Volume 5, Number 1
January 12, 2005

1. ROBERT MCKEE'S STORY SEMINAR

Final Draft is in its 5th year of working with Robert McKee. Together we continue to raise the standard of screenwriting throughout the world by providing individuals with the premier tools essential for writing the best screenplay.

Portrayed in the Oscar-nominated film Adaptation, Robert McKee's Story Seminar has been taken by over 45,000 students worldwide, including many of today's top screenwriters, TV writers, producers, directors and novelists such as Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings I, II, III, King Kong); Akiva Goldsman (A Beautiful Mind, I Robot, The Da Vinci Code); Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo); Joel Schumacher (The Phantom of the Opera); Steven Pressfield (Gates of Fire, Last of the Amazons); Michael Connelly (City of Bones); Drew Barrymore, Tony Kaye, Marc Klein (Serendipity); Zak Penn (Behind Enemy Lines, X-Men 2); writers of CSI, Bruce Almighty, Law & Order, Friends, The Simpsons and many, many others. McKee's sold-out Story Seminars teach the essential principles of screenwriting and story design that studios, production companies and publishers demand from their writers.

Upcoming 2005 Story Seminars:
March 4-6: Los Angeles, CA
March 11-13: New York, NY
May 20-22: London

Robert McKee's Genre Weekend: Thriller, Film Masterpiece & Comedy
May 13-15: Las Vegas, NV
(Please Note: This will be the only presentation of Genre Weekend in 2005)

To register or for more information, go to: www.McKeeStory.com
Phone: North America: 1-888-676-2533; Europe: +44 (0)870 080 1833

2. ON THE ROAD, INCLUDING AUSTRALIA

2005 sends Final Draft on the road to Australia. During this calendar year, we will be presenting more demos internationally, so be sure to come by if we are in your neighborhood.

Final Draft representatives will be at the following locations to demonstrate Final Draft 7 program features and to answer customer questions.

Location	Date	Time
Media Services 500 S. Sepulveda Blvd., 4th Floor Los Angeles, CA 90049 Tagger Demo along with Company MOVE Scheduling Software Reservations required. Contact Jeff Oehley at 310-471-9330	Thurs, Jan 20	10am
map: www.mapquest.com
Portside Centre Maritime Services Building Level 5, 207 Kent Street Sydney NSW 2000 Australia Final Draft Tips & Tricks Please RSVP to Bob Loader: bobloader@likemagic.com.au	Tues, Feb 8	3-9pm
Portside Centre website: www.dawsons.com.au/Venue/AustraliaNewZealand/Australia/ NewSouthWales/SydneyCity/PortsideCentreThe/

3. WRITERS' RESOURCES

The Spec Market: Now Offering a Final Draft 2 for 1 Discount
Profile your project for the largest audience of entertainment professionals in the world. Baseline StudioSystem's Spec Market posting directory provides an exciting new arena to list your screenplay, novel or story.
Entertainment professionals can browse, search and locate available content, giving you the best possible opportunity to get your script in the hands of the real decision-makers.

To register go to: www.scriptshark.com/specmarket/index.cfm


The #1 Pitch Event
11th Annual FROM CONCEPT TO SALE CONFERENCE & PITCHFEST
February 19 & 20, 2005, Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, Hollywood, CA

• Class sessions with this year's Oscar-nominated filmmakers as your instructors;
• Over 70 A-list companies, studios and agencies to pitch to/meet with - including HBO, New Line Cinema, Warner Bros, Paramount Pictures and more;
• Agency submissions (submit the first 30 pages of one script to each agent and manager, including William Morris, UTA, ICM, Leverage andEndeavor).

Fade In conferences are limited to 175 attendees. Call 800-646-3896 or go to: www.fadeinonline.com/Contests/concept_to_sale.htm

Writers University: The Right Course
Writers University offers the quickest and most effective way to success with courses that will get you on the right course, right away.

Writers University courses will interest and excite you as you tap into the creative minds of professional screenwriters, novelists and journalists, who are all masters of their craft. Equipped with the tools you need to be one step ahead of your competition, you will gain the professional insight needed to understand the business of writing and to build your confidence as a writer.

