What it asks of you
Nothing. You read it.
For a post producer
See the whole season without a status meeting
You need to know what is at risk far enough out to do something about it, and you need it without adding a meeting to get it.
Risk is visible before it is a problem
Blocked is shown separately from late, so the list of things actually stuck is short and true rather than a wall of red.
Every change has a record
Who was told what, when, and about which episode. When something goes wrong near air, the question of what happened is answerable.
The board says what it does not know
Confirmed and estimated are labelled per card, so you are never making a call on a date that only looked solid.
The question that stops
“"Are we going to make air on the back half?" — answered with a feeling rather than a board.”
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
- 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
- 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.