Using Libre Office for writing screenplays

English
#1

Does LibreOffice have a template for writing screenplays on a Mac?

#3

If you expect decent answers, you should edit your question (don’t add comments so that all needed information is at the same place; otherwise, tracking through discussions → TL;DR) to describe which standards are followed or give an example.


Basically, I’d say it is a matter of defining several styles (page for global layout, paragraph form main elements, character for “local” enhancement) and applying it.


@Hrbrgr mentions an existing template but it doesn’t seem to have been updated for 10 years. In addition, I wouldn’t trust it fully as most of these “specialised” formatting utilities usually operate through macros and direct formatting. Direct formatting is your worst enemy when you have to abide by precise layout constraints and creates a nightmarish situation when you review your text. According to a sentence about high sensitivity to a font metrics, I’d bet that vertical spacing is done with empty paragraphs, which is a major error when you’re looking for formatting stability. Remember that LO has far superior power than the old mechanical typewriter and can cope automatically with many corner-case situations, provided you don’t insist to use it as a mechanical typewriter.

I think a similar question has been asked recently with a sample file attached and it appeared that such a document is technically very simple.

Anyway, most of us are not familiar with screenplays and, if we were, I bet that the standard(s) is(are) different from country to country. Thus give maximum information so that you are pointed into the right direction.

1 Like
#4

Thanks for your prompt reply.

Joe Malgeri

1 Like
#2

Yes, they can:

https://extensions.libreoffice.org/en/extensions/show/screenwright-r-screenplay-formatting-templat

3 Likes
#5

hi,

I’m aware that this question was asked in 2022, but people seeking the answer will still land here, today as well as in the near future, till something changes perhaps.

My short answer is don’t. Don’t use Libreoffice Writer for screen writing.
Cause, suppose you have written one, with LO Writer you can’t export your script in Final Draft format, nor in Fountain format, the latter being the free and open source standard.

But don’t just take my words :slight_smile: Any application should be tested before use. So, test it! Test your screen writer application candidate! :slight_smile:
The test should go like this:

  1. Import a script from Final Draft or Fountain format. Both must work flawlessly.
  2. Edit it. Editing must be easy and under full control.
  3. Export it. Exporting it must result in the exact same format as the original.
  4. Then ask 3 friends of yours to install LO Writer and open what you have exported, edit it, export it, and send it back to you.

If your test result is “A+”, cool and perfect, then you can think about taking that workflow.
Otherwise, keep it simple and open…open source. Use markdown, use Fountain. It is not very easy either, as of 09/Mar/2026/07:06 :slight_smile: But it works. It passes the test with an A at least :slight_smile:

PS:

As to using a template:
That template thing, as a concept, is worse than anything one can imagine. For it is fragile. I mean, if you write something today, you want tit to be readable even 20 years from now, not to mention next year. Templates can change, meaning the Final Draft document’s data structure can change, and any free tool like Writer is an enemy for such a big software monopoly, so, templates will change. Á la anything that can break will break :slight_smile:
So, I say, never trust a template :slight_smile:

Nevertheless, LO Writer is absolutely capable of formatting a movie script!
It only takes handling but a few styles. Piece of cake! As ajlittoz pointed it out.
Writer really is much-much bigger than that.
Bigger than screenwriting.
But this is also a problem.

For you need to be able to export your script in the Final Draft format too, as well as in the Fountain format, which is cool markdown – the good future :slight_smile:
And you want to allow zero non-professionalism for yourself.

Without being able to export to a form in which it is editable, you script is not a movie script, cause a movie involves lots of people working together even in the preparation period, even in the case of a 10 minute low-key, independent film, shot on video (digital).

LO Writer can’t do that yet.
It doesn’t speak markdown to start with, and its HTML is not “native” either, it comes from a monstre XML format.
Writer could be perfect one day. But it should first speak Markdown, including Fountain.

#6

From the release notes for 26.2

Markdown

If there is something else needed to work with Fountain then consider submitting a feature request

1 Like
#7

Guy Rolands is a former TV producer and screen writer in addition to novel author. He was confronted with the steep learning curve of Writer from common author’s point of view. He streamlined down his experience to a simple minimum for people desiring a quick start with the tool. This is book Boring but Essential. One chapter is dedicated to screenplays.

The book is not a complete Writer tutorial. It targets only the specialised domains of novels and screenplays.

This might be an answer to OP and an argumentative refutation for @jepe1 .

1 Like

Impressum (Legal Info) | Datenschutzerklärung (Privacy Policy)   Content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 3.0 license.