FilmBase 1.5: the biggest release since version 1
The biggest release since version 1, with real-time team collaboration, automatic storyboards, a full budget reporting suite, and a smarter schedule optimizer.
· 13 min read
Run your entire production
from one place
Budgets | Schedules | Scripts | Storyboards | Logistics | Collaboration
7 days free, then $39 a month or $349 a year. Cancel anytime.
Coming soon to the Mac App Store & Microsoft Store
One project, one place
Every department,
in one app on your desktop.
Most productions piece together five or six different tools. One for scheduling, another for breakdown, spreadsheets for the budget, something else for call sheets, and a notes app for transport. FilmBase does it all in one place, and the parts stay connected. Let the optimizer lay your scenes across shoot days, pick your dates, then import your cast and props into the budget. They stay tied to that schedule, so move a day and each actor's shoot days and every prop's usage re-price on their own. Set a rate on a contact and it flows into the budget the moment they are cast.
Smart Scheduling
Scheduling that plans the days and the drive
Lay your scenes out on a classic stripboard, then let the optimizer arrange the whole shoot for you. Set your dates, drop in the script (Final Draft .fdx or PDF, and export it back the same way), and hit Optimize. It places every scene across every day while honoring eighteen production rules at once: pages per day, day and night kept apart, actor turnarounds, each location shot out before you move on. Pin GPS points to your locations and it plans the drive too, favoring places that sit close together and ordering your days into a one-way route so the unit pushes forward instead of crossing town and doubling back. Script changes? Re-run it.
Two sliders trade off grouping locations against evening out the page count, plus how hard to compress each actor's days.
Priority Cast: Prioritize compressing your A-list actor's schedule to save thousands in drop-and-pickup fees.
GPS-aware: minimize total travel distance, or order the days into a one-way route.
Pre-flight engine checks your math and warns you in plain English if your caps or logistics are impossible before running.
Runs entirely on your machine. No cloud, no waiting.
Budgeting
A budget that updates with the schedule, then tracks every cent
Start from a template, your own rate cards, or a budget you bring in from Movie Magic (.xml) or Excel. Then the schedule keeps it honest: import a character or a whole crew department and FilmBase prices their work, hold, travel, rehearsal, and prep days from the Day out of Days and the per-person Crew Schedule, each at its own rate. Move a day on the schedule and the budget re-prices on the spot. From there it tracks the real money. The Actuals page is where you log what you actually spend against each line, with invoices and proof of payment attached, so you always know what's gone and what's left. Schedule the payments and read the whole project at a glance on the Payment Schedule, then watch money in against money out on the Cashflow page, so you know when cash is coming and when you'll need it.
Cast and crew priced from the schedule; change a day and the budget re-prices.
Actuals: a dedicated page to log spend per line and attach invoices and receipts.
Payment Schedule and Cashflow show what to pay when, and money in vs out over time.
Estimate, actuals, payments, and cashflow: one connected picture of the money.
Call Sheets
Call sheets that fill themselves in
Most of the call sheet is done before you open it. Cast, the day's scenes, locations, and call times pull straight from the schedule, and the weather forecast and nearest hospital fill themselves in for that date and place. Add custom rows for whatever's specific to the day, then export it bundled with the right sides as a single PDF, so the team gets one file, not five.
Script Breakdown
A modern script breakdown
On-device AI tags every element it finds (props, wardrobe, vehicles, stunts) with nothing leaving your computer, or you highlight and tag by hand. Promote a tag to a tracked element so it flows into the breakdown and budget, then use the Magic Sheet to click exactly which scenes it appears in. Fix a slugline or flip a scene night-to-day right on the page.
Storyboards & Shotlist
Storyboards that draw themselves
Every shot without art gets an automatic hand-drawn diagram of the framing: set the size, angle, lens, and who's in the frame. Build a storyboard and visual shotlist linked to every scene, set the timing per shot, then export the whole thing as an animatic video. Direct the cut before you direct the shoot.
Transport
Driver routes and pickup assignments
Assign drivers to cast and crew for each shoot day on a dedicated transport page. Pickup manifests flow straight into the call sheet. Built-in transport logistics is rare in production tools. Most teams handle this in a spreadsheet and a group chat.
That's the highlights. Every page of the app, with screenshots, lives on the features page.
See every featureBuy it separately, and it adds up fast
A screenwriting app, a scheduling app, a budgeting app, and an all-in-one cloud tool for breakdown and call sheets. Here's what that stack runs per person, per year.
The usual stack
- Screenwriting app~$250 once
- Scheduling app~$240/yr
- Budgeting app~$300/yr
- All-in-one cloud tool
breakdown, call sheets, shotlists, storyboards, contacts~$1,020/yr
Per person, recurring ~$1,560/yr
Plus a one-time ~$250 for the screenwriting app.
FilmBase, all of it
- Script, breakdown, scheduling, and budget
- Call sheets, shotlists, storyboards, transport
- Real-time team collaboration, private over your own network
- Every feature in one subscription, updates included
$349/yr
or $39 a month
one app instead of four
Comparison uses representative public pricing for category-equivalent tools, per person, in 2026. Exact costs vary by vendor and tier.
Auto Script Breakdown Smart Scheduling Gantt Charts Call Sheets Cashflow Tracking Storyboards Day Out of Days Offline First Team Workflow Hub Built-In Backups Auto-Updater Light & Dark Mode Auto Script Breakdown Smart Scheduling Gantt Charts Call Sheets Cashflow Tracking Storyboards Day Out of Days Offline First Team Workflow Hub Built-In Backups Auto-Updater Light & Dark Mode
Your production workflow,
simplified
From script to wrap. Six steps. Each one feeds the next.
Import Script
Write or import
Break Down
Auto-tag elements
Schedule
Optimize shoot days
Set Budget
Estimate & track
Call Sheets
Generate & distribute
Wrap & Report
Final reports
Runs anywhere,
even with no internet.
FilmBase installs on your computer and does its work right there. On a closed set or a remote location with no signal, the whole app keeps working and your projects stay on your own machine.
Offline, anywhere you shoot
Once FilmBase is installed it does not need the internet to run. Open your budget, build a schedule, or generate a call sheet from a basement location or a village hours from the nearest signal, and every page works the same as it does at the office.
Smart tools that run on your machine
The schedule optimizer and the script breakdown do their work inside the app, on your own computer. Nothing goes out to a server, so they keep working with no internet, and your script never leaves your machine.
Built for production professionals
Who uses FilmBase?
Producers
Bird's-eye budget dashboards, cashflow tracking, and production Gantt charts.
Line Producers
Detailed budgets with actuals, payment schedules, and variance analysis.
Production Managers
One-click stripboard optimization, call sheets, transport logistics, and DOOD tracking.
Studios
Unified workspace for multiple projects with offline-first security and full reports.
7 days free, on every plan
Try it on a real project first
Run a full production through FilmBase for 7 days before you pay anything. Cancel inside the trial and nothing is charged.
On the Mac App Store and the Microsoft Store.
$39/mo
Monthly
$349/yr
Yearly, $29.08 a month
From the blog
Production guides & product updates
Your whole team on one project, privately over your own network
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like a studio.
Free for 7 days. Cancel anytime, and you are not charged.