First of all, industry standard screenwriting software Final Draft is $70 off until Sept 30. But thanks to @navesink on Twitter, I found out about a new screenwriting program that brings some appealing changes to the table. Movie Draft SE is available through the Mac App Store for just $30 ("for a limited time," though I don't know how limited of a time we're talking) with some very promising features. It's also available for Windows and Linux. Chiefly I'm interested in the modularity of the scenes and the navigation sidebar, as demonstrated in this video:
I downloaded it and, thanks to backwards compatibility with Final Draft, I'm planning on taking a stab at my next draft of Man-child with Movie Draft. One other feature I'm looking for: the ability to add script notes in line and print them right alongside the screenplay. In Final Draft, you can create a separate "script note report," but it lives separately from the screenplay pages, and it's quite frankly a pain in the ass if you want to write notes to yourself (as a writer/director, I want to leave myself notes in the writing stage to refer to during the directing stage -- which may be a year or more down the road). Also, Final Draft doesn't use the system dictionary, instead opting for its own spell-checker, which has the vocabulary of a middle schooler. Anyone have any firsthand experience with Movie Draft? Also, why the "SE," will there be another version?
I'll be back with a full review if I end up using the program for a full draft.
Link: Movie Draft SE
