Final Draft, Inc.

Yeah, I think there was...

I didn't go straight to final draft.

There was one that was like a free...

I can't remember what it was, but it was one that had like a free version.

and

what I want.

and what I want to be and that feels quite downright and so um and then I think it was more necessity to get onto like I mean I went with Final Draft that I know there's other software available um but that just seemed to be the industry standard and that just seemed to be what most people were working from and um so to to create this uh vision of legitimacy i eventually sort of

took the plunge and yeah yeah it's like you kind of need that that bit as well as like calling yourself a writer and as well as sharing it all these things that kind of add to the levels of becoming a writer and not necessarily because i think i think i i thought which was wrong i'm a professional writer once i get paid you know and i guess to some yeah some definitions it is but come to realize no you need to become professional and then you get paid You need to show you can be professional.

And I put you like, okay, now I remember like you're kind of right immediately in that it's that plateau, you know, it's like you're kind of right back where your head was like a bit ago.

Um, But as far as other writing tools, the only thing I would mention just from a screenwriting perspective is I use Final Draft.

It's the other software that I use.

So I'm actually writing right now.

I'm working on a screenplay.

So Final Draft is the tool I would definitely recommend if listeners are thinking of writing a screenplay.

It is very expensive.

Unfortunately, there are cheaper options, but it is the industry standard.

And then I lay them out and sometimes I number them, but then there'll be like one a or 12 B or, you know, and then I move them around.

Um, so then I'll take an index card and I go on final draft and then I expand out on that index card.

So if it's like, you know, guy walks down, he's wearing his robe, he steps in pee, he's wearing a sock.

He screams, why did we get a puppy during Christmas? He goes and gets a paper towel and comes back in.

And so I just kind of like followed along.

And then there was different ways.

And this was before even Final Draft was accessible.

I still have on one of my computers, I still have Final Draft, the first version.

And then I didn't get my own computer until I went to college.

And then that was kind of when I started learning Final Draft and all that stuff.

Where did you go to college?

A couple of different places.

So you kind of had Jurassic Park.

We're locked in a time machine.

Then you kind of came out into Temple University and now you've got this computer and this final draft screenwriting website.

So like, where were the stories coming from? Because you didn't have like...

"And, and how the fuck did he get into first class?" One of the first times I've been in first class in years, and I'm like, "Ho-ho," and I got this mangy looking fucking biker dude next to me.

[laughs] But then he opens up his laptop, and of course, you know, you look over and you go, "Ooh, he's got Final Draft open.

Wait a second.

That's Brian Duffield." [laughs]

We are pulling apart this phenomenal piece of writing by Elissa Miller.

Uh, it was published in Final Draft on March 6th, 2026, and it's titled 10 Best Oscar-Winning Screenplays of All Time.

But, you know, we really need to establish right out of the gate that this is not going to be a simple countdown list.

Oh, absolutely not.