Screenplay Format: The Complete Guide (with Free Template)

Screenplay format isn't about looking professional for its own sake. It's a functional standard. A consistently formatted page lets a reader move through a script quickly, gives producers a rough sense of running time, and lets an assistant director break the script into a shooting schedule. If your formatting fights the reader, your story has to work harder to get through.

This guide covers the page setup, every standard element, the conventions most writers get wrong, and the difference between a spec script and a shooting script. At the end there's a free, copyable screenplay template you can paste into any editor that supports Fountain.

Why screenplay format matters

There's no single official rulebook, but readers, contests, and production teams all expect pages that look a certain way. That's because format does real work:

• Timing. In a fixed-width font with standard margins, one page roughly equals one minute of screen time. It's a rule of thumb, not a guarantee, but people rely on it.

• Readability. Readers get through a lot of scripts. Familiar layouts let them focus on the story.

• Production. Scene headings are what the script breakdown and schedule are built from. A clean slugline becomes a line on a stripboard.

Page setup: the basics

These are the widely published conventions for a US screenplay:

Use a true monospaced Courier. Proportional fonts like Times or Helvetica break the page-per-minute rule and look wrong to any reader. Some versions of Courier New can also lengthen your page count compared with other Courier faces, so many writers prefer Courier Prime or the font that comes with their screenwriting software.

Avoid heavy bold and italics. Screenplays imitate typewritten pages. Use emphasis sparingly. Underlining or the occasional italic for a foreign-language line is fine. Decorative styling isn't.

Element positions at a glance

Measurements are from the left edge of the paper. Different software varies by a tenth of an inch here and there, and nobody is going to measure your pages with a ruler. What matters is consistency.

A dedicated screenwriting editor handles all of this for you as you type. You only need these numbers if you're setting up a word processor by hand.

The elements of a screenplay

Scene heading (slugline)

Every new scene starts with a scene heading. It tells the reader, and later the production team, where and when the scene happens.

INT. DINER - NIGHT
EXT. HIGHWAY SHOULDER - CONTINUOUS
INT./EXT. MARA'S CAR - MOVING - DAY

• INT. (interior) or EXT. (exterior), or INT./EXT. when a scene moves between the two (a car is the classic example).

• Location, specific enough to be useful but not overloaded. Use sub-locations when they help: INT. DINER - KITCHEN - NIGHT.

• Time of day. Usually DAY or NIGHT. Writers also use CONTINUOUS, LATER, MOMENTS LATER, DAWN, and DUSK. Keep in mind that the schedule ultimately sorts by day versus night.

Consistency matters more than people expect. If the same place appears as INT. MARA'S APARTMENT, INT. MARA'S APT., and INT. APARTMENT - MARA'S, anyone breaking down the script (or any software doing it) will treat them as three separate locations.

Action (scene description)

Action describes what we see and hear, written in the present tense.

Rain needles the windows. MARA (30s), still in her nurse's
scrubs, slides into a corner booth and doesn't take off her coat.

Conventions:

• Present tense, active voice. "She slams the door," not "She is slamming the door."

• Short paragraphs. Many writers keep action blocks to about three or four lines. White space makes the page read faster.

• Introduce characters in CAPS the first time they appear, usually with an age range and a short, telling description.

• Write only what can be filmed. "She remembers her father" isn't visible. Show us something.

• Some writers capitalize key sounds or props in action. It's a stylistic choice in a spec script, and more common in production drafts.

Character name (character cue)

The speaker's name, in ALL CAPS, indented above their dialogue. Keep each character's name consistent throughout the script. Don't switch between DR. OKAFOR and ADA.

Character extensions go in parentheses after the name:

• (V.O.) voice-over: narration, or a voice not physically present in the scene (a phone call heard through a speaker is often handled this way).

• (O.S.) off-screen: the character is physically in the scene's location but not in view, such as in the next room.

• (CONT'D) continued: the same character speaks again after an interruption by action. Many apps add this automatically, and plenty of modern specs leave it out. Pick one approach and stick with it.

Dialogue

What the character says, in a narrower column under the name. Write the words as they're spoken. Avoid stage directions in dialogue blocks, beyond the occasional parenthetical.

Parenthetical (wryly)

A short direction between the character name and the line, in lowercase and inside parentheses:

MARA
(not looking up)
Coffee. Black. Whatever's oldest.

Use parentheticals sparingly: for delivery when it isn't obvious, for who a line is addressed to, or for a small action inside a speech. Overusing them is one of the most common notes readers give.

Transition

Right-aligned, in ALL CAPS, ending in a colon: CUT TO:, DISSOLVE TO:, SMASH CUT TO:, MATCH CUT TO:. FADE IN: traditionally opens a script and FADE OUT. closes it.

In modern spec scripts, most writers leave out CUT TO: between ordinary scenes. A new scene heading already implies a cut. Save transitions for when they mean something.

