What is proper screenplay format?
Script format is very particular and I would strongly advise you pick up David Trottier s Screenwriter s Bible to answer all of your formatting questions. Proper screenplay format is: 12 pt. Courier (or Courier New) font. 90-120 pages in length. 3 hole punched on the left-hand side. Bound with two brass brads (not three) that are 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 in length (not 1 or 2 ). No staples, clips or other fancy bindings. Use card stock covers. Free of anything extra designed to add a little flair (eg – images, colored paper, fancy covers, fancy fonts etc ) 1.5 inch margin on the left side. 1 inch margin on the right side. Dialogue margins an additional 1.5 inches in from each side. No special text (eg – bold, italics, underlining). If you choose to break this rule, do not do so more than three times in a single screenplay. No date on your spec script. Only shooting scripts have dates. No character list/set list/locations list. These are for shooting scripts only. FADE IN: starts your script. FAD
