Features:

  • Final Draft 8 combines powerful word processing with professional script formatting in one self-contained,
  • Easy-to-use package specifically designed for writing movie scripts, television episodics and stage plays
  • Television show, screenplay, stage play and graphic novel templates are included to help get you started
  • Have your script read back to you by assigning different male and female voices to each of your characters with text-to-speech
  • New XML file format for compatibility with a wide variety of other products
  • No need to learn about script formatting rules. Final Draft automatically paginates and formats your script to industry standards as you write
The best technical support ever

I switched from a free downloaded script writing program to Final Draft 8 and found it to be packed with added benefits. The best of these is the customer service in the form of technical support. It is far easier toFinal Draft Version 8 handle a glitch here and there when I know that there is a live human being one email away who will get me back on track without delay. I was so impressed. It is worth the money to make this investment if you want to write a screenplay.

Great Software

When I decided to begin converting my novels into screenplay form, my research on software to do it kept coming up Final Draft. I got a good price on Amazon and bought it. As with any new format there is a learning curve, but I have been able to already create four feature length screenplays from two of my novels with the Final Draft software I hope to interest producers in.

you want to write scripts? get this thing

First off, there are a variety of programs out there that will let you write, you can even do it with pen and paper. Fact is though, in the professional world, this is the only thing that matters. If you're looking to sell a script and sending stuff to film companies they will throw out everything that isn't formatted correctly, and the industry standard is Final Draft. It's sad that you need to buy an expensive software, but that's where the world has come. That said, this software is really great. It's nice to be able to just write and don't think about formats, it's all integrated. Use it once and you know how to do it, there's no hard learning curve.

Third program I tried, and the Best so far

I'm a fairly new user (under 1 month) so cannot give a really complete review of this program. However, I can say that I had to learn it as I went, because I had a screenplay due in full "yesterday". Bought it, installed it and got it done just in time! No doubt there are some bugs and they probably won't be corrected because this is a niche market, but so far all has been working as well as I need it to work. I hand-copied the most pertinent hot keys onto a slip of paper, taped it to my laptop and off we went. Some of the workings are very intuitive, esp. if you've tried another program. They all have something to challenge your patience, but overall, I am thrilled with ease of use in ver. 8 and will most likely just update this one as able and not change programs again until forced.

Very nice software

This software makes screenwriting a breeze. Very easy to learn and makes screenwriting much more enjoyable without having to worry about formats etc. It took me less than a day to learn the basics of the software and by night time I was on my way to writing my first script using Final Draft 8. Very short learning curve. So far it has been worth every penny. Highly recommended for screenwriters

Flexible and easy to use

I have used Final Draft since version 4.x and have been a registered user for every version since then. I also purchased a second license recently for a talented young indie filmmaker friend of mine who had been doing everything "on the cheap," including using a free scriptwriting program that I considered to be clumsy and complex. I wanted her to have the best scriptwriting software available. For me that meant that it had to be powerful enough to do the job, but also had to be in widespread use. Final Draft was the obvious answer. You cannot go wrong with Final Draft if you are serious about filmmaking or about writing for screen, television, or stage. The program is easy to use, and it is flexible. You can get started quickly, and you can easily redefine the settings for the standard styles ("elements") like Character, Dialogue, and Action. You can also add your own paragraph styles to use in addition to the standard ones that film uses. For example, for stage plays I use a couple of paragraph styles that are not part of the standard templates, but that is no problem. I just add the styles and save the whole thing as a template that I can use for any future scripts that need those additional styles. Is Final Draft perfect? No, but it works very well, and it provides a fun experience. I have never enjoyed any scriptwriting as much as I did my work on an updated stage version of Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" with Final Draft 5 ... and Final Draft has grown a lot since those days. I have been using computers for writing since 1985, and I am an amateur programmer. Undoubtedly I have an easier time with software applications than the average user, but even I find some programs intimidating and confusing. Not so with Final Draft, which has a friendly interface. As you would expect with a dedicated screenwriting program, Final Draft keeps up with Mores and Continueds and reformats your pages as needed to insert MORE and CONT'D. It also has many other automated features that help your work to move along quickly. The Reports feature is very nice. You can produce many helpful reports about your script, and you can organize a list of scenes according to things like location and day/night. The Reports feature is truly impressive. Even if you do not work in production, it is fun to generate reports to see various lists and data about your script. I recommend Final Draft without hesitation if you want the best scriptwriting software available.

Makes writing a dream, truly

When you've heard the slogan that says all you have to do is add the words, that's pretty darn true. Seriously. It makes writing technically less difficult, and a screenwriter SHOULDN'T be thinking about spacing; we should instead be thinking about the words, the story; the reason we sit down and do this thing called writing. Final Draft let's you do just that! It does the technical thinking stuff for you. You won't be disappointed!

In a class all its own

I looked at the different screenwriting software on the market, and although Final Draft tends to be on the more expensive side, there is a reason for it. Not only is it easy to use, but there are many helpful and interesting sample scripts to search through. Especially if you are just starting out as a screenwriter, it is a tool that you cannot do without. Just give in and get it. You won't be sorry.

great software

There are two primary software programs that are supposed to be the top two programs for screenwriting. (by sales and/or 'quality/features') Final Draft is one of them. I believe the other is Movie Magic Screenwriter. I think it is cheaper as the SRP. But I got FD at about the same price on Amazon. You'll have to check the differences and try to decide for yourself whether one is better than the other, or if they have different features, and you want or need a feature that one has and the other doesn't. But they are pretty much the same. I was using free Celtx, but they aren't anywhere near as good as these and they are doing weird things to their software (like requiring Internet access to run it), so I decided to bite the bullet and get some good software. It works well and is as easy to use as Celtx was. It is more powerful, but I haven't messed with any of those features. I just write scripts and as long as it helps with that and makes it eas/y/ier, then I'm good.

Excellent

Service from Amazon right on the money as usual, arrived ahead of schedule and the product works as expected. I downloaded the trial version and used it for a couple of months, then transferred all my work onto the licensed version. There is nothing more that a script writer could possible want. Final Draft leaves you completely free to get on with the writing without worrying about format. I am also using it to edit a book, adapting the facilities on the programme to save myself an awful lot of copying and saving of files. You have to use your imagination a little to make it work for a book, but once done it could not be better.

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