Software gives writers iTV tools

A couple of tech companies have teamed to give TV writers more control over the interactive elements that are cropping up more frequently nowadays.
The newest version of the popular Final Draft scriptwriting software includes tools for writing interactivity into scripts from the get-go. It's the result of an initiative with GoldPocket Interactive, which claims 75% of the iTV market, or about 3,000 hours.

Final Draft users can get the free upgrade now at www.finaldraft.com. And beginning in about a month, new versions of the software, which sells for $249, will include the iTV tools.

In the upgrade and new version, a feature of Final Draft called ScriptNote that lets writers sort of embed a virtual Post-it note onto a script has been tweaked to cater to iTV programming.

That function, Final Draft vp product development Frank Colin said, was no big deal. But the special iTV instructions can also be exported to GoldPocket's technology to be more easily incorporated into the TV programming.

It works like this: A writer puts into the script "ask trivia question here," "take poll here," "offer character background here," etc. Those interactive elements are transported in an open-standard XML format to GoldPocket's iTV product suite, which allows for detailed creation of the element. Then it goes to Avid for synchronizing, then off to the TV watchers' set-top boxes and PC screens.

"Producers have told us they didn't like that writers weren't handling interactivity," Colin said. "Before, interactivity was an afterthought. Now it's an integral part of the creative process."

Final Draft annually sells about 25,000 copies of its namesake software and its Final Draft AV (for writing commercials, documentaries, training films, etc.). Although much of Hollywood uses Final Draft for its TV shows, most of the company's sales are to aspiring writers.

The iTV enhancements will benefit primarily those who actually write iTV shows, "but the features are there for everybody to see," Colin said.
GoldPocket, of course, is doing everything it can to bring down the costs of iTV while making the process easier for producers and more compelling to audiences. The Final Draft partnership is its latest effort in that regard. Previously, the company spearheaded the effort to create open standards, details of which are at www.itvstandards.org.

The interactive elements of a TV show are all too typically thrown together after the fact, GoldPocket vp product management Martijn Lopes Cardozo said.

"This is the only and first product in the world to incorporate interactivity throughout the whole television production process," Lopes Cardozo said. "If you add interactivity at a later stage, you're limited. Before, the writer didn't have an impact on the iTV element. The person with the original concept should have more input."