It is my pleasure to announce that Blake Snyder Seminars, LLC has a new partner: Final Draft. I can now officially let you know I will be speaking on behalf of Final Draft, and we will be supporting each other’s software, in addition to my writing a regular column for their online magazine.

And I couldn’t be more excited.

The process of how this came about began in December when, still jetlagged from my trip to London, I was ushered into the offices of Final Draft, along with my terrific business partners Rich Kaplan and B.J. Markel, little knowing what a momentous turn was about to occur.

Anne Lower, who is Final Draft’s Director of Education Sales and Outreach, and Eddie Rehfeldt, Chief Marketing Officer, told us they were impressed with all we were doing in the world of screenwriting. Between my two books and our software program — designed to work with Final Draft — and my constant travels worldwide to bring Cat!-ness to writers everywhere, we had been noticed! In particular, Anne cited anecdotal tales of how quickly I personally respond to emails from writers. (Many of you I know are surprised when you get a reply from me 10 minutes after you send a question). But to me, all of this was simply… what we do!

We really pride ourselves on great customer service, and our tech support from Bob McFarlane is so top notch, we get calls from Writers Store, among other businesses, all the time, asking: How do we do it?

The bottom line: We were asked if we wanted to join forces. And it took everything I had, jetlagged or not, not to jump up and yell: Ye-aaaah!!!

I am particularly proud because I have always used and recommended Final Draft and consider Anne a close friend. From the first time I ever downloaded Final Draft software and got tech support from their reps, I’ve been impressed with Final Draft’s important presence in the screenwriting community; they are the gold standard. Final Draft is a great success story because they too believe in going the extra mile, adding features and templates and information to their products, and supporting writers with educational programs in areas beyond the screenwriting community.

Now the two of us will be moving forward together.

Anne’s role of bringing awareness of all programs Final Draft offers both to colleges and K-12 is such an exciting arena, and one I feel particularly at home in. One of my first appearances for Final Draft will be to give a talk to the students of Camino Nuevo, a charter school here in Los Angeles whose film students, under the direction of writer Peter Cook, have been using Final Draft and Save the Cat! in class — and love it. I am thrilled to be getting involved with these bright young people and look forward to making many appearances at high schools and universities this year to bring these storytelling tools to as many students as we can.

I want to thank Anne and Eddie for their vote of confidence in our company, and for their positive energy and ideas, and look forward to doing great things together. And I want to thank you, our Cat! family, for your support, feedback, and energy that keeps us on our mission!

And on our little Cat! toes.