Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for video production houses.
A checklist built from how video 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.
- Brief, treatment and quotation
- Shooting schedule and call sheets
- Crew and freelancer bookings
- Kit and rental register
- Releases, permits and insurance
- Footage log and edit versions
- Delivery and milestone invoicing
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For producers
- For line producers and production managers
- For directors and assistant directors
- For editors and post staff
- For account managers and finance
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Budget against actual spend by job and by budget line
- Crew and freelancer days booked, confirmed and unpaid
- Kit out on shoot, out on hire and overdue by serial number
- Releases and permits missing or expiring before a shoot
- Edit versions and review rounds per film, with extra rounds beyond the quotation
- Deliverables pending by platform spec and due date
- Milestone invoices raised, paid and overdue by client
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- WhatsApp or other messaging
- SMS
- Calendar
- Cloud storage links
- Accounting export
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Does it replace our scheduling tool or sit beside it?
- Can budgets be built from our own day rates?
- Will it store our rushes and masters?
- How does it deal with extra client revisions?
- Can freelancers confirm a call sheet from their phone?
- Does it track hired equipment?
- Can we keep releases and permits on the job?
- Can open jobs and freelancer lists be moved over?
- What does it cost?
- Who owns the records?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- The budget and the actual spend never meet
- Crew and kit clash across overlapping jobs
- Releases and permits sit in personal inboxes
- Footage is logged only in the editor’s head
- Client feedback arrives from five people
Prefer to talk it through? See the video production houses page.