Buying Final Draft

Some advice-

I'm (finally) ready to start my sixth screenplay, and I don't feel like doing it through Word again. I think it's time to get Final Draft, but I'm not sure where the best place to buy it is. Ebay goes for about 150- is there any where cheaper?

-Movie maestro

Beware of Ebay or "cheap priced" copies. You may get a bootleg or otherwise illegal copy.

The best place to buy is the writer's store @ www.writersstore.com. There you can get all your wqriting supplies as well. Brads, cover stocks, shipping boxes, etc...

FD7 is on sale there for $199 (and plus there is a mail in $20 rebate) and you are sure to get a legal copy that will be able to get tech support and registration.

yeap - you must register your copy with FD to get online support and help which you will want, so buying it used is probably not a good idea. however, after using it and experience the ease with effortless formatting and extra features....that $200 will seem like pennies. indulge!

Final Draft

I've never had a problem with Final Draft, so I've never needed to use tech support. So if you're going tp put down $150 for Final Draft, then I do think you may as well spend the full 200 on the new version.

Unless you know of someone who can give you Final Draft for free. It's a stable program and never has any problems.

mm

no matter where you buy fd it'll be a bargain - compared to using word


zilla

Re: Final Draft

So everything's A-OK with FD7 now, those show-stopping problems that a small army irate users reported after the last upgrade are fixed?

-Derek
My Web Page - naked women, bestial sex, and whopping big lies.

Re: Final Draft

I use Final Draft for assignments where I have to - but for my spec stuff - or assignments where it doesn't matter, I use Movie Magic.

It's a little more expensive but it's much more user-friendly. It also has a great online collaboration feature, and the Index Card feature is superior to FD's.

Re: Final Draft

The only thing Final Draft has going for it are its reporting tools and I think these are fully functional in the trial if you import your script from another prog (you just can't save the script, but you won't have to).

If you do go for Final Draft then I would opt for a copy of Final Draft 5. Versions 6 and 7 have got progressively worse.

Can't beat Movie Magic. Sure Amazon or someone is still selling Hollywood Screenwriter (Movie Magic sans rainbow pages, scene numbering and other production feautres you don't need for writing a spec) -- fraction of the price of the full Movie Magic, but otherwise the same.