What it asks of you
Nothing. Being an outside vendor does not mean being outside the board.
For an audio / sweetening
Get the handoff with the version on it
You are near the end of the chain, which means you inherit every upstream slip and usually hear about it last.
The handoff names the cut
Not "the latest" — the actual version, checked against what exists where it is checkable.
Your due date is your step’s
Cards carry the date that step is due, not just the air date, so the real window is visible.
You can see what is ahead of you
Whether picture is locked, and whether the thing you are waiting on has moved.
The question that stops
“"Which version is this mix against?" — asked after the mix.”
Everyone else
It has to be worth something to every link, or it gets abandoned
A board only stays true if the people upstream and downstream of you are also getting something out of it. Here is what it does for them.
- Post SupervisorStop being the place answers live
- Post CoordinatorThe status chase ends
- Post ProducerSee the whole season without a status meeting
- EditorBe told what is yours, then left alone
- Assistant EditorStop being asked for the same file twice
- Online EditorKnow the cut is locked before you conform
- Captioning / LocalizationOne place that says what is ready and what is cleared
- Standards & PracticesYour note is attached to the episode, not an inbox
- Showrunner / EPOne screen, no status meeting
- Line Producer / UPMSee post from the production side
- Network / DeliveryKnow what shipped, where, and whether it passed
- IT / EngineeringNothing new is exposed to the internet
See it on a real board
The demo is the actual software on a made-up show. Open it and look at the part that is yours.
Walkthroughs are with Kevin Kelsey — 15 years an assistant editor, Children's & Family Emmy-nominated, and the person who built this. More about him.