Final Draft won't improve your writing, just formatting for TV and film

Back when I was an aspiring filmmaker I bought an educational license for Final Draft. I absolutely fell in love with the program. At the time there was Movie Magic's Screenwriter and Final Draft. While Movie Magic has some strong endorsements, Final Draft is still a great tool, and was recently upgraded. It's also Syd Field approved!

Granted, you can find Word templates online that'll help format your screenplay. And formatting is key to being taken seriously. If your script isn't absolutely perfect, down to the last pica, it's just one more excuse for that summer intern at Warner Bros. to toss it in the round file. But Final Draft is full of little tricks to get you formatted all proper. A simple set of shortcuts determines formatting for dialog, scene descriptions, and actions.

There does seem to be a West coast/East coast thing going on here, as Movie Magic's offering is endorsed by the Writer's Guild East (mostly TV and book folks), and Final Draft is endorsed by the WGA out West (film folks primarily). Final Draft also includes a tool to facilitate registering your script with the WGA West. So depending on your proclivities, you might choose one or the other. Final Draft, for some odd reason, is also $29 more expensive.

 

Tags: commercial