Volume 9, Number 2 — January 28, 2010
Mark your calendars!
Will Final Draft Work on the iPad?
We’ve been asked this question by many of our users. There seems to be a lot of interest in the iPad (and other mobile devices) and the desire to be able to use it to do more than read and surf the web.
We are currently working on a Final Draft companion application for the iPad that will work with the version 8 .fdx file format. If you’d like to be notified when the companion product is released, please sign up here.
Did You Know?
You can read a PDF version of your script on any mobile device that accepts a PDF file.
Final Draft version 8 Webinar
Join Joel Levin, Final Draft, Inc. VP of Customer Support, as he reviews the most frequently asked Final Draft software questions. This one–hour webinar is the second part of a two–part series and will review 10 commonly asked questions. To see some of the details from part one of this series, click here.
Need Inspiration? Script Magazine to the Rescue
If you have not yet subscribed, now is the time. We are offering unbeatable savings on one–year print and digital subscriptions, and you don’t want to miss our cover feature on auteur Noah Baumbach, writer–director of Greenberg, and Script’s “Man of the Moment.” If you are wary of a long–term commitment, then visit your local newsstand to check out the current issue of Script magazine. Inside you will find inspirational stories from writers like Linda Woolverton and Eric Heisserer that reveal how they broke into the industry. Plus read what the writers, director, and comic–book creaters behind Kick–Ass, the new breed of superhero, have to say about their experience. All this, and more, in the March/April issue of Script.
“I went in for a general meeting with Dave Neustadter at New Line. That’s all it was supposed to be: A handshake, a bottle of water, and a chat about our favorite movies. But this was one of those rare, legendary meetings where I was the right guy with the right horror sample, and I walked out holding the keys to the house that Freddy built.”
Eric Heisserer, A Nightmare on Elm Street
Big Break Contest Early Birds Save up to $25
The Big Break Contest is open for entries and the early bird deadline of March 1, 2010 is quickly approaching. Take advantage of the early bird deadline and save up to $25 off your entry.
About the Contest
The Big Break is an annual, global screenwriting contest designed to launch the careers of aspiring writers. The Big Break Contest rewards screenwriters with cash, prizes, and A–list executive meetings. Winners and finalists alike have had their screenplays optioned and produced and have secured high–profile representation as well as lucrative writing deals.
Let Scriptmag.com Help You Make Your Script Stand Out
Go behind–the–scenes with Scriptmag.com to see the interview with 2009 Big Break Contest judges Laura Perez and Katharyn Bond.
Plus check out our digital issue archive for articles that reveal tips and inside information. Get the Script scoop from leading industry reps about the top 10 big mistakes writers should avoid and advice from contest reader Staton Rabin.
ScriptXpert Coverage and Scene Fix
Being receptive to feeback will help you become a better person and a better writer. ScriptXpert coverage services do just that – provide feedback, and in the same way it’s done in the industry. With our service you will receive a detailed, authentic report, just like the coverage producers receive from their readers. If your script receives a “recommend,” we’ll send it out to our industry contacts who have asked to read the scripts we find.
ScriptXpert clients are always in consideration for being part of our Scene Fix online series. Submit today and we may use your script in a future article and/or online video.
Final Draft, Inc. Supports our Partners and the Community
INDUSTRY PARTNERSHIPS
We support entertainment industry professionals, organizations and companies that work to improve literacy, create access for emerging talent, and embrace diversity through story and craft.
Defining Beauty: Ms. Wheelchair America Charity Event, March 10, 2010 Hollywood, CA
Final Draft, Inc. is proud to sponsor the charity event for the non–profit documentary, Defining Beauty: Ms. Wheelchair America. The documentary is narrated by Katey Sagal and focuses on the lives of five women as they journey their way to the 2010 Ms. Wheelchair America Pageant. The event, which is geared toward writers, will include special guests, such as Lynnette Ramirez, SVP from George Lopez Presents and Jen Grisanti, instructor of NBC’s Writers on the Verge and former executive at Spelling Television and CBS/Paramount. During the event, various items will be raffled off like a private meeting with the SVP of Drama for NBC, office space, and software packages.
22nd Annual USC Libraries Scripter Award, February 6, 2010
Los Angeles, CA.
Final Draft Inc. sponsored and provided copies of Final Draft version 8 to University of Southern California students at the 22nd Annual USC Libraries Scripter Award on February 6th. The Scripter Award was founded in 1988 by Glenn Sonnenberg and Marjorie Lord Volk as an effort to celebrate the written word through the union of publishing, filmmaking and academe. This year’s event at the USC Doheny Library had over 300 people in attendance, and four of the five finalists will be competing at the Academy Awards® for Best Picture and best adapted screenplay honors.
The Scripter 2010 finalists, in alphabetical order by film title, are: screenwriter Scott Cooper and author Thomas Cobb for Crazy Heart; screenwriters Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell for District 9, adapted from Blomkamp’s screenplay for the short film Alive in Joburg; screenwriter Nick Hornby and author Lynn Barber for An Education, screenwriter Geoffrey Fletcher for Precious, and Sapphire, author of Push, upon which the screenplay for Precious is based; and screenwriters Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner and author Walter Kirn for Up in the Air. The author and screenwriters of Up in the Air took top honors while Eric Roth, screenwriter of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Oscar® nominee, received the 2010 Scripter Literary Achievement Award.
Fourth Annual Latino Screenplay Competition, December 16, 2009
Marina del Rey, CA.
Final Draft Inc. presented the Final Draft International Promise Award to Laura Astorga for her film, Las Niñas, at the fourth annual Latino Screenplay Competition (LSC) in December.
Astorga is the second recipient of the Final Draft International Promise Award, which is designed to highlight a rising international talent in the craft of screenwriting.
The LSC aims to discover commercially viable screenplays that promote increased visibility of Latino–themed screenplays in the American market. All screenplays are judged in the categories of plot, dialogue, characterization, originality, pacing, Latino merit, and commercial viability.
