Productions and the pipeline
On this page
A production is one job: a brand film, a documentary, an event. Everything about it, from the plan and the crew to its media and paperwork, lives under its name.
The Productions page
Productions shows your active productions as cards, most recently updated first, with delivered ones in their own group below. Once something is archived, an “Active” and “Archived” switch appears at the top.
Crew see only the productions they are booked on.
Creating a production
Admins and editors can create one from anywhere: the “New production” button, the “+” menu in the sidebar, Search, or by pressing N.
- Give it a name. The address of the production comes from the name and cannot change later, so “Saltwater Hours” lives at
/productions/saltwater-hours. - Pick the client, or choose “New client…” and type the name. New clients are added to People under Companies.
- Pick the type and the stage. The defaults are “Brand film” and “Development”. “Other…” at the end of the type list takes a type of your own.
- Set the first and last shoot day if you know them. You can add and change shoot days later in Plan.
- Choose “Create production”.
The production opens on its Overview. Its six media folders, Frames, Stills, Audio, Picture Reviews, Picture Finals and Paperwork, appear the first time an admin or editor opens its Media.
The production page
The header shows the name and a line with the client, the type and the shoot dates. On the right:
- Share opens a share link for one of the production’s folders. Admins and editors only.
- Shoot day opens the on-set view. It turns red in the week before a shoot and says how soon: “tomorrow”, “in 3 days”. The rest of the time it stays quiet.
- View as lets an admin switch to “Crew” and see the production with all money hidden: rates, kit fees, rental totals and deal memos. It applies across the whole app for 12 hours or until you switch back.
The pipeline
The bar under the header is the pipeline, with six stages: Development, Contracting, Pre-Production, Production, Post Production and Delivered.
Click a stage to move the production there. The change saves at once, and the toast offers Undo. Viewers and crew see the bar but cannot click it.
The seven sections
| Tab | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Overview | The next shoot day, open tasks, key crew, the cover still and the latest cut |
| Plan | Brief, shot list, locations, schedule and call sheets, tasks |
| Crew | Who is booked, their deal memos and their access. The tab shows the crew count. |
| Gear | Company gear, crew kit and rentals for the shoot |
| Media | The production’s folders in the Library |
| Paperwork | Documents and talent releases. The tab shows how many releases are unsigned. |
| Settings | Details, cover still, Shoot day tools and archiving |
The Overview
The Overview opens on the cover and the basic facts, in one of three layouts. Pick yours with the switch at the top (Poster, Slate, Frame line), or in Your account under Overview layout; the choice is yours alone and covers every production.
- Slate (the default): the phase and the title beside the cover, shown at the shape it is framed in Settings (2:1, or 1:2 for vertical work) so nothing is cut off, a grid of facts under a rule (client, type, director, DOP, shoot dates, location), then a strip of numbers: shoot days done, crew, files, latest cut.
- Poster: the cover runs full width with the title on it, then the logline, what’s up next and the latest cut, with the facts and key crew beside.
- Frame line: the title with the client and dates on the right, the cover at 2.39:1 with frame-line corner marks, and the pipeline as a timeline with the date each stage began.
In every layout: the pipeline (click a stage to move the production; it remembers when each stage began), the section tabs, Up next (the next shoot day, open tasks, releases to collect, a cut waiting on the client), the latest cut with its version and review state, which opens in the viewer, and key crew. “Change cover” on the cover takes a new still.
A brand new production shows a setup list instead: add a cover, add the brief, set shoot dates, book crew, upload references. Each ticks itself off.
Settings
Settings is for admins and editors. Crew and viewers see a note to ask a producer.
Production. Name, client, agency, type, stage, start, end and delivery dates, a job code, a synopsis that shows on share pages and in the client portal, and a “Multi-part production” switch for jobs with several parts, such as awardees or episodes. Client and Agency end in “New client…” and “New agency…”: type the name and it is made on save, and it appears in People under Companies. The type list ends in “Other…” for a type of your own. “Save changes” stays off until something changes.
Cover still. It shows on Home, Productions and share pages, 2:1 by default. “Vertical · 1:2” makes this production’s thumbnail portrait everywhere, for vertical work. Upload a JPEG, PNG, WebP or GIF under 15 MB, then click the still to set what stays in frame when it is cropped. The arrow keys nudge the point in 5% steps. “Centre” puts it back.
Shoot day tools. Six switches that hide tools this kind of shoot does not use, for everyone and on every phone: Shot list, Camera rolls, Camera reports, Packing checklist, On-set reminders and Talent releases. They are all on to start with.
Archive. “Archive production” takes it off Home, Productions and the sidebar for everyone and makes Shoot day read-only. Nothing is deleted. It comes back with “Unarchive”, from Productions under Archived, or from its own Settings. Pictures Up never archives anything on its own.
Good to know
- There is no delete. Archive is the end of the line, and it is reversible.
- Every change to the stage, the name and archiving shows in the production’s activity.
- Being on a production’s crew list is what opens it to crew. See Crew and invites.