For Immediate Release
Contact: Meredith Cornelius (Meredith@finaldraft.com)

Final Draft, Inc.  Exclusive Sponsor of the Austin Film Festival

Oct. 23, 2008-(Calabasas, CA)- Final Draft, Inc., publisher of the top-selling scriptwriting software, Final Draft®, and Script magazine attended the Writer’s Conference at the 15th Annual Austin Film Festival (AFF). Final Draft® software was selected as the exclusive screenwriting software for this celebrated event. An active participant in the festival, Final Draft, Inc. hosted a demo in conjunction with Jungle Software and Innovative Software to teach screenwriters the in-between steps from writing the script to storyboarding and budgeting.

Script magazine was also on the scene to meet with director Danny Boyle, who hosted a Q&A session after the screening of Slumdog Millionaire, and writer Terry Rossio (Pirates of the Caribbean II), who sat on the judging panel of the 90-second Pitch Finale.

Nick Hurwitch’s Take On Me and Jim Macak’s Two Harbors tied for first place in the 90-second Pitch Finale.  Troy Miller’s The Woods came in second, with Steven Chatterton’s Werecub rounding out third place.

”It was great to be there to shake hands with the award-winners of the 90-second Pitch Fest.  Not only does this festival bring A-list writers to speak to aspiring artists, but it also helps foster the next generation of filmmakers through their competitions and youth programs,” says Marc Madnick, Founder and CEO of Final Draft, Inc.

As part of its sponsorship package, Final Draft, Inc. worked directly with the AFF Storytelling through Film program, which incorporates screenwriting into the Texas state curriculum. This program fosters the next generation of filmmakers and encourages creativity among high school students.

“One of the most enjoyable aspects of the conference is hearing from the students and teachers, about the positive impact filmmaking has had on their lives,” states Meredith Cornelius of Final Draft, Inc.

About Final Draft, Inc.
Final Draft, Inc. was founded in 1991 to develop a scriptwriting program that allows the writer to concentrate on the creative process and not on Hollywood's stringent formatting rules. Since then, Final Draft software has become the Hollywood professional's choice and the world's #1-selling scriptwriting program.

In September of 2006, Final Draft, Inc., acquired Script magazine and its ancillary services including the Take A Meeting event, the ScriptXpert coverage service and the Big Break contest.