Final Draft Blog

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Reclaiming the American Past, Part 1

October 5, 2018

In this column, once and hopefully twice a month, I hope to bring to your attention not just issues and developments affecting today’s playwrights, but issues and plays of the past that are worth reconsidering. As a matter of habit by now, I read a f...

Writer-Director Timothee Hochet on Selling Horror Series 'Calls' to Apple

September 26, 2018

For French filmmaker Timothée Hochet, what people do not see — and the versions of hell we store in our heads — is more scary than anything we will ever watch on television.

Sundance Lab Spotlight: Brett Weiner and Emma Fletcher

July 6, 2018

Each year, Sundance Institute labs bring together aspiring writers and directors who want to take their projects to the next level. Notable projects that evolved in these labs include Damien Chazelle's Whiplash; Cary Fukunaga’s Sin Nombre and Ryan Co...

Tech Tip: Launching the Most Recent Document

June 1, 2018

You did it. You hit your writing quota for the day. Whether it’s 5, 10 or even 15 pages, you’ve successfully fulfilled your daily creative endeavor and have earned a well-deserved break, so go ahead and close Final Draft. Yes, you read that correctly...

Tech Tip: Applying a Final Draft Template

May 18, 2018

Congratulations! You’ve just completed the first draft of your screenplay and you’re ready to go out into the world with hopes of turning it into a visionary cinematic experience. But wait! You just realized the story would work better as a stage pla...

Tech Tip: Deleting a Character from the SmartType Menu

May 3, 2018

The SmartType feature is a helpful function designed to streamline the screenwriting process by auto-completing certain elements of your script, including Characters, Character Extensions (VO or O.S.), Scene Intros (Int. or Ext.), Times and Transitio...

Tech Tip: Highlight Characters

April 20, 2018

A handy and lesser-known tool in Final Draft is Highlight Characters. The Highlight Characters tool is used to color-code individual characters and their dialogue, making table reads and scheduling and prepping for performances a breeze.

Tech Tip: Importing from Another Word Processor to Final Draft 11

April 13, 2018

A question we often get asked is, “how do I import my script from another word processing program?” This is a good question because if done improperly, it can create significant issues within your script.