Mariner Software’s Montage is affordable screenwriting software that is easy to use and works well with Final Draft. What’s unique about this application is that it includes a comprehensive contact list of Hollywood studios, production companies and agencies. However, it’s a little too inspired by Final Draft,
The Montage screenwriting software is easy to use. The toolbar and options aren’t too intrusive, and fairly easy to manage. Clearly the app is inspired by Final Draft, and it strives to be its own software instead of merely just another Final Draft clone.
However, we wouldn’t recommend choosing this app over Final Draft, because it does lack key rewriting tools that are commonly found on more robust screenwriting software.
When the app launches, users are given the option of several templates to choose from (see below for more information on templates). From there, the screenwriting software uses the standard Tab and Enter key commands to format the script properly.
There are several different viewing and writing options in the View pane, located on the left side of the user interface. These include Script (where you write), Scenes (to focus on one scene at a time), Outline (helps to build the script), Characters (develops and organizes characters) and others.
There’s also a full-screen mode to keep distractions to a minimum, so you can stay focused on scriptwriting. The screenwriting software can also import a variety of documents, such as Final Draft, text or rich text.
Be forewarned that if you’re using Montage and your collaborator is on Final Draft, after a while the formatting will start to get out of whack as you constantly convert to-and-from .montage and .fdr.
It’s easy to do rewrites to an existing screenplay, especially if a film is in production and on-set rewrites are needed. You can color-code new pages according to the date so the cast and crew can have the latest version.
However, there could be a few extra revision tools that can help keep better track of the rewrites.
Montage can export to several different formats, including Microsoft and Apple rich text formats, Word, PDF, Final Draft and, if the film is going into production, the Screenplay Exchange format which is for scheduling software programs.
There are included templates for any type of script, be it film (of which there are several options, including a Final Draft template), TV drama, TV sitcom, stage play, comic book or any number of other options. The names are reminiscent of Final Draft’s, likely because of how well it works with the other screenwriting software.
Help and support options include email contact, a user manual, a user forum to connect with others, video tutorials to help get you started and FAQs.
Montage is a suitable screenwriting software app that works well enough with Final Draft and shares a few of its features. This app leaves us wanting, especially when it comes to rewriting tools, which it’s clearly lacking.
