Once you have gotten a chance to submit your screenplay to an Agent or Production company you need to make sure that you have your work properly formatted. Hollywood types are sticklers for formatting. It's been said that a seasoned Hollywood reader know every type of trick in the book. If your screenplay has it's margins adjusted; they can tell. I don't know how true this is, but I don't want to take chances. I've also heard that they can tell if your screenplay is above the recommended one-hundred and twenty pages or below the minimum ninety pages. No one wants to have their works disqualified because of a bad formatting or printing. So here are the basic guidelines for formatting and printing.
1st things first. I use Both Movie Magic Screenwriter and Final Draft. I usually craft the initial draft in MMS because of it's ease of use, and fantastic features. Once finished I find that Final Draft works best as it has features that MMS doesn't have. Its title page creator and format assistant (which checks to make sure you don't have unneccessary blank spaces and such) are also useful tools; that really make a difference. The primary reason I use programs such as these is because they take are already set up to do one thing; write screenplays. Issues such as margins and correct placing of sluglines and dialogue cues are set up properly. If you are writing a screenplay then I would suggest getting one of the two, or both.
Final Draft
Movie Magic Screenwriter
http://www.screenplay.com/p-29-movie-magic-screenwriter-6.aspx
If you prefer to use a program like Microsoft Word, then you are going to need to know the proper margins for the individual pieces that go into a screenplay.
The left side of your script should have a 1 1/2" margin.*
The right side of the script should have 1/2" to 1" of margin.*
The top and bottom margins of your script should be 1".*
Sluglines or Scene Headings are spaced 1 1/2" from the left side of the page.*
Dialogue should be spaced 2 1/2" from the left margin. That's 1" from the Slugline or Scene Heading margin or about 10 spaces.*
Character names should be 3.7" from the left margin or 12-13 spaces from the start of Dialogue*
Parentheticals aka Dialogue Directions should be 3.1" from the left margin or 6 spaces from the start of Dialogue.*
MAX lines per page: 52 – 56 (including blank lines). Do not exceed 56 lines per page!*
MMS and FD use Courier Font with 12pt font size. If you use anything; so should you. Don't try to change the size to 10 or smaller because you think you can squeeze more text on the page. It won't work and the reader will be able to tell immediately. 12 pt. Courier font. No exceptions!
This is very important information. MMS and FD take this guess work from you, and thats gives you time to focus on the most important thing; actually writing the story.
Now once you are done; have checked it for errors and made sure that it is within 90-120 pages; it's time to print. When you take it to FedEx Kinko's, your local print shop, or from your trusty printer remember these important facts.
Paper – Must be U.S. Letter! Hollywood does not do metric; so keep that A4 away from American airspace. 8 1/2" X 11" plain white 20 lbs stock (i.e. US Letter) with no watermarks.*
Binding -- Two solid brass paper fasteners (1 1/4") a.k.a ‘brads’ should be used to bind the script. Avoid the flimsy Staples kind.*
3-Hole-punched -- Covers and Pages should be three hole punched. Fasteners should be placed in the top and bottom holes with the center hole left empty.*
Laser Printed is the best choice. Inkjet can smear if it gets wet, and that would totally mess up your chances. Don't want that.
Once you have assembled the entire product it's time to send it off. Before you do, go over it at least twice as well as have a friend go over it. Occasionally you will miss something that a fresh pair of eyes can pick up.
* taken from Hollywood Script Express.com
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