Final Draft 8

The world's number-one selling scriptwriting program for film, television, theater and new media, Final Draft software is the entertainment professional's choice.

  • Easy-to-use Tab and Enter keystroke functionality
  • Automatically formats scripts to entertainment industry standards
  • Templates for TV show, screenplay, graphic novel and more

Please note: This is an English language product only.

Close
image.alt.TV553

Enlarge images

Questions & Answers

15 Questions + 14 Answers

4.0

Based on 4 reviews

Write a review
Purchase Information

$249.95

Ships: 1-2 months
Free Shipping

 
 

Features

Apple Recommends For

Streamlining the script writing process so you can concentrate on the creative content and stop worrying about formatting and technical details.

You have a story to tell. So use your creative energy to focus on the content - and let Final Draft take care of the style. Final Draft is the number-one selling application specifically designed for writing movie scripts, television episodics and stage plays.

Everything you need

It combines powerful word processing with professional script formatting in one self-contained, easy-to-use package. There's no need to learn about script formatting rules - Final Draft automatically paginates and formats your script to industry standards as you write.

The professional's choice

Final Draft's ease-of-use and time-saving features have attracted writers for almost two decades, positioning it as the Professional Screenwriters Choice®. Final Draft power users include Academy®, Emmy® and BAFTA® award winning writers like Oliver Stone, Tom Hanks, Alan Ball, J.J. Abrams and James Cameron.

Highlights

  • Scene Properties Inspector for adding scene titles and colors to track your story lines, characters and more
  • Scene Navigator sortable floating palette helps you manage and view the important details of your scene
  • Index Card feature makes it even easier to outline your story and restructure your script
  • Printing and PDF options now offer greater flexibility, more options for output and selected printing
  • The ScriptNotes pop-up windows hold material that you've cut but don't want to toss

Technical Specs

Media

  • Media: CD

Compatibility

Mac

  • Mac OS X v.10.4.11 or later
  • 256 MB RAM
  • No minimum CPU requirement
  • 50 MB free hard drive space
  • CD-ROM Drive

Windows

  • Windows XP/Vista or later
  • 512 MB RAM
  • Intel Pentium III or faster

Manufacturer Information

Warranty

  • Note: Products sold through this website that do not bear the Apple Brand name are serviced and supported exclusively by their manufacturers in accordance with terms and conditions packaged with the products. Apple's Limited Warranty does not apply to products that are not Apple-branded, even if packaged or sold with Apple products. Please contact the manufacturer directly for technical support and customer service.

Part Number

  • UPC or EAN No.: 603121850006
  • Mfr. Part Number: FD8-CASE
 

Ratings & Reviews

4.0

Based on 4 reviews

Write a Review

Most Useful Reviews

  • Final Draft 8

    5.0
    No Nonsense Product - Getting Down To The Business Of Writing
    • Written by JG
    • Sep 25, 2009

    If you are tired of pulling your hair out and want to just write that screenplay and not have to fuss about much learning of the software you are using. If you are looking to just write and write - and get your project done, in no time what-so-ever, then this is the software for you. This new version kicks A...s and gives Screenwriter 6 a run for its money. Till Screenwriter comes out with a newer version, Final Draft 8 would be a fine choice as it is fully loaded without the clutter. A clean powerful interface that is pretty to look at and very easy to use can sometimes be quite refreshing and may lead to much productivity. …More

    75 of 87 people found this useful

    Was this useful?

  • Final Draft 8

    4.0
    Still on the fence
    • Written by JC from germantown
    • Dec 5, 2010

    I have to say, having written three screenplays on Movie Magic, i am not overly impressed. Their customer service leaves a bit to be desired, to be sure. I downloaded a trial version of Final Draft and had some questions regarding the functionality between that and Scrivener and they responded almost immediately whereas i dropped a line to Movie Magic and have yet to hear back from them.

    I like the open and undocked panels of Final Draft a lot more. You can cram notes on a scene in and not have it in the way of the actual script - keeping your work clean but losing none of the notes and revision ideas. I have been endlessly frustrated by the cluttering of the work in Movie Magic. Sure you can add as much text to your notes as you want but it is all stuck right there in your script. If you like that sort of thing that's terrific, but not me.

    I also tried out the character and location reports on Final Draft (trial) and they worked very very nicely. I can't say the same for Movie Magic. I'm a guy who likes to have twenty different ways of looking at my work and it seems Final Draft is a bit better in that regard.     …More

    25 of 32 people found this useful

    Was this useful?

  • Final Draft 8

    5.0
    Final Draft
    • Written by ML from AURORA
    • Jun 26, 2011

    As someone just breaking into the industry, I can say that I've tried all of the screenwriting products available on the market. It wasn't until I finally ponied up the dough for Final Draft that I felt like I was on the right track. It is much easier to use than Celtx, Movie Magic, etc. I've been running my program on Macs and never had an issue that required the customer service as noted in other reviews.

    Now that I am a Final Draft user, I can tell in a matter of seconds whether or not another script has been written using Final Draft or not. And I suspect that agents and producers can as well. If you're serious about doing this, get serious about the software.     …More

    13 of 13 people found this useful

    Was this useful?

Read all the most useful reviews

Most Recent Reviews

  • Final Draft 8

    5.0
    Final Draft
    • Written by ML from AURORA
    • Jun 26, 2011

    As someone just breaking into the industry, I can say that I've tried all of the screenwriting products available on the market. It wasn't until I finally ponied up the dough for Final Draft that I felt like I was on the right track. It is much easier to use than Celtx, Movie Magic, etc. I've been running my program on Macs and never had an issue that required the customer service as noted in other reviews.

