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: 'Hurry Up Tomorrow' Director/Co-Writer Trey Edward Shults

May 16, 2025

“It was a lot of empathizing. I would do long phone calls with Abel (Tesfaye, aka the Weeknd) after we had met, just basically talking to him and finding out more of his history, where he was at in different phases of his life, where he’s at today, a...

Write On: 'Nonnas' Screenwriter Liz Maccie and Director Stephen Chbosky

May 15, 2025

“Sometimes it’s easier to find and access your truth through ‘pretend’ characters. So I had this embarrassment of riches of this true story but in my heart, I was like, ‘I totally get to tell my truth!’… So my advice is find a way to do it, and if yo...

Write On: 'Shadow Force' Director/Co-Writer Joe Carnahan and Co-Writer Leon Chills

May 9, 2025

“For me, I don’t know how you could not make [a script] personal. I think drama allows you to hide how personal it is. I think that’s kind of what I like about writing in the genre space. On the outside looking in, it just looks like a big action mov...

Write On: 2024 Big Break Short Film Winner Brandon Osterman and Seed&Spark

May 8, 2025

On today’s episode, we speak to writer Brandon Osterman, whose short script The Naughty List won last year’s Final Draft Big Break Short Screenplay Category. As part of his prize package, he received a consultation with Sav Rodgers, Marketing Manager...

Write On: 'Good American Family' Creator & Co-Showrunner Katie Robbins and Co-Showrunner Sarah Sutherland

May 7, 2025

“One of the things we talked a lot about in the room is that very rarely do people set about their day saying, ‘Okay, I’m going to go do some evil.’ But for most people, we’re all sort of the leads in our own stories and we’re all crafting the narrat...

Write On: 'NCIS: Origins' Showrunners David J. North and Gina Lucita Monreal

April 17, 2025

“If you can make the twists [in the story] hit your character in an emotional way and set up their emotional arc, then when the case twist intersects with them, if it’s hitting them in the deepest way, in the most unexpected way, maybe – then you’ve ...

Write On: Big Break 2024 Grand Prize Winners Laura Kroeger and Maia Mulcahy

April 9, 2025

“I think it was more like a litmus test of, where is the script? How would it be received? With this script, I was a quarter finalist in some competitions, and this was obviously the most exciting, the winning… I just wanted to really put my best foo...

Write On: 'Dying for Sex' Co-Creator & Co-Showrunner Kim Rosenstock

April 9, 2025

On today’s episode of Write On, we chat with Kim Rosenstock, co-creator and co-showrunner for the new limited series, Dying For Sex, starring Michelle Williams, Jenny Slate and Sissy Spacek. Based on a true story, Dying for Sex is about a woman diagn...

Write On: Paul William Davies - Creator and Showrunner of 'The Residence'

March 27, 2025

“I didn’t really set out to make Cordelia (Uzo Aduba) quirky. I just wanted to make her distinctive. I just really thought about who I wanted her to be and how I thought [birdwatching] would be an interesting way for her to approach her job. And the ...