What to Expect in the Free Update
With new operating systems coming out in the next few months from both Microsoft and Apple, look for the FINAL DRAFT version 8 free update to follow closely behind.  Here is a detailed overview of what you can expect in the free update.  Be sure to register your software so that you qualify for the update.

Send to Script:
We’ve added a new feature that will allow you to select individual index card summaries and copy the content directly into the script.  If there is only a Scene Heading, the content will appear directly below the Scene Heading as an Action element.  Otherwise the text will appear at the end of any content that previously exists in the scene. You will be able to access this feature by toolbar button, menu option, keyboard shortcut, and contextual menu.

Text Highlighting:
A new toolbar button has been added that will allow you to select and highlight text using one of five bright highlight colors, one of the seven colors used in the Navigator/Index Cards/Scene View, or a custom color if you require additional choices.

Pagination:
We’ve added an option to inform you if you set the Header/Footer margins off the printable area of the page or if you attempt to print to a new printer that has margins larger than those you’ve set in page layout.  In either case you will be given the option to ignore the settings or fix the script to have the margins adjusted.

PDF/Printing:
You’ll be pleased to hear that we have re-introduced the Save as PDF option in the File menu, with an added benefit of allowing you to choose whether to include the Title Page or not from the dialog when you save the file.  The Save as PDF option has also been added to all text files (Title Pages, Reports, and Text templates).
We also have a few new options available on the print dialog: You will be able to print by scene number or a range of scenes; your script options will also include the ability to print all scenarios once you enter revision mode (all revised pages, the active revision, any unrevised pages or a specific revision set).  You will also be able to print a collated script with the latest set of revisions for any given page.

Spotlight Search:
On Mac, you will be able to search using the Spotlight feature and find any version 8 (.fdx) or .fdxt (template) files containing your searched words. The search will look in the script text, title page, script notes, scene summaries, and scene titles and will open to the first instance of the word if it appears in script text or title page text.

Locked Pages/Revision Mode:
You will be able to assign any revision as a Full draft so that all page headers update to reflect the revision name regardless of whether revisions exist on the page or not. You will also be able to choose how revisions appear in your script by either displaying the active revision, all revisions made over time, or the last revision set that occurred for any given page so that you can view a ‘collated’ script.

Script Compare:
We’ve also improved the way you can compare two drafts of the same script with more granularity of the changes you’ve made – specifically individual words and punctuation.

Read the most recent review of FINAL DRAFT version 8 from Software Editorial and then upgrade today for $79. Buy the download and save additional time and money.

If you’d like to see the new and improved features in FINAL DRAFT version 8, please join FINAL DRAFT Product Manager Kirsten Thayer for a 45-minute webinar presentation. Immediately following the presentation will be a 15-minute Q&A session.

Capacity for this presentation is limited, so reserve your space today!  See below for details.

Panel Series
Writers Boot Camp and Final Draft, Inc. / SCRIPT magazine announce a series of FREE panels designed to help scriptwriters navigate Hollywood. Each month, a free panel will be hosted at the Writers Boot Camp in Santa Monica, CA. Our first panel is now open for registration. See below.

PANEL: August 31, 2009, 7:30 PM
"Launching Your Screenwriting Career in Today’s Market"
Screenwriting has changed. The spec market is drying up and screenwriters need to redefine their careers to keep up with an ever-changing market. Find out how to jumpstart a career and keep the momentum rolling with a panel of managers, producers and agents who know where Hollywood will be tomorrow. Click here to RSVP

Videos and Podcasts
New York Film Academy (NYFA) and Final Draft, Inc. / SCRIPT magazine are proud to announce our new alliance. We are grateful that NYFA has joined us to provide video of upcoming screening Q&As, interviews, and special events. We look forward to working with their talented students to bring you more and better access to the screenwriting industry. Stay tuned for these events and more!

Thank you to everyone who participated in the DVD drive for troops, spearheaded by BIG BREAK Contest Director Liz Alani! We received hundreds of great DVDs and sent them to the soldiers who need them the most, via the Armed Forces Federation.

These distinguished screenplays were among the many well-crafted entries sent in from all over the world. Kudos to these writers for making the cut! Our ten year anniversary also brings a first — two screenplays from the same writer achieved semifinalist status. The finalists will be announced in September, and will be judged by an elite industry jury. The top three winners will be announced on October 30, 2009.