    Now that I am a Final Draft user, I can tell in a matter of seconds whether or not another script has been written using Final Draft or not. And I suspect that agents and producers can as well. If you're serious about doing this, get serious about the software.     …More

    13 of 13 people found this useful

    Was this useful?

  • Final Draft 8

    4.0
    Still on the fence
    • Written by JC from germantown
    • Dec 5, 2010

    I have to say, having written three screenplays on Movie Magic, i am not overly impressed. Their customer service leaves a bit to be desired, to be sure. I downloaded a trial version of Final Draft and had some questions regarding the functionality between that and Scrivener and they responded almost immediately whereas i dropped a line to Movie Magic and have yet to hear back from them.

    I like the open and undocked panels of Final Draft a lot more. You can cram notes on a scene in and not have it in the way of the actual script - keeping your work clean but losing none of the notes and revision ideas. I have been endlessly frustrated by the cluttering of the work in Movie Magic. Sure you can add as much text to your notes as you want but it is all stuck right there in your script. If you like that sort of thing that's terrific, but not me.

    I also tried out the character and location reports on Final Draft (trial) and they worked very very nicely. I can't say the same for Movie Magic. I'm a guy who likes to have twenty different ways of looking at my work and it seems Final Draft is a bit better in that regard.     …More

    25 of 32 people found this useful

    Was this useful?

  • Final Draft 8

    2.0
    Movie Magic Screenwriter Is Far Superior (and less expensive)
    • Written by RW from Santa Monica
    • Nov 28, 2010

    I've used both applications extensively and, given a choice, always end up writing on MM Screenwriter. Better interface, better features (Navidoc is simply fantastic), fewer bugs, and a better company to deal with in terms of customer service.

    Final Draft is trying to change their tune after developing a bad reputation among industry professionals, but they still make you pay for telephone tech support. So if you're on a tight deadline and something goes wrong, grab your wallet. Their first question is 'what's your credit card number?'     …More

    30 of 52 people found this useful

    Was this useful?

Read all the most recent reviews

Questions & Answers

Follow this Product

See all 15 Questions

Most Interesting

  • what is HFS+ hard drive format
    • Asked by FD
    • Nov 11, 2009

    1 Answer

    Answer

    By Default, your mac has an extended and "Journaled" hard drive (also known as the format HFS+). You should be good, unless at some point you completely erased your hard drive, and used a windows format or an old mac format. To check, open up disk utility, and in the left hand panel, click on Macintosh HD (or the name of your hard drive). Then look at the bottom of the screen, where it will say Mount Point, format, etc. Where it says format, it should be Extended (and or Journaled), or other wise known as HFS+. If it is not (probably standard), either have a mac genius reformat your hard drive, or do it yourself by using install disks that came with your computer and an external hard drive (be careful, to much tinkering will loose your data!) …More

    • Answered by AJ from Rathdrum
    • Jan 4, 2010
  • can I just purchase and download FInal Draft?
    • Asked by JG from Coral Gables
    • Nov 3, 2009

    2 Answers

    Answer

    Unfortunately not, when you purchase it - Apple will send you a copy that comes in a box with a manual which contains the serial key for the program. This goes for pretty much every program Apple sells. …More

    • Answered by DG from Fleetwood
    • Nov 5, 2009
  • final Draft 8 - Can you buy a multiple license version?
    • Asked by NP from Melbourne
    • Oct 22, 2009

    1 Answer

    Answer

    You can install Final Draft v.8 on as many computers as you want. Two of these can be activated at a given time.

    If you have more than two computers on which you'd like to run Final Draft, you can either deactivate one computer and move the activation to another, which is 100% free (for more information on deactivating, click HERE) or you can purchase additional activations for $119 each. Note that additional activations must be used only by the registered owner only on computers he or she owns and operates     …More

    • Answered by KK from Albuquerque
    • Oct 31, 2009

Recently Answered

  • Will it format novels, not just screenplays?
    • Asked by RC from Naples
    • Jan 29, 2010

    2 Answers

    Answer

    Final Draft does include templates for novels and other text documents. Some writers have been using it for novels, but it is primarily for TV and Film screenwriters, as well as theater writers. …More

    • Answered by ZG from Los Angeles
    • Oct 4, 2010
  • What are the differences in the Educational Version and the Professional Version?
    • Asked by JJ from Washington
    • Nov 22, 2010

    1 Answer

    Answer

    There are actually no differences between the two besides the price. It is only offered to eligible teachers and students, but includes every feature as well as 2 activations (for a user's laptop and desktop). …More

    • Answered by ZG from Los Angeles
    • Dec 9, 2010
  • is there a student version
    • Asked by JJ from New York
    • Dec 14, 2009

    2 Answers

    Answer

    Yes there is, but it is only available through academic stores through the proof of a student transcript. Search on google for academic stores and pricing.
    Also there is a free script writing software that is fairly competitive to this industry standard, and it will give you the same tools you need to write a script. Its called Celtx. Also, you may be able to find passed version     …More

    • Answered by AJ from Rathdrum
    • Jan 4, 2010

Featured Question

What's the difference between final draft v 8 an final draft v 8 international
  • Asked by KB
  • Jan 9, 2012
Answer
† Exceptions apply. The shown delivery date may encounter additional time for some localities. Click here for details.