Another member told me that in order to sell screenplays to production companies, one must use Final Draft. Must use payware.
I don't understand. One sends screnplays as pdf. And the Trelby freeware appears to use the right formating. Other freeware also formats in the right way.
If a potential buyer at a production company asks for changes, then I can make those changes myself and send a new pdf file.
If a potential buyer at a production company wants changes from somebody else, from somebody who uses Final Draft, then the logical thing ought to be to install that payware when asked to do so, turn my screenplay into a txt file, import that txt file in Final Draft, to create a new file. Would not take that very many hours. Or even better, I have not checked but I have the impression that the freeware I use can both import and export the format used by Final Draft.
So please explain.
There must be many novelists and playwrights who are used to other software, and turn their stories into screenplays by using the software they are used to. And for all software, there are people who for unexplainable reasons suffer from technical problems.
I don't know if it matters, but my new screenplay is written in such a way that I find it most realistic to contact those production companies which create with the smallest budgets. I mean, they will not be able to pay script doctors (who use Final Draft) megabucks to improve what I send.
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@Göran Johansson, I don't know if it's true that production companies will only buy a screenplay if it's prepared on Final Draft, but I do know that Final Draft is compatible with Movie Magic, which is the standard software for preparing a budget and schedule.
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Göran Johansson No one needs Final Draft.
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Dear friends, I suspect that opinions differ. More opinions?
When it comes to movie budgets. As a screenwriter, I would hardly expect anybody to ask me to participate but I can see the logic in me exporting a file to those who are involved in the budget.
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Göran Johansson Excellent question, i.e. if an entity does purchase your script does the optioner/buyer ask for the .fdx file too? Naturally a "script doctor" could just copy all of the PDF text and paste into FD, but way easier to just request the FD file...
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Göran Johansson Try "Story Architect". It's free, it's clutter free, it does the job and everything Final Draft can do. https://starc.app/download
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You don't need FD to write your script, and submit as a PDF. When a company buys your script, and they use FD, they will ask for the original file. That's when you get FD. The companies do not have every single screenwriting software program so the onus is on the writer to deliver what they request.
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I've never heard of a producer or company turning down a script because it wasn't written in Final Draft, Göran Johansson. Some screenwriting programs allow you to import and export fdx. files, but I've heard more than once that Final Draft has slightly different formatting than other screenwriting programs.
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I use Fade In for formatting. There is the PDF option.
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"Naturally a "script doctor" could just copy all of the PDF text and paste into FD, but way easier to just request the FD file..." You're right, Mike Childress. Sometimes the formatting will be off if someone pastes text into Final Draft, so the person will have to go through the script manually fixing the formatting. It's a lot easier to just open the FD file. Final Draft 12 can open PDF files though.
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Wow, what a large number of comments. About Final Draft having a slightly different formatting. I sent a pdf file (created by Trelby) fo a person who has Final Draft. He imported, edited and then sent me a pdf file (created by Final Draft). At the end of each scene, the spacing was half a line bigger.
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Maurice Vaughan Ah, exactly what I was wondering! Going to start referring to you as "Morpheus"! I have to admit I do like Final Draft. Superbly user-friendly. Only issue I have experienced thus far was with Windows 10 and FD 13...as a warning to others...you have to make sure the FD program has Windows file access permission. I found out the hard way my autosaves...were not saving... Lost first seven pages of my first script.
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Haha Mike Childress. Yeah, Final Draft is really user-friendly. I'm thinking about upgrading to FD 13. I have Windows 11, but thanks for the heads-up.
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Maurice Vaughan FYI I run Win 11 on zee laptop and ZERO issues with FD.
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Writer Duet, Fade In, Highland 2 are all good options too
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Dear friends, nice with so many comments.
Here is why Final Draft doesn't count the same number of pages as other software. Resulting in files which are about 10 % longer.
Most of the world uses a paper size which is slightly larger than the size used in USA. When I changed paper size in the settings for Trelby, the length increased from 96 to 104 pages. So if you send a screenplay written with one software to somebody who uses another software, the program may change the paper size.
And when I compared two pdf files, one from Trelby and the other from Final Draft, I realized that Final Draft had half a line more at the end of each scene. With 110 scenes in a screenplay, that would increase the length with one page. Perhaps one percent.
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Arc Studio is another