smallville, their strategy for crafting pitches, and their latest adaptation of The Hot Zone as a series for...

5 Screenwriting Takeaways: 'Cobra Kai'

May 22, 2019

The first two seasons of Cobra Kai have been widely praised by fans and critics alike. An extension of The Karate Kid film franchise, the YouTube Premium TV series follows the characters of Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence as they rekindle their ri...

Rising Through the Ranks: Xavier Stiles

May 22, 2019

It’s only been 10 months since Xavier Stiles began working for Monica Owusu-Breen on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot, but since day one, it’s been a dream come true.

Write On with Hulu's Catch-22 Screenwriter Luke Davies

May 21, 2019

Screenwriter Luke Davies discusses his earlier work on his novel Candy, the award-winning film Lion, and his adaptation of Joseph Heller's Catch-22 for Hulu, directed by and starring George Clooney.

The Weekend Movie Takeaway: 'John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum'

May 20, 2019

Well, it was another huge weekend for storytelling — three days during which our collective obsession with narrative was once again thrust to the center of the cultural conversation.

Tech Tips: Unicode

May 17, 2019

Final Draft may be the industry standard screenwriting application, but it's not just writers who use it. Producers, animators, and more can use Final Draft’s newest features to have greater control on a story from script to screen.

Weekend Writing Inspiration: Navigating a Rewrite of Your Script

May 17, 2019

“What’s the best way to get through the ups and downs of a rewrite?” Rewriting is a fact of life when it comes to screenwriting. Newbie screenwriters will often say, “I finished my script!” but what they mean is, they finished their first draft. They...

Bricks of Breaking In: TV Writer Andrea Ciannavei on Building a Creative Career

May 16, 2019

While there is no one path to break in as a film or TV writer, there are a lot of similar challenges — both internal and external — that aspiring writers have to confront. Below, Mayans M.C. writer Andrea Ciannavei shares how she faced the odds to gr...