Final Draft
Encyclopedia
Final Draft is screenwriting software
for writing and formatting a screenplay
to meet the screenplay submission standards set by theater, television and film industries. The program is developed and owned by Final Draft, Inc., headquartered in Calabasas, CA; the company also owns Script magazine. It can also be used to write other documents such as stageplays, outlines, treatments, query letters, novels, graphic novels, manuscripts, and basic text documents. In the United States entertainment industry, Final Draft is considered the industry standard for writing screenplays, teleplays, and other creative scripts.
The current version, Final Draft 8, was released at the end of April 2009. It contains over 50 movie and television templates, and also allows users to assign computer generated voices
to their characters, who then read the script aloud. Other features include CollaboWriter, which allows multiple Final Draft users to collaborate on scripts simultaneously in real-time via the Internet. Final Draft AV is a similar script-writing program which is designed for writing television videos, reality television, news, commercials, corporate and training videos, documentaries, and presentations. First released in 2001, it uses the split-page, two-column audio and video format. A Final Draft companion application for the iPad
is available. The application works with Final Draft 8's .fdx format.
According to Final Draft's website, co-founder and current CEO Marc Madnick developed the software in 1986 to help aspiring screenwriters because he found that studios' rigid formatting regulations made screenwriting difficult.
Final Draft's main competitors are Movie Magic Screenwriter
, Celtx
, and Adobe Story
.
Screenwriting software
Screenwriting software are word processors specialized to the task of writing screenplays. The need for such programs arises from the presence of certain peculiarities in standard screenplay format which are not handled well by generic word processors. A good example would be the formatting and...
for writing and formatting a screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
to meet the screenplay submission standards set by theater, television and film industries. The program is developed and owned by Final Draft, Inc., headquartered in Calabasas, CA; the company also owns Script magazine. It can also be used to write other documents such as stageplays, outlines, treatments, query letters, novels, graphic novels, manuscripts, and basic text documents. In the United States entertainment industry, Final Draft is considered the industry standard for writing screenplays, teleplays, and other creative scripts.
The current version, Final Draft 8, was released at the end of April 2009. It contains over 50 movie and television templates, and also allows users to assign computer generated voices
Voice font
A voice font is a computer-generated voice that can be controlled by specifying parameters such as speed and pitch and made to pronounce text input...
to their characters, who then read the script aloud. Other features include CollaboWriter, which allows multiple Final Draft users to collaborate on scripts simultaneously in real-time via the Internet. Final Draft AV is a similar script-writing program which is designed for writing television videos, reality television, news, commercials, corporate and training videos, documentaries, and presentations. First released in 2001, it uses the split-page, two-column audio and video format. A Final Draft companion application for the iPad
IPad
The iPad is a line of tablet computers designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc., primarily as a platform for audio-visual media including books, periodicals, movies, music, games, and web content. The iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010 by Apple's then-CEO Steve Jobs. Its size and...
is available. The application works with Final Draft 8's .fdx format.
According to Final Draft's website, co-founder and current CEO Marc Madnick developed the software in 1986 to help aspiring screenwriters because he found that studios' rigid formatting regulations made screenwriting difficult.
Final Draft's main competitors are Movie Magic Screenwriter
Movie Magic Screenwriter
Movie Magic Screenwriter is a word processing program sold by Write Brothers, Inc. to format screenplays, teleplays and novels .- History :Write Brothers' first software program, Scriptor , was the world's first screenplay formatter....
, Celtx
Celtx
Celtx is free media pre-production software designed for creating and organizing media projects like screenplays, films, videos, stageplays, audio plays, documentaries, machinima, comics, games and podcasts....
, and Adobe Story
Adobe Story
Adobe Story is a collaborative script development tool from Adobe Systems Inc. It can be used to accelerate the process of creating screenplays and turning them into finished media. Adobe Story is capable of being integrated with Adobe Production Premium Suite.Adobe Story is available both as a...
.