Stephen Colbert secures $5 million to scale script-writing platform Scripto
Stephen Colbert announced a $5 million seed round to grow his cloud-based script-writing software Scripto and expand its use across Hollywood productions.
During a visit to Wellington, New Zealand, Stephen Colbert revealed that his script-writing startup Scripto has closed a $5 million seed round, led by Todd Steifel and backed by investors including Colbert, Evelyn McGee Colbert, J.J. Abrams and Marc Cuban. The cloud-based tool, which lets multiple writers collaborate in real time with professional formatting, grew out of a 2010 incident on The Colbert Report involving a costly goat mishap.
Since then, it has been adopted by The Daily Show, Last Week Tonight, Saturday Night Live and several awards shows. In 2023, Colbert hired former Final Draft chief strategy officer Josh Kline as CEO and launched a new feature set called Screenplay Pro for narrative TV and film. High-profile users such as John Oliver and Jon Stewart have publicly praised the platform. Colbert says he is focused on scaling Scripto while keeping his options open for future creative projects.
Why it matters
The investment could reshape how Hollywood writers collaborate, potentially setting a new standard for script development.
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