Screenwriting : Final Draft by Bill Lonero

Same here. I used Celtx, now I only use Final Draft.

Celtx was good but it didn't seem very intuitive. FD is definitely worth the price.

Laura Scheiner Thank you! I've heard a lot of good things about Movie Magic. Good to know.

I prefer Final Draft. And, I used it well before I was a Brand Ambassador. It's the only screenwriting software I've ever used. And, I'm okay with that. ;) It really is the industry standard - at the very least, I would say it's the most prevalent.

I think I have 7 writing programs installed on 3 computers and my iphone. Started with FD 1.0 when it was on a floppy disk. FD uses their own courier font. it is slightly different than a regular courier font.

FD 10 as well, but I see a lot of people excited about Fade In. At $80 it's half FD's cost. There's a 20% off coupon for Fade In floating around too.

FD10

Way back when, I started on Script Thing, which evolved into Movie Magic. Far prefer Movie Magic. Have six script softwares, but Movie Magic is my go to. Easy, not glitchy. I use FD only when I have to... I write about a third faster in MM than FD. Time is money.

Fade In is quite good on the lower cost side of the spectrum.

I avoid any program that works in the cloud as if it is the plague.

I use WritersDuet for the first draft because its web based and I can write anywhere. I have Final Draft but I can't load it on my computer at work or use it on my tablet when I'm traveling. After I've finished the first draft, I export it to FD to do the editing and polishing because FD is better then WD for that. As long as the manager, agent, producer, etc... gets a high quality, properly formatted script in a PDF, they don't care what it was wrote in.

Have both fade it and FD - both computer and app. Both are equally as good. Fade in may be easier (and has a lot more export - import possibilities) FD is more complete. Now I just use FD mainly because I’m so use to it.

For those who live & breath as a writer, Movie Magic is better. That F.D. thing fell into the meme of which you mention, only thru repetitious brainwashing.

To me, MM is far easier. Less technical difficulties over years of use than other. A perfect fit into scheduling and budgeting. I write significantly faster on that platform. I find it far more intuitive. Plus the company has been very supportive when I have done presentations at festivals and customer support, on those rare occasions when needed, is superb.

I've been using it for about a year and really love it too!

What's an "Industry Standard" and who sets it?

Final Draft spends $ on advertising and they sponsor a writing contest. They won the “screenwriting software” war in 1990s. Sorta like how VHS beat Betamax for American home consumer market.

Well, you're right about that, Dan M, but the "Industry Standard" is quite misleading. I mean, a PDF is a PDF, right? If someone requests your script, how do they know it isn't Final Draft? They don't. "Industry Standard" seems more of a marketing ploy, as there are many pros who use other software.

I used to use Celtx as well, and really loved it. For the most part, it is difficult to see the difference in a printed or PDF that is created in Celtx. I didn't convert to the subscription version. I'm now using FD. While I think it offers a lot of great tools, I also find it a little flakey sometimes.

The one thing I wish it would do is import PDF. When I converted, I figured it would be better to take my other projects and get them in FD format. Wrong! Of course, Celtx doesn't really do it either. It will import, but the formatting is gone.

Actually, there is other screenwriting software that works with Movie Magic.

First is not always best. That's why the "Industry Standard" moniker seems dated.

Tom Batha just think “classic coke.” FD has been in the game from the beginning when screenwriting software was a niche small market. The name “Final Draft” even sounds cool. I’m so old that I remember FD 1.0 when it was on floppy disks and only for Macintosh computers. Somehow FD just became “industry standard” back in the 1990s. It could be that most Hollywood writers (the world was smaller in 1990s) use Macintosh laptops and FD was the only software around for Mac users.

Dan M, I believe you. I'm just saying that the "Industry Standard" of the 1990s may not hold true today, especially since there was a lot less competition then.

I use it. It's a little buggy at times, but I've learned how to get around it.

In this case, just go with the flow and keep it simple. Why complicate matters?

I have only ever used Final Draft, myself, by preference. And... Final Draft has features that allow for easy pre-production/development, script breakdowns, sharing an editable file between teams/collaborators, etc. So it's not just for screenwriting or creating a pdf, per se, but also a common program often used throughout production and the handling/editing of various production drafts by many on a project, etc. Of course, I assume other programs probably have similar features too... I'm just personally not aware of those other programs’ details. And, of course, it may depend on the preferences of the producer/collaborators you may be working with, which, more often than not, seems to be Final Draft, often called "the industry standard." I don't know, or rather, I haven't heard of any script rejections due to program choice (?). It seems to be more an issue of convenience because I have heard many stories of annoyance with, say, a script written in Word, then having to convert or key-in word-for-word an entire screenplay into Final Draft. So, for me, I'd rather be working in the program commonly used for production. You know, streamline. Lol! ;)

I do keep it simple. The software I use (not Final Draft) has everything mentioned above, including the ability to save and import and export as Final Draft files. It's just a lot cheaper.

If you're serious about writing, FD is the only way to go.

So...

Rian Johnson

Craig Mazin

Kelly Marcel

Rawson Marshall Thurber

Gary Whitta

F. Scott Frazier ...

aren't serious?

(hint: they don't use FD)

Not trying to belabor the point but I tend to question statements with "only" in them.

IT DOES NOT MATTER. A PRODUCER DOES NOT CARE WHAT SOFTWARE YOU USE - GET OVER IT!