Final Draft Blog

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What Editing Can You Teach You About Screenwriting

February 5, 2025

There’s a cliché in Hollywood that a film is made three times: once on the page in the form of a screenplay, the second time is on set when it’s shot with the director and actors, and the third time is in the editing bay. While any filmmaker can argu...

Filmmaker Cooper Raiff Talks "Bumping" in Screenwriting

February 3, 2025

If there’s one writer/director whose work I’ve been consistently excited by and whose name at festivals promises a project both heartbreakingly raw and funny, it’s Cooper Raiff. He was a SXSW breakout in 2020 with college comedy Shithouse, which snag...

How Actor Julia Stiles Wrote Her First Feature Screenplay

January 21, 2025

For Julia Stiles, years of performing as an actor have provided a unique advantage in her latest creative venture—screenwriting and directing.

3 Elements Casting Director David Guglielmo Looks for in a Script

August 1, 2024

There’s a lot to consider when thinking about how your screenplay will be received by a reader. A producer may consider budget, a director might think about how the script translates visually and a screenwriting competition judge will most likely be ...

Make Your Movie, Sell It Later: Neon Picks Up This YouTuber's First Feature

July 25, 2024

Every screenwriter’s goal is to see their screenplay make it onto the silver screen. But how do you sell a screenplay in such an oversaturated market? It can seem like a daunting journey, but there is hope. Shelby Oaks, the debut documentary-found fo...

5 Reasons Writers Should Take an Acting Class

December 5, 2023

Hollywood is filled with stereotypes. Here’s one: Writers are introverts who sweat when they’re nervous and hide behind the safety of their laptops and the precious characters they create. Actors, meanwhile, are extroverts who never sweat unless it’s...

Writer/Director of contained thriller ‘Daughter,’ Corey Deshon, on writing only what interests him and doing it his way.

February 14, 2023

The old saying goes you can't choose your family and for one myterious young woman, only known by the name, Sister, (played by Queen Sugar’s Vivien Ngo), this will soon become a horrid reality. Written and directed by Corey Deshon, Daughter tells the...

Write On with Ruben Ostlund of Triangle of Sadness

January 19, 2023

Triangle of Sadness is a satirical black comedy from writer/director Ruben Ostlund. The film, staring Woody Harrelson, takes the world of luxury boating to the next level with its wry comedy that exposes many upstairs/downstairs differences among the...

Roxanne Benjamin On Directing Horror in There’s Something Wrong With the Children

January 4, 2023

As part of the Blumhouse Television and MGM+ deal to produce a slate of films together, director Roxanne Benjamin has brought to life her new film There's Something Wrong With the Children. For someone who loves filming outdoors and on location, the ...