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So whatever country you’re in, if you’re using Final Draft, you know you’re using the industry standard.įinal Draft formatting has its roots in the studio script standards established over one hundred years ago. There are dictionaries in English (U.S., Canada, and British), Catalan, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Swiss-German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese (Brazilian and European), Spanish, and Swedish. Not in Hollywood? Final Draft is still the standard and used professionally all over the world, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Germany, France, and over 60 other countries.
#FINAL DRAFT PRO VS ACADEMIC PROFESSIONAL#
Screenplays written in Final Draft in our FDX format are ready for professional use. They’re often retyped or must be converted to a proper FDX to get them ready for production.
#FINAL DRAFT PRO VS ACADEMIC FREE#
Scripts written with a regular word-processing program or a free web-based screenplay template can’t be used in professional film productions.
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The very fact that you purchased a screenwriting program tells industry professionals that you take your craft seriously and are familiar with and utilizing the very same tools they use.īut which screenwriting program should you invest in? Ideally, it should be the one that is used by most professionals in the industry, right?įinal Draft: The professional screenplay formatter An investment in something tangible, as well as an investment in yourself and your career. To ensure this doesn’t happen, your best option is to invest in a professional screenwriting program and use it to write your script. A skeptical reader will consider the script “amateurish” or “unprofessional”, and that’s all before they even dive into your story and characters. If an agent, manager or producer read a screenplay that isn’t formatted to industry standards, you’ll instantly be creating an obstacle for yourself. You might think simply using a word-processing program on your computer will do the trick, but this isn’t advisable if you want to be professional -never give readers a reason to say “no”.Īlthough a word-processing program does include some basic formatting tools (fonts, styles, spellcheck, etc.), it doesn’t offer the formatting tools specifically tailored for the film and television industry.
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