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John August Launches iPhone Screenplay Reader, Weekend Read
Big Fish Screenwriter and director John August and his colleagues at Quote-Unquote Apps have launched Weekend Read, a full-featured screenplay reader for the iPhone. The app imports scripts in Final Draft, PDF, Fountain, Markdown and text formats and then creates an “optimized view” that’s perfectly sized for the iPhone’s 4″ screen. Fonts can be increased, decreased or changed; there’s a “night mode”; and scripts can be imported from Dropbox, a URL, email or any app that has an “Open in” option.
I read screenplays on my iPad using Goodreader to narrow the margins and thus increase the font size. It’s a decent experience. But, until now, I’ve never read a script on my phone. I read plenty of books on my iPhone’s iBooks and Kindle apps, but I’ve never read a screenplay on one due to the tiny font size created by the inflexibility of the PDF format. Weekend Read solves this, creating a copy of the original file before “magically” (the creators’ adverb, and an apt one) formatting it for reading on a subway, car ride or in the supermarket check out line.
Weekend Read is a free app for iOS only, and it allows storage of four scripts. For more, there’s an in-app purchase upgrade. And, if you just want to read a great script for pleasure, Weekend Read offers you a selection from Project Guttenberg and For Your Consideration. August even gives you two of his own scripts to sample: Big Fish and Go.
After installing the app, I uploaded a couple of PDF scripts and can report that this app, which boasts elegant typography and a distinctive mauve color scheme, works beautifully. Both scripts formatted without a hitch in optimized view, and I was able to size up the text for an easy read. Highly recommended.
