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.

Peter Hedges on Ben Is Back

January 3, 2019

When novelist, playwright and Oscar®-nominated filmmaker Peter Hedges sat down to write the screenplay for the new addiction drama Ben Is Back, he drew from a personal place. “I grew up in a family ravaged by alcoholism,” Hedges said.

All the Write Moves: Destroyer

December 31, 2018

Contemporary media has no shortage of stories about complicated police detectives, but there’s always room in the mix for a smartly-crafted piece that uses a murder mystery as a means of exploring character. Destroyer, the new film from respected ind...

Weekend Writing Inspiration: 12 Common Mistakes in Setting Screenwriting Goals

December 29, 2018

(Goal Setting for Screenwriters, Part I)

Spec Spotlight: Javier Gullón, Writer of 'N'

December 27, 2018

Photo Courtesy of https://www.espinof.com/ With Hollywood chasing down IP after IP, why toil over a 110-page original spec script when you can write and sell a 20-page short story instead?

Write On with Madam Secretary Executive Producer Lori McCreary

December 26, 2018

After leaving her role as a co-founder at the software company CompuLaw, Revelations Entertainment CEO and PGA Board Member Lori McCreary returned to her love of storytelling as Executive Producer of the CBS Series ‘Madam Secretary.’ Lori discusses h...

‘Destroyer’ Director Karyn Kusama On Why Working Closely With Screenwriters Is Essential To Her Process

December 25, 2018

Traditionally, a director won’t see a script until it’s been written, rewritten, polished, and perfected to the nth degree. Then, when the script is in a near-perfect state, the screenwriter relinquishes control and sits idly by as the director takes...

All the Write Moves: Mary Poppins Returns

December 24, 2018

When the beloved Disney musical Mary Poppins was released in 1964, ideas of what constituted movie magic were very different than they are now. Not only was Mary Poppins made nearly 20 years before the first CGI movie scenes, but audiences didn’t liv...

Write On with Aquaman Writers Geoff Johns, David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick and Will Beall

December 21, 2018

Aquaman writers David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, Geoff Johns and Will Beall discuss their paths to becoming writers (including Beall's stint as a homicide detective), their creative process and their advice for aspiring screenwriters.

Foreign Film Spotlight: The Cakemaker’s Ofir Raul

December 19, 2018

Eight years after beginning work on his first feature film, multi-award-winning writer-director Ofir Raul Graizer’s film The Cakemaker is Israel’s submission for the foreign film category of this year’s Academy Awards®.