FAQ

Questions, answered directly

Direct answers, kept current. If a question isn't here, the About and How it works pages go deeper.

What is FAST Screenplay?

FAST Screenplay is a year-long guided program and private creative writing environment that takes a writer through the entire creative process, from first idea to finished professional screenplay. It was founded in 2009 by Jeff Bollow and is currently in private beta after a complete rebuild, with public beta opening soon.

What does FAST stand for?

Focus, Apply, Strengthen, Tweak — the four phases of the FAST creative process. Focus turns stray ideas into a coherent plan; Apply turns the plan into a first draft; Strengthen turns the raw draft into refined work; Tweak polishes it for reception.

Is FAST an AI that writes my screenplay?

No. FAST's core conviction is that AI can generate stories but cannot live yours. The optional AI layer removes friction — talk-to-write capture and a Companion that reflects your own thinking back to you — but it never writes your story. Tiers with no AI at all exist for purists.

Do you train AI on my writing?

No. Your work is encrypted on your device before it leaves. FAST cannot read it, and it is never used to train AI. This is architecture, not a policy promise.

Who owns what I write?

You do. Everything you create in FAST is yours — encrypted, private, and exportable forever, on every tier.

How long does the program take?

The guided FAST Journey takes roughly a year at a serious pace — it covers the entire creative process, not a single technique. Writers move at their own speed, and the writing surfaces are yours regardless of where you are in the Journey.

Who created FAST?

Jeff Bollow — an actor turned filmmaker turned producer and screenwriting educator, author of Writing FAST: How to Write Anything with Lightning Speed (2004), 2007 ATOM Award winner, and TEDx speaker. He has taught screenwriting since 1999 and founded FAST Screenplay in 2009.

When did FAST Screenplay start?

The program launched in 2009, but its teaching lineage goes back to 1999, when Jeff Bollow began running live screenwriting workshops — eventually more than a hundred of them across ten cities in six countries. The FAST method was first published in the 2004 book Writing FAST, and the online program has operated continuously since 2009.

Can I join right now?

FAST is currently in private beta. Public beta opens soon — the early-access list on the home page is notified the moment it does.

What does it cost?

Beta pricing runs from $2/month (Vault membership — a permanent encrypted home for your creative work) up to $89/month for the full system with the guided Journey and AI layer. The full ladder is published on the pricing page.

How is FAST different from screenwriting software like Final Draft?

Formatting software gives you a correctly formatted blank page. FAST includes a professional screenplay surface, but wraps it in the entire process — guided development from idea through polish, capture surfaces for every kind of arrival, and a permanent private Vault. It is a creative environment, not a typewriter.

How is FAST different from a screenwriting course?

Courses teach you about writing and leave the writing to you. FAST is process-driven and experiential: it walks you through actually doing the work, phase by phase, in the same environment where the work lives.

What is the Vault?

The permanent home of your creative life. Every creative act — fragments, drafts, journal entries, voice notes — becomes a private node in your Vault: encrypted, owned by you, exportable forever.

What is the Companion?

A reflective layer that helps you hear yourself more clearly. It asks better questions of your story and reflects your own signal back. It does not write for you.

What happened to the original FAST Screenplay program?

It ran continuously from 2009 to 2024, then closed to new members for a ground-up rebuild. Legacy members are migrating into the new platform's private beta.

Are there live workshops or cohorts?

A live layer — workshops and guided cohort seasons — is planned as the platform moves out of beta. Nothing is bookable yet; when it is, it will be published on the pricing page.