2009 SEMIFINALISTS (listed in alphabetical order)

• Joseph Balczo, Valencia, CA & David Bricker, Henderson, NV — Abducting Christmas
• Nathan Blackwell, Phoenix, AZ — Transgalactic Zoo
• Karen Briner, Los Angeles, CA — Amanzi
• Mary Casavant, New York, NY — Judgey
• Robert Jason Clark, Lyndhurst, NJ — Awaken
• Michael Ennis, Middletown, CT — Bobby Dawn
• Richard Flynn, Chester, CT — Darlin' Pretty
• Craig Houchin, Sunland, CA — Ludlow
• Christopher Krumlauf, Hollywood, CA & Juan Castro, Sherman Oaks, CA — Dickie Feldman
• Rob Leininger, Reno, NV — Tough Kids
• Josephine Mackerras, Paris, France — Skin
• Ben McCracken, Auckland, New Zealand — Repeating Reprisals
• Alasdair McMullan, New York, NY — Jesse James V. Jack The Ripper
• Gia Milani, Fredericton, NB, Canada — All The Wrong Reasons
• Kevin Lee Miller, Los Angeles, CA — Trigger Mom
• Benjamin Odell, Coral Gables, FL — The Lion
• Rob Rex, Los Angeles, CA — Atom Bravo
• Dave Shramek, Austin, TX — Dudley Charles
• J.R. Taylor, West Hollywood, CA — Minus Men
• J.R. Taylor, West Hollywood, CA — Borderland

Our heartfelt thanks go to all the entrants who made the 2009 Big Break Contest a success. We applaud you and are honored to bring recognition to promising screenwriters across the globe.

Liz Alani
Contest Director
Final Draft, Inc.
alani@finaldraft.com

Robert McKee Story Seminar
An Interview with Story Author Robert McKee

Final Draft, Inc. has had a warm and long relationship with legendary screenwriting teacher Robert McKee. Portrayed in the hit film ADAPTATION, McKee has been teaching his STORY SEMINAR to sold-out audiences around the world for almost 25 years to over 50,000 students. Recently, McKee gave an interview about the craft, business and art of screenwriting that we thought FINAL DRAFT users may find entertaining and educational. A sample Q&A is below, but click the link for the full interview.

Question: Does a story always need to be believable? What makes it believable?
 
Robert McKee: Yes. The audience/reader must believe in the world of your story.  Or, more precisely, in Samuel Taylor Coleridge's famous phrase, the audience/reader must willingly suspend its disbelief.  This act allows the audience/reader to temporarily believe in your story world as if it were real.  The magic of as if transports the reader/audience from their private world to your fictional world.  Indeed, all the beautiful and satisfying effects of story - suspense and empathy, tears and laughter, meaning and emotion - are rooted in the great “as if.” Bear in mind, however, that believability does not mean actuality...(continued: www.mckeestory.com/finaldraft.html)

What: Robert McKee's Story Seminar
Seminars: L.A. (Sept. 10-13), NY (Oct. 22-25), London (Nov. 19-22)
Web: www.McKeeStory.com
Phone: (888) 676-2533

Business of Show
Interview with Sam Dickerman
Senior Sony Executive Reveals Huge Opportunities for Screenwriters

If you've ever wanted some real, insider information on the crucial changes taking place within the studio system, then this will be a very important message for you to read. On Thursday, August 20th, at 11:30am Pacific Standard Time (2:30pm EST), Marvin V. Acuna and The Business of Show Institute will be hosting a no-cost, live, streaming video presentation with Senior Vice President of Production at Sony Pictures Entertainment, Samuel Dickerman.
Samuel and Marvin will be having a "state of the union" type of discussion where they will outline all the major changes taking place within the studio system and in Hollywood. They'll also be talking specifically about how these changes will affect YOU, the screenwriter. And at the end of this discussion they'll be taking YOUR questions, live! Again, this groundbreaking event is completely free to you. So click on the link below to register now: www.TheBusinessOfShowInstitute.com/sonyinterview

Final Draft, Inc and the UCLA Extension Writers Faire

Join us at the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program’s annual Writers Faire on Sunday, August 30, 2009. Get inspired by your choice of 24 mini-workshops and panels in creative writing and screenwriting hosted by more than 60 Writers’ Program instructors. Visit with representatives from local graduate programs and writing-related organizations and businesses. Learn about online courses and enter a free drawing to win screenwriting software from Final Draft, Inc. from 11am-3pm in the Young Hall Court of Sciences on the UCLA campus. The event is FREE; parking is $10. For more information, email writers@uclaextension.edu or visit www.uclaextension.edu/writers.