John August

Apps

Switching from Final Draft to Highland

Apps, Fountain, Highland, Screenwriting Software

The Other Sam Cooke writes about switching [from Final Draft to Highland](http://theothersamcooke.com/blog/2015/10/8/affordable-screenwriting):

> After about 10 months of using the application, I can honestly say that Highland is not merely an affordable screenwriting application; it’s actually my favorite screenwriting application.

Cooke likes that he can write on the go using any plain-text editor (he prefers [Editorial](http://omz-software.com/editorial/)). When he’s back on his Mac, Highland stays out of his way and lets him focus on the words:

> Most screenwriting apps, like Final Draft, have you build a document that looks like [the finished version] as you go along. So I constantly have to hit Tab a certain number of times, or Enter a certain number of times, or type in a little shortcut throughout the writing process to get my script to look like that, and because it requires such constant attention, I find myself devoting too much thought to the formatting of my document.

> It’s not particularly difficult to learn Final Draft, and I imagine plenty of people don’t find it as distracting as I do, but I feel like formatting should be an after-the-fact concern. I don’t want to have to think about it while I’m creating.

One other advantage Cooke cites: Final Draft is $250, while Highland is [$30 on the Mac App Store](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/highland/id499329572?mt=12).

NDAs and other acronyms

Episode - 213

Go to Archive

Film Industry, Follow Up, Formatting, International, QandA, Scriptnotes, Transcribed, Weekend Read, WGA

Craig and John open the mailbag to answer questions on acronyms in dialogue, off-the-air specs and international WGA jurisdiction. Plus we look at the growing trend of non-disclosure agreements on studio projects, and whether the nature of film requires less complex characters.

The big news: we have new Scriptnotes t-shirts! They’re available only by pre-order, and only for a short time. Join us at the store as we talk through the three designs, ranging from the classic logo, to vintage Camp Scriptnotes to an all-new Three-Act Structure blueprint by listener Taino Soba. Orders must be in by THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17th. (Link below)

Links:

* [Scriptnotes shirts are available for pre-order in the John August Store](http://store.johnaugust.com/)
* [Dewalt hex bit set](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000628SO2/?tag=johnaugustcom-20) and a [magnetic bit extensions set](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004V3TQP2/?tag=johnaugustcom-20)
* This is the last week of the summer for [Featured Fridays](http://johnaugust.com/2015/weekend-read-featured-fridays) on [Weekend Read](http://quoteunquoteapps.com/weekendread/)
* Scriptnotes, 130: [Period space](http://johnaugust.com/2014/period-space)
* [South Park popularity is soaring in Taiwan](http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2000-12-28/features/0012280062_1_taiwan-south-park-four-musketeers) from The Baltimore Sun
* [Non-disclosure agreements](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-disclosure_agreement) on Wikipedia
* Screenwriting.io on [handling numbers in dialogue](http://screenwriting.io/how-should-you-handle-numbers-or-confusing-jargon-in-dialogue/)
* Screenwriting.io on [spec scripts](http://screenwriting.io/what-is-a-%E2%80%9Cspec-script%E2%80%9D/)
* Scriptnotes, 11: [How movie money works](http://johnaugust.com/2011/how-movie-money-works)
* [Dead Synchronicity](http://www.deadsynchronicity.com/en/home/)
* [Mr. Robot](http://www.usanetwork.com/mrrobot) on USA
* [Outro](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-outros) by Duncan Pflaster ([send us yours!](http://johnaugust.com/2014/outros-needed))

You can download the episode here: [AAC](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_213.m4a) | [mp3](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_213.mp3).

**UPDATE 9-3-15:** The transcript of this episode can be found [here](http://johnaugust.com/2015/scriptnotes-ep-213-ndas-and-other-acronyms-transcript).

Weekend Read gains new features, fixes an annoying bug

Apps, Weekend Read

Weekend Read 1.5.4, [available now](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/weekend-read/id502725173?mt=8), adds optional push notifications for new scripts in the For Your Consideration section. It also fixes a really annoying bug where the app might insist that your library was full when it wasn’t.

It’s a free update for all users.

We’ve been adding a lot of new scripts recently — but you could easily miss them if you’re not checking the app every day. With push notifications turned on, you’ll get a banner telling you the moment there’s something new to download.

And there’s a lot to download. Each Friday this summer, we’re putting up new scripts in the Featured Friday section. These scripts are only available for the weekend, so you don’t want to miss them.

Tomorrow’s theme is Pilots, and includes early drafts of shows you’ve seen plus unproduced work from the Black List.

### Keeping count

For the past few weeks, nearly 100% of our support emails were a version of the following:

> I love Weekend Read, but it keeps telling me my library is full when I only have one (or two, or zero) scripts in it. Help!

No matter what we did, we couldn’t reproduce the error. We could offer affected users a fix — delete the app and reinstall it — but that didn’t solve the underlying problem.

Nima finally figured out what was wrong. Because of an API change, scripts imported directly from Mail were getting double-counted. Even when they were deleted, the count was wrong.

The fix took several weeks, then several minutes, but now it’s done.

You can find Weekend Read [on the App Store](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/weekend-read/id502725173?mt=8).

Featured Friday: Before they were filmed

Weekend Read

Every Friday this summer, we’re featuring exclusive scripts in [Weekend Read](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/weekend-read/id502725173?mt=8). Some of these will be produced works, others just titles that caught the attention of readers.

Today’s collection includes:

1. The first draft of **The Spectacular Now** written by Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber. Scott writes, “First draft we ever turned in I believe. Bit different from the finished film, so hopefully interesting to the readers.”

2. The shooting script for **Erin Brockovich** by Susannah Grant, who notes that the published script in bookstores “just prints exactly what ends up on the screen, so for your purposes, this is better. It shows how much editing takes place in post.”

3. **Three Months** by Jared Frieder, recommended to us by our friends at The Black List. Franklin Leonard says, “This is a really good one. Won the Austin Film Festival contest last year and I believe Oren Uziel is attached to produce it.”

You can find these Featured Fridays scripts in Weekend Read’s For Your Consideration section. Each Friday’s scripts are available for that weekend only, and [only in the app](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/weekend-read/id502725173?mt=8).