![]() ![]() Update 5/23/22 - A few months after this article was originally published, I was invited to take part in the beta development for Final Draft. And Final Draft is there with a fair priced offering for it. And while screenwriters who got their start during the heady days of the typewriter (like me and many of my generation X) are probably not keen on the idea of writing a screenplay on a tablet, thousands of younger screenwriters have no problem banging out scripts on a mobile device. There are tons of excellent features that make Final Draft a solid writing app, and most folks wouldn’t dream of trading their Final Draft for another screenwriting app.Īnd as far as pricing goes, I have to emphasize that Final Draft does offer a lower-cost version of their app for iOS, as well as educational discounts, so my beef with their pricing isn’t full-on Kobe / Angus. But I don’t blame Final Draft – they’ve created and marketed a great product that basically now dominates the screenwriting space.Īnd that domination didn’t come just through great marketing. $199 for Final Draft 12 is a big chunk of change for most aspiring screenwriters. The game has changed when it comes to simplicity and UI design, yet Final Draft still feels a bit stuck in that 90s Microsoft Word vibe, as does its cousin, Movie Magic Screenwriter, and many other writing apps, if we’re being perfectly honest.ĭislike 3) The price. But it was certainly mine, on two different sets of hardware over several years and on several iterations of operating systems.ĭislike 2) The interface/user experience. Is that everybody’s experience? I don’t know. Though it did crash on the Mac, it crashed a lot less than when I ran it on my pc. And to be certain, Final Draft is a solid app and deserves a lot of credit, and certainly not hate.īut what do I strongly dislike about Final Draft? Three things:ĭislike 1) Before I switched from a Windows machine to a Mac, Final Draft had a penchant for crashing in the most inopportune moments, no matter what version I ran. I reserve that word for shows like The Bachelor. What do I hate? Well, “hate” is a strong word. And 95% of the time, that’s either a PDF or, you guessed it, a Final Draft file.) (And if you’re running a script coverage service like me, you need to be able to open whatever file the client sends in. And yes, most of these tools are as good as - and many times - better than Final Draft.What do I love? Its ubiquity: Everybody uses it. These days, a lot of new tools have come up that let you write your script either on your Linux desktop or in a browser. If you've been stuck with Final Draft for years or are a Linux user looking for alternatives, this is a great time to start writing your screenplay. ![]() His efforts in pushing the open Fountain format, as well as creating Highland, a Mac-based screenwriting software are an indication of how badly Final Draft users need a change. One of the biggest proponents of this move is John August, screenwriter of movies like Big Fish and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Many big writers have slowly started to move to alternative software. ![]() With its high price, clunky UI, and lots of persistent bugs, Final Draft is slowly being taken over by lesser-known tools in this huge shift that is happening in the screenwriting industry. In many ways, it still enjoys the same monopoly however, the stronghold it had over the screenwriting industry isn't the same as before. From big Hollywood directors like Spielberg to small independent studios, everyone considered Final Draft the gold standard of screenwriting software. For years, much like Microsoft's monopoly with Windows, the software had no big competitors. As far as writing screenplays is concerned, Hollywood has only one standard: Final Draft. ![]()
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