When I first started writing screenplays as a student in college, I had a vague idea that there was some kind of “proper format” to screenwriting. So I found a copy of an old screenplay and tried to mimic it with Word. I later found out there were computer programs that would format for you, but was too cheap to invest in one. It wasn’t until after attending the first class of Act One: Writing for Hollywood that I realized I needed to be putting my screenplays in industry standard format, and that there were good reasons for it.
First, there’s a general rule that one page is about one minute of on screen time, which is useful when you’re trying to gauge how long your script is going to be on the screen (for feature films, 90 to 120 pages is standard). Second, if you’re going to try to get your scripts purchased by anyone in the industry, they likely won’t read past page 1 if the format looks odd – and who can blame them? There are hundreds of thousands of scripts floating around out there in any given year, so format is a good starting place for cutting out tens of thousands of them. Third, if you’re an independent filmmaker and actually shoot what you write, then there are neat little programs that let you tag your scripts and bring the elements into a production program that sets up all your production paperwork necessary for shooting the film.
So what do I recommend for the screenwriter/filmmaker on a budget? There are likely lots of free screenwriting programs out there these days, and any one of them might do great. But one of the industry standards is Final Draft and it does everything I need. It’s easy to use, always has the right format, and is just great. (It’s available on their site for $249, but you can find it on Amazon for $186) Furthermore, it has a nifty little program called Final Draft Tagger that enables you to tag your script and export the elements into a production program such as Gorilla by Jungle Software. Gorilla is not expensive and has worked great for all our shoots.
All said, if you’re an aspiring screenwriter, then I highly recommend you investing in a serious screenwriting program. When you sell your first script for six figures, what’s a few hundred dollars? (My problem, of course, is that when my scripts sell for six figures, there are always two decimals involved.)
