Sitcom formatting in Final Draft 7

I'm new to sitcom writing and I'm just trying to get off the ground with it. I've been working through Marc Blake's How To Be A Sitcom Writer book. He says you're best to work off one page of script per minute of screen time. The two script formats included in Final Draft 7 are 30 seconds per page. They are Half-hour Sitcom and BBC Sitcom format. Are these standard formats or am I doing something wrong? Is 30 seconds per page acceptable?

If anyone can give me a pointer (not that kind of pointer!!!) I'd be very grateful.

Cheers.

Stu

I wrote my first sitcom in script smart and it was 58 pages long and ran to approxamately 28 minutes. The BBC use that format to write directions in the spaces at the side so I wouldn't worry about each page being 30 seconds. If you go to the writer's room script archive it shows scripts in both 30 per page and 1 minute per page formats.

I wrote my first sitcom in script smart and it was 58 pages long and ran to approxamately 28 minutes. The BBC use that format to write directions in the spaces at the side so I wouldn't worry about each page being 30 seconds. If you go to the writer's room script archive it shows scripts in both 30 per page and 1 minute per page formats.

I can never get Script Smart to work on my laptop, maybe its because I don't have Word, any one else got any ideas why it won't work?

You may have to turn off your macros Martin

I wouldn't worry about using sitcom format at this early stage, both the BBC comedy department and the writersroom now prefer to see the film format used both for single camera comedies and audience sitcoms.

This is because the one minute to one page thing will be more accurate and it is less pages to have to copy or carry around.

By the time a production version is needed, after all the input from your producers several months later, it will be someone else typing it up.

That's interesting. Thanks. I'll just use a standard screenplay format to begin with.

Thanks again!