Get on the right course for your writing right now.  Go to: www.WritersUniversity.com

Screenwriting Retreat with Chris Keane in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
Join Chris Keane, Master Screenwriting Teacher, from April 13-23 for a dynamic 10 days. You'll be part of a small group of dedicated writers crafting story and character, building structure and creating an expanded scene breakdown that will make writing your script the easy part. For more information on Hollywood's Best Kept Secret - The Expanded Scene Breakdown, go to: www.keanewords.com/workshops.html

Writers Studio at UCLA Extension, February 3-6, 2005
Don't miss out: some workshops are now sold out!
Writers Studio at UCLA Extension features four days of intensive instruction in screenwriting and creative writing. Participants will work closely with a professional writer in classes limited to 20 registrants. The 2005 Writers Studio screenwriting workshops include:

• Emotional Structure: Creating the Story Beneath the Plot with Peter Dunne
• Writing the Romantic Comedy with Billy Mernit
• Crafting Your Screenplay: Creating a Blueprint for Your Plot and Characters with Scott Myers
• Larger than Life: A Character, Dialogue, and Theme Workshop for Screenwriters with Janna Gelfand
• Writing Powerful Cinematic Scenes with Erica Byrne

The Writers Studio fee is $675 (not including lodging or meals).

For detailed information about the 2005 Writers Studio at UCLA Extension, including enrollment,
go to: uclaextension.edu/writers. E-mail: writers@uclaextension.edu. Phone: 310- 825-9415.


Steve Kaplan's Secrets to Writing a Successful Sitcom Spec
If you've got a great idea for a great new sitcom, but are not sure how to get your script into the right hands...

Steve Kaplan's wildly popular 2-day comedy intensive in LA, NY and London is for screenwriters, TV writers, directors and producers.

For more than 15 years, Steve Kaplan has been Hollywood’s most sought-after teacher on comedy. In addition to having taught comedy writing and performing at NYU, Yale, UCLA and other top universities, he created the HBO Workspace and the HBO New Writers Program. His former students are the A-list of Hollywood.

Upcoming events include:
Los Angeles: February 5-6, 2005
New York: April 2-3, 2005
London: June 2005

For more information, go to: www.KaplanComedy.com

To read the 7 Secrets of Highly Successful Sitcom Writers, go to: www.kaplancomedy.com/sevensecrets.html

4. FINAL DRAFT AND THE WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA

The Writers Guild Registry accepts more than 45,000 pieces of material each year and is available to WGAw members and non-members alike. Final Draft users can register online directly from Final Draft 7 by clicking on File > Register Script. This will take you directly to our website where you can connect to the Writer’s Guild of America and register your script online.  Protecting your script is the first step to take before showing it to studios or agents.

The WGAw Registry has been assisting writers since 1927. For more information or to register online go to: www.wga.org

5. 33 WAYS TO BREAK INTO HOLLYWOOD

Brought to you by ScriptForSale.com and Final Draft, Inc., 33 Ways to Break Into Hollywood, is a FREE program that will help you sell your script.  33 Ways to Break Into Hollywood includes the following how-to strategies:

• Get agents and producers to read your material
• Power network
• Get in through back doors
• Take charge of your career promotion
• Build your reputation with producers
• Seize the opportunities that others miss

33 Ways to Break Into Hollywood will boost your confidence, increase your opportunities, and help you acquire the staying power necessary to make it in the film business.

Still stuck searching for ways to get your foot in the door? No need to be stuck any longer, go to:
www.scriptforsale.com/33ways/signup33.htm to receive your FREE program download.

6. CUSTOMER SUPPORT

The current version of Final Draft 7 is 7.0.0.54
The current version of Final Draft AV is 2.0.5

Please log on to this web page for Final Draft 7 current version information:
www.finaldraft.com/support/downloads.php4

To determine which version of Final Draft 7 you have, go to Help/Customer Support. If you do not have the current version you should download and install the free update. To download the update, go to:
www.finaldraft.com/support/downloads.php4

Please note that you must have Final Draft 7 already installed to your hard drive to install the 7.0.0.54 update. The 7.0.0.54 update will not update Final Draft 6 or lower.

The current version of Final Draft 6 is 6.0.6.0

To determine which version of Final Draft 6 you have, go to Help/Technical Support. If you do not have the current version you should download, then install, the free update. To download the update, go to:
www.finaldraft.com/support/downloads.php4

Please note that you must have Final Draft 6 already installed to your hard drive to install the 6.0.6.0 update. The 6.0.6.0 update will not update Final Draft 5 or lower.

Tech Tip

Need to view two parts of your script at the same time?  Now you can in Final Draft 7! 
Use the Panels buttons on your toolbar, or click on View > Split Vertically to see your single script file in two windows, side-by-side. Now you can skip down to the start of the third act in one panel while your first act break stays onscreen in the other.

For more information on Final Draft features, refer to the Final Draft User Guide PDF document found in the Final Draft folder on your hard drive or visit our online Knowledge Base. To visit the Knowledge Base, go to:  www.finaldraft.com/support

7. CONTACT US

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