Guide
Screenplay Format: The Complete Guide
The page setup, the exact margins for every element, how pages break, and how a title page is laid out. Industry standard, measured from Final Draft's own defaults.
Page setup
- Paper: US Letter, 8.5 × 11 inches (A4 in much of Europe, which fits a few more lines per page).
- Font: Courier 12 point. Every character is a tenth of an inch wide and there are six lines to the inch.
- Margins: 1 inch top and bottom, 1.5 inches on the left for binding, about 1 inch on the right. That leaves 54 lines of text on a Letter page.
- Page numbers: top right with a period ("2."), half an inch from the top, starting on page 2. The title page has no number.
- Length: one page is roughly one minute of screen time; most features run 90 to 120 pages.
Margins for every element
| Element | Starts | Ends | Blank lines before | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scene heading | 1.5" | 7.5" | 2 | ALL CAPS. INT. or EXT., the place, then the time of day: INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT. |
| Action | 1.5" | 7.5" | 1 | Present tense, what we see and hear. Keep paragraphs to about four lines. |
| Character | 3.5" | 7.25" | 1 | ALL CAPS name above the dialogue, with (V.O.), (O.S.) or (CONT'D) after it when needed. |
| Parenthetical | 3.0" | 5.5" | 0 | Short delivery notes in brackets, between the name and the line. The "(" hangs slightly left. |
| Dialogue | 2.5" | 6.0" | 0 | About 35 characters per line, directly under the name or parenthetical. |
| Transition | 5.5" | 7.1" | 1 | ALL CAPS and right-aligned: CUT TO:, DISSOLVE TO:. Use sparingly. |
| Shot | 1.5" | 7.5" | 2 | ALL CAPS: CLOSE ON, ANGLE ON. Mostly for shooting scripts, not specs. |
What a page looks like
A dead screen glows blue over an empty lot. One car is left: a dented station wagon, windows fogged.
MAYA (30s), in a projectionist's jacket two sizes too big, threads a film reel into a portable projector.
An example page. Indents are to scale: ten characters to the inch.
Page breaks, (MORE) and (CONT'D)
A scene heading never sits alone at the bottom of a page: it moves to the next page with the lines that follow it. Action and dialogue break between sentences, with at least two lines kept on each side of the break.
When a speech is split across pages, (MORE) goes under the last line, at the character-name indent, and the name comes back at the top of the next page followed by (CONT'D). Most software also adds (CONT'D) when a character speaks again after a line of action in the same scene.
The title page
The title goes in capitals, centred about a third of the way down the page (line 18). "Written by" sits four lines below it, and the writer's name three lines below that. A "Based on" credit, if there is one, follows a few lines further down.
Contact details go in the bottom left corner, at the 1-inch margin, with a draft date above them if you use one. Nothing else: no logos, pictures or copyright notices.
Common formatting mistakes
- Camera directions in a spec script. Leave shots and angles to the director; write what we see.
- Walls of action. Break paragraphs every three or four lines so the page reads fast.
- Parentheticals for actions. Keep them to how a line is said; put what characters do in the action.
- A missing time of day. Every scene heading needs one: DAY, NIGHT, LATER, CONTINUOUS.
- The wrong font or spacing. Anything other than Courier 12 changes your page count, and readers notice.
Frequently asked questions
What font is used for screenplays?
Courier at 12 points (Courier, Courier New, Courier Prime or Final Draft's Courier). It is a fixed-width font: every character is a tenth of an inch wide and there are six lines to the inch, which is what makes one page roughly one minute of screen time.
What are the margins of a screenplay?
On US Letter paper: 1 inch at the top and bottom, 1.5 inches on the left (for binding) and about 1 inch on the right. Dialogue sits between 2.5 and 6 inches from the left edge, character names start at 3.5 inches.
How many pages is a feature screenplay?
Most feature scripts run between 90 and 120 pages; comedies and horror tend to be shorter, dramas and epics longer. TV pilots are usually 30 pages (half hour) or around 60 (hour).
Where do page numbers go?
In the top right corner, followed by a period ("2."), starting on page 2. The title page is not numbered.
What do (MORE) and (CONT'D) mean?
When a speech is split across two pages, (MORE) goes under the last line on the first page and the character's name returns at the top of the next page with (CONT'D). (CONT'D) is also used when a character keeps speaking after a line of action.
Do I have to format a screenplay by hand?
No. Screenwriting software does it for you. HeatWriter is free, runs in your browser and applies all of these rules as you type.
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