Shotlist

A problem I couldn't ignore

The first time I was first AD on someone else's thesis at Chapman, I realized how broken the workflow was. The shot list was a spreadsheet that didn't render on half the crew's phones. The timing calculations were manual. When we fell behind schedule, there was no way to see the downstream impact. I was doing math in my head while trying to keep a 50-person crew moving.

Every production I've been on uses some combination of spreadsheets, PDFs, and outdated desktop software that was never designed to go between a laptop and a phone, let alone share with a crew in real time. The shot list may be the single most important document on set, and we're still managing it like it's 2005.

Every feature started as a frustration

Everyone formats shot lists differently. Some use scene numbers in columns, some use rows, some put timing data in notes. I used machine learning to analyze how people actually format their lists, then distilled those patterns into hard rules so the app can import and work with whatever a production already has.

Timing is always manual. ADs spend hours calculating how long each setup takes, when lunch needs to happen to avoid meal penalty, when the sun sets for exterior shots. The app auto-calculates all of it: setup time, shoot time, schedule deviation, meal penalty countdown, wrap ETA.

Crew members need different information. A DP cares about lens and framing. A script supervisor cares about continuity. An AD cares about the clock. I built role-based views with the same data, six different interfaces because I've stood in those roles and know what each person actually needs on set.