Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for film production houses.
A checklist built from how film production houses work, to print or save as a PDF and bring to any supplier meeting.
What the software should cover
Tick each one that matters to your business.
- Script breakdown and scene list
- Shooting schedule and call sheets
- Cast, crew and booking terms
- Equipment, locations and releases
- Daily production report
- Budget against actuals
- Post-production and deliverables
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For producers
- For assistant directors
- For the production office
- For the production accountant
- For editors and post supervisors
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Budget against actuals and cost to finish by line
- Daily production report with pages and scenes shot
- Stripboard schedule and scenes remaining
- Cast and crew days worked, overtime and meal penalties
- Equipment on hire, returned and overdue back to the vendor
- Clearances and releases outstanding by scene
- Deliverables received against the buyer’s specification
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- WhatsApp or other messaging
- SMS
- Calendar feed for cast and crew
- Accounting export
- Payroll export
- Scheduling tool import
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Is this built for film specifically?
- Can a scene span two shooting days?
- How does the call sheet reach the crew?
- Can I lock a budget and still see changes?
- Does it track owned and rented kit?
- Can it export crew hours to payroll?
- How do we move existing productions across?
- Who owns the production records?
- What does it cost?
- Do we need this for one short?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- The schedule and the breakdown drift apart
- Call sheets are rebuilt every night
- Costs surface after they are incurred
- Releases and permits are missing at wrap
- Footage and deliverables are not traced
Prefer to talk it through? See the film production houses page.