What it asks of you
Nothing. No status to maintain, no daily update, no tickets to close. Anything that asked an editor to keep a field current would be abandoned in a week, so nothing does.
For an editor
Be told what is yours, then left alone
You do not want another system. You want to know what is on you, open it, and not be interrupted for the rest of the afternoon.
One line, addressed to you
"Q-1060 is your spin from Harper: address notes — v1.7." It names the show, the cut and what is wanted.
You find out the cut was replaced
If a newer version exists, the message says so and names it — before you spend an hour on the wrong one.
Nobody has to ask if you started
Opening the cut is what moves the card. That is the whole interaction.
The question that stops
“"Did you get my notes?" — the message that arrives while you are working.”
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
- Assistant EditorStop being asked for the same file twice
- Online EditorKnow the cut is locked before you conform
- Audio / SweeteningGet the handoff with the version on it
- 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.