Formatting

I have written a few short stories that turn out to be 5
or 10 minutes. Now I am currently in the middle of writing a full-length screenplay
and was wondering,
what is a good amount for a full length? I heard that there is an amount that,
if it is under, studios will not except it. Is that true, and if so,
what is that amount?

–Ross

Most of the time, you’ll hear 120 pages, which is a good rule of thumb. Honestly,
a script could be anywhere from 100 to 145 pages and still be a reasonable-length
movie, but the majority of scripts that go into production fall between 110
and 120 pages. That’s generally what I aim for.

I thought it was Hollywood urban legend, but Warner Bros. actually has in
their screenwriter contract that a feature-length screenplay can’t come in
at more than 120 pages. I suspect they made an exception for the recent Harry
Potter movie, which based its running time, probably weighed in at more than
140 pages.

This is going to sound like a lazy question. What’s the easiest way to handle all of the tabs, centering, capitalization, and formatting required in a screenplay?

I know there are a lot of programs out there that supposedly “handle” all of this for the screenwriter, but there had to have been an easier procedure twenty years ago when these programs weren’t available.

–T. Baker

Update 2025: over the years, we’ve developed Highland Pro which is my preferred screenwriting software. Discover the journey from pdf utility app in 2013 to Highland Pro in 2025!

Yes. It was called a typist, a script services department, or your kind-hearted mother. Because the fact is, formatting scripts has historically been a nightmare. Even computers didn’t help much. Back when I started in 1993, the best way to format a script was through homemade style sheets in Microsoft Word. Every time I finished a script, I would need to go through page by page and check to make sure dialogue wasn’t dangling off pages. It was a giant pain in the ass.

Today we live in a Golden Age for script formatting. Since GO, I’ve been using Final Draft for the Macintosh, which not only handles all the formatting details, but also keeps track of scene numbering and production changes should you be so lucky as to need them. Like all programs, it has its quirks – it can be too helpful at times – but most of my friends seem to be using Final Draft as well.

Although I haven’t experimented with them as much, Movie Magic Screenwriter 2000 and Scriptware have their fans. All three programs are available for both Mac and PC, and all three have downloadable demos. Definitely try them out.

To answer your natural follow-up questions: why are these programs so expensive, and why do they have copy-protection? Probably because there’s a limited market of screenwriters (thus the high price), and being largely broke, screenwriters tend to pirate a lot (thus the copy protection). I’m not saying it’s right or true or fair, but I understand why it is this way.

Learn more about standard screenplay formatting here!

Would you recommend that a
beginning writer use script writing software? If so, do you prefer a specific
program?

–Mike

I used the style sheet formatting on Microsoft Word for my first few scripts,
partly because screenwriting software was still in its infancy, and partly
because I was too broke to buy any other program. If you already have a capable
word processor, you can certainly get by with that, particularly if money is
tight.

I now use Final Draft, which does a remarkably good job with a lot of the
script formatting drudgery. It’s worth downloading the free trial version to
see if you like it enough to spend $199 for it. Given that 80% of my day is
spent using that one program, it’s definitely worthwhile for me.