Free screenwriting tool
Free Script Breakdown Generator
A script breakdown lists every scene with what it takes to shoot: interior or exterior, location, day or night, who speaks, and how long it runs in eighths of a page. Drop your screenplay and this free generator builds that sheet for you, grouped by location and ready to download as a spreadsheet.
Written and reviewed by ScriptLix Editorial
In short
A script breakdown lists every scene with interior or exterior, location, day or night, speaking cast and length in eighths of a page. Drop your screenplay here to get that sheet grouped by location and download it as a CSV for Sheets, Excel or a scheduling app.
How to use it
- 1
Drop your script anywhere on the page. PDF gives the most exact lengths, Final Draft and Fountain work too.
- 2
Switch between scenes grouped by location and scenes in script order.
- 3
Download the CSV and open it in Google Sheets, Excel or your scheduling app.
How do eighths of a page convert?
| Eighths | Share of a page | Roughly on the page |
|---|---|---|
| 1/8 | One eighth | About 1 inch, or 7 lines |
| 2/8 | One quarter | About 2 inches |
| 4/8 | Half | About 4 inches |
| 6/8 | Three quarters | About 6 inches |
| 8/8 | A full page | Written as 1, not 8/8 |
| 1 4/8 | A page and a half | One full page plus half the next |
Why are script breakdowns measured in eighths of a page?
Schedules measure scenes in eighths of a page. A scene that fills a third of a page is 3/8, a scene that runs a page and a half is 1 4/8. It sounds fussy, but it is how an assistant director estimates a shooting day: a unit shoots a few pages on a typical day, so the eighths add up to days and days add up to budget.
From a PDF we measure each scene from where its heading sits on the page to where the next one starts. Files without fixed pages, like Final Draft and Fountain, get lengths estimated from their word count, which lands close but not exact.
Why group a breakdown by location?
Productions shoot by location, not in story order, so the default view gathers every scene in the same place and adds up the pages. It is the fastest way to see that the diner carries a quarter of your film, or that one location appears for a single eighth and might be worth folding into another.
The cast column lists every character with a line in the scene. Extras and silent characters do not show up, because a breakdown made from the page can only see who speaks. A line producer will add props, wardrobe and extras on top of this sheet; this gives them the skeleton.
Questions writers ask
How long is 1/8 of a page in a screenplay?
About an inch of the page, or roughly 7 of its 55 lines. A one line scene still counts as a full 1/8.
What is a script breakdown?
A list of every scene with what it needs to shoot: location, interior or exterior, day or night, cast and length. Producers and assistant directors build schedules and budgets from it.
How do you measure a scene in eighths?
Split each page into eight equal strips and count how many strips the scene covers, rounding up. Every scene is at least 1/8, even a single line.
Can I open the breakdown in Excel or Google Sheets?
Yes. Download the CSV and open it in either. It has one row per scene with the heading, INT or EXT, location, time, page, length and cast.
Why is a scene missing?
Scenes are found by their headings. If a heading is missing its INT. or EXT., or is typed in a way readers would not recognise, run the format checker first and it will point to the line.
Is my script stored?
No. It is read once to build the breakdown, then thrown away.