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.

Final Draft Insider View with Screenwriter Scott Neustadter

December 30, 2015

Scott Neustadter discusses how an internship was an incredibly valuable experience that helped to launch his career, and how his time working in development affected his screenwriting process. He also discusses his bi-coastal writing partnership with...

The Final Draft/New York Film Academy Fellowship

June 8, 2015

What happens after you win a screenwriting contest? For far too many writers, not a whole lot. Winners and finalists of the Final Draft Big Break Screenwriting Contest have a very good track record for success, but the company wanted to do more to em...

Brave New Worlds

June 5, 2015

You all know the trailer voice over cliché “In a world ... ” which was kind of the trademark of the late Don Lafontaine, who even used it in a couple of trailers for movies I wrote. There’s even a great little indie film by Lake Bell called In A Worl...

How I Broke In: Brian Duffield

June 1, 2015

It’s been said that a new door opens into Hollywood every day, you just need to figure out how to get to be in front of the door that opens. There is no set path to success in the film industry. Writers break into Hollywood in countless different way...

Echo Lake Entertainment's Zadoc Angell

May 3, 2015

Zadoc Angell is one of those names. Not only does it sounds like it belongs to a super hero, in reality it is the moniker of one of the hardest working guys in the industry, who comes from simple beginnings and has built one of the most stellar reput...

Myth of the Likeable Lead

April 27, 2015

The one note you always get from producers is that your lead character - your protagonist - needs to be likeable. I swear, it’s as if it’s on the checklist. You have your first meeting on the script and they insist you make the protagonist more likea...

Complications Ensue

March 31, 2015

Whenever I get roped into reading contest finalists, one of the common problems with scripts is often that they are sketchy. They seem like the rough draft (and maybe they are) - the artist's charcoal sketch before they break out the brushes and oils...

David Boxerbaum on the Business of Screenwriting

December 2, 2014

For anyone with his ear to the industry ground, super-agent David Boxerbaum needs little introduction. After all, year after year his name is associated multiple times with big spec sales, most recently that of Matriarch, an elevated thriller from a ...

How to Write Great Dialogue

October 8, 2014

Writing movie dialogue is like dancing: Some people are born with a knack for it, and others do it as awkwardly as your physics teacher attempting the funky chicken at the high school dance. But just like dancing, writing dialogue is a skill that can...