Shots

Camera directions such as CLOSE ON, ANGLE ON, POV, or INSERT go in ALL CAPS at the action margin. In a spec script, keep them to a minimum. Choosing shots is the director's and DP's job, and that's what a shot list is for later in prep. You can usually suggest a shot through how you write the action instead.

Other common devices

• INTERCUT. For phone calls or simultaneous action, establish both locations, then write INTERCUT - MARA / DANNY so you don't have to repeat sluglines.

• MONTAGE / SERIES OF SHOTS. A heading followed by short lettered or dashed beats, closed with END MONTAGE or similar.

• SUPER. On-screen text: SUPER: "Three years earlier."

• Dual dialogue. Two characters speaking at once, set in side-by-side columns. Supported by most screenwriting apps.

• FLASHBACK. Usually marked in the scene heading: INT. DINER - NIGHT (FLASHBACK).

The title page

A spec title page is simple:

• Title, centered, about a third of the way down the page.

• "Written by" with the writer's name below it.

• Contact information in the lower left (or lower right). Agent or manager details go there if you have representation.

• No page number, images, or quotes, and usually no draft date on a spec.

Spec script vs. shooting script

A spec script is written to sell or to show your writing. It should read cleanly, with minimal camera direction, no scene numbers, and nothing that slows the read.

A shooting script (production draft) adds the things a crew needs:

• Scene numbers on both sides of every scene heading.

• CONTINUED markers and (MORE) at page breaks inside dialogue.

• Revision marks and colored revision pages, so changes can be tracked without renumbering the whole script.

• Locked pages, so scene and page references stay stable for the crew.

Don't submit a spec with scene numbers. Once you're in production, you'll need them.

Common screenplay formatting mistakes

1. Novelistic action. Long paragraphs of interior thought or backstory the camera can't see.

2. Directing on the page. A camera direction on every line of a spec.

3. Too many parentheticals. Trust the dialogue and the actor.

4. Inconsistent scene headings. They confuse readers and break downstream breakdowns and schedules.

5. Inconsistent character names. The reader shouldn't have to work out who's speaking.

6. Wrong font or margins. This usually happens when a word processor is set up by hand.

7. Overusing CUT TO:. It adds lines without adding meaning.

8. Orphaned scene headings. A slugline stranded at the bottom of a page, with its action on the next. Good software prevents this.

Free screenplay template

Download screenplay-template.fountain

Copy the template below into any editor that supports Fountain, a plain-text screenplay markup. It uses standard Fountain syntax, so a Fountain-aware app will display it as a properly formatted screenplay. If you're new to Fountain, our Fountain screenplay format guide explains every symbol.

Title: YOUR TITLE
Credit: Written by
Author: Your Name
Contact:
    your.email@example.com
    (555) 555-5555

FADE IN:

EXT. LOCATION - DAY

A short line of action that sets the scene. Present tense. What we see and hear.

MAIN CHARACTER (30s), introduced in caps with a quick, telling detail, enters.

MAIN CHARACTER
First line of dialogue.

SECOND CHARACTER
(quietly)
A reply with a parenthetical.

MAIN CHARACTER
A longer line of dialogue that wraps naturally in the
dialogue column.

INT. SECOND LOCATION - NIGHT

Action continues in a new scene. No CUT TO: needed between ordinary scenes.

SECOND CHARACTER (O.S.)
Calling from the next room.

MAIN CHARACTER (V.O.)
Narration over the scene.

SMASH CUT TO:

INT. THIRD LOCATION - CONTINUOUS

A transition used deliberately, for effect.

FADE OUT.

Using it in Scripy: Scripy is a web-based screenwriting and pre-production app with a Fountain screenplay editor. Paste the template into a new script, replace the placeholders, and start writing. Scripy keeps draft history as you go and exports .fountain and .txt files. When the draft is ready for feedback, you can run AI script coverage with 8-dimension scoring in professional studio format. When you're heading into prep, Scripy generates an AI production breakdown, an AI shot list with DP lighting notes, and a first-pass schedule clustered by location and cast, all from your consistently formatted scene headings. There's a Free forever plan (no card needed), with Indie at $19/mo and Studio at $49/mo.

Frequently asked questions

Is there one official screenplay format? No. There's no governing body. But the conventions above are what readers, contests, and production teams expect, and the major screenwriting apps all follow them closely.

How long should a feature screenplay be? Most features run roughly 90–120 pages. Comedies and horror often come in shorter, while dramas and epics can run longer. For a spec, tighter is usually safer.

Do I need screenwriting software? Not strictly, but setting up a word processor by hand is tedious and easy to get wrong. A dedicated editor, or a plain-text format like Fountain, handles the margins for you.

Should I number scenes in my spec? No. Scene numbers belong in shooting scripts.

What happens after the script is formatted? For writers, coverage. Learn what script coverage is. For producers, the next step is a script breakdown.