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.

How Watching Movies Taught Quentin Tarantino and Can Teach Screenwriters

January 30, 2023

It’s important for aspiring screenwriters to watch movies: older films as well as current ones. Many of the films of today have been inspired by films of the past, and in some cases, this knowledge can lead to box office success, multiple awards, and...

‘The L Word: Generation Q’ showrunner Marja-Lewis Ryan on voice and making room for everyone to be heard

December 16, 2022

Marja-Lewis Ryan wears a lot of hats behind the scenes of Showtime’s The L Word: Generation Q: creator, showrunner, executive producer, director, screenwriter, advocate, fresh voices champion, and all-around television fangirl.

Screenwriting Rolemodels: Diablo Cody

April 16, 2020

No one saw her coming.

The State Of Television Part 4: When Will The Bubble Burst?

March 5, 2020

When John Landgraf stood onstage at the 2020 TCA Press Tour in January, he had an updated number of scripted shows on American television. That number was 532, a new record. And while Landgraf no longer divides up the number by cable, broadcast and s...

The State Of Television Part 3: The Rise Of Streamers And The Opening For Niche Programming

February 27, 2020

House of Cards gets all the credit for building the streaming world we all live in by being the first original show on a streaming network. Too bad that's a filthy lie. Not only was House of Cards not the first, it wasn’t even the first on Netflix. A...

The Genius of Buck Henry

January 29, 2020

The term "Writer's Writer" gets thrown around a lot, and it will here too, unabated, as there are few writers to whom the term more aptly applies than the great Buck Henry, who departed Earth this month, at the age of 89.

Screenwriting Role Models: Dan O'Bannon

April 20, 2017

Many talented people helped to make Alien a landmark film, but screenwriter Dan O’Bannon created the blueprint.

Screenwriting Role Models: John Hodge

April 12, 2017

With T2 Trainspotting, screenwriter John Hodge pulls off a feat other writers envy: a character-focused sequel set – and released – twenty years after the original that’s poignant and funny, even with a plot that’s beside the point. But Hodge, who ea...

Screenwriting Role Models: Paul Schrader

April 6, 2017

Paul Schrader is one of the most important screenwriters of the twentieth century and helped to define the New Hollywood of the 1970s. Unlike most filmmakers, Schrader didn’t grow up loving movies. In fact, he had not seen one until he was in his lat...