Plus Fantastic 4, Witchboard, The Home, Washington Black + more!
Plus Fantastic 4, Witchboard, The Home, Washington Black + more!
Final Draft Newsletter | August 1, 2025
5 WAYS TO BE AN AGILE SCREENWRITER
Being a screenwriter takes tenacity. It takes a certain amount of technique, dedication, and imagination as well. But one of the most important skills you can tuck away inside your writer’s toolbox is the ability to be an agile screenwriter.
Sure, this sounds key to being a good athlete or, say, a first responder, in which mobility and strength are required. But what does this mean in screenwriting?
WITCHBOARD WRITER/DIRECTOR CHUCK RUSSELL SAYS HORROR 'BETTER BE SCARY' TO WORK
In the original horror film Witchboard from 1986, a young woman becomes obsessed with a Ouija board at a party. She is then terrorized by a malevolent spirit, leaving her boyfriend and her ex to try to figure out what’s going on. It’s a cult film, although definitely of its time, and was inspired by the writer’s real experience with a Ouija board.
Now, iconic horror writer/director Chuck Russell (The Blob, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3, The Mask) is giving the film an update with 2025’s Witchboard, expanding the world and lending the scary premise a fresh, modern spin.
We spoke to Russell ahead of the wide release of his new film to learn how he approaches structure and character in the horror genre, and more.
WRITE ON: THE HOME DIRECTOR/CO-WRITER JAMES DEMONACO AND CO-WRITER ADAM CANTOR
Now in theaters, The Home is about Max (Pete Davidson), a troubled young man who starts working at a retirement home only to realize its residents and caretakers harbor sinister secrets.
DeMonaco, best known for creating The Purge franchise, and Cantor, an actor-turned-writer, visit the Write On podcast to talk about their favorite horror films from the 1970s, the challenge of bringing a 70s vibe to modern horror films, and working with their Staten Island buddy, comedian Pete Davidson.
FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS IS A BLAST FROM THE PAST (AND THE FUTURE)
Fantastic Four: First Steps takes place in the past, sort of.
Retro-future 1960s is probably the best way to describe Fantastic Four: First Steps, as the inspiration of the time is seen in everything from bulky TV sets to period clothes and cars. But this movie takes place on a different earth, where a genius with unlimited money has designed spaceships that can blast them light years away and fight the gravity of a black hole, yet he still uses analog tapes.
This brings up a pattern with comic book movies in which the setting is not present day, but a past filled with nostalgia where the story could align more with the time period in which the comic book was created, and technology was limited.
SELWYN SEYFU HINDS EXPLORES STEAMPUNK AND IDENTITY IN WASHINGTON BLACK
Based on the novel by Esi Edugyan, Washington Black is now a lush, genre-bending TV series on Hulu, executive produced by Selwyn Seyfu Hinds, who also serves as showrunner. It’s a steampunk reimagining of the 19th century from a perspective rarely seen on screen. Set in the early 1800s, it follows George Washington “Wash” Black (Eddie Karanja), a boy born into slavery on a Barbados plantation. After an unfortunate event endangers his life, he flees with British explorer Titch (Tom Ellis), embarking on a globe-spanning journey that takes him into adulthood.
Read our exclusive interview with Selwyn Seyfu Hinds about the road to getting the series made, the unexpected steampunk tropes, and his advice for writers.
