Austin Film Festival

Let’s face it, if you’re going to write a screenplay, you’ve got to have something on your PC to write it with. Yeah, pen and paper just won’t cut it when you need 300 pages of script!

You need software. Screenwriting software. Right now, as part of the festival, there are two vendors in the mezzanine lobby of the Driskill Hotel. Each is offering $99 specials on their products.

Write Brothers has several products available at www.screenplay.com. The first is Screenwriter, a program that allows the writer to enter data in script form. It’s smart enough to let you know when you’ve made a mistake in formatting. Which comes in handy. You don’t want to turn in a script that looks like it’s been written by an amatuer.  The second program they have is called Dramatica Pro, which I thought was pretty amazing. You answer basic questions on your main charactor and the plot. It suggests plot formats based on the answers you gave.

Final Draft is a program that is designed around the script format. It is one of the premier screenwriting softwares in the industry. It allows the writer to focus on writing rather than fussing over formatting and what goes where.

Both software products are extremely efficient and time saving. And from what I’m learning here at the Austin Film Festival, time is everything!