Efficiency in creative project management and especially in a booming video production industry requires advanced organizational skills.
With 84% of video production professionals claiming that the demand for their services has drastically increased over the course of 2021 — and 88% of them expecting it to further increase in the future — maintaining efficiency is more important than ever.
More demand means larger teams or shorter deadlines — or even both.
Staying afloat in these conditions is not easy, but it doesn’t have to be a struggle either — so long as you have the right tools.
Using project management software in video production to prioritize, schedule, and organize work is a proven way to streamline the production process.
Let’s go over the best digital tools for organizing video production. We’re going to examine why they are the best and why exactly you should try them.
Table of Contents
What is production management software? (and why you need it)
Consider all the steps that go into creating a single video.
Simple enough.
Now take those steps, multiply them by the number of videos you and your team have to create in the foreseeable future, and attach deadlines to them.
It all suddenly became a little more complicated, didn’t it?
Keeping track of all the creative design requests, schedules, equipment, timetables, actors, budget, contracts, stages of production, client feedback, and deadlines for all your projects is a delicate task.
Relying on yourself to remember everything or always make accurate calculations and estimates in the midst of skyrocketing demand for video content is not sustainable.
This is what production management software is for.
Digital video production management tools help you:
- Keep all the information in one place,
- Always have the information accessible to all team members,
- Maintain a centralized communication and file-sharing system,
- Keep track of contracts and resources,
- Keep an eye on the budget and shooting schedules,
- Track deadlines and progress,
- Detect bottlenecks, and so much more.
In other words, production software enables you to offload all the technical aspects of your production process to a digital tool.
This way, you can rely on the software to notify you of any changes, emergencies, setbacks, or impending deadlines, while you completely immerse yourself into the creative processes of video production.
Top project management tools for video production
The question of whether you should get a digital tool to help you manage your video production or not is no longer valid.
The benefits of management software are too many to count, and the results are undeniable — project planning, monitoring, control, scheduling, productivity, efficiency, and timely decision-making are all areas where using project management software has led to an upsurge in project success.
The only thing left to decide is which production software to pick.
Let’s take a look at the best digital tools that will help you:
- Organize your projects,
- Forget about the business side of things and get the creative juices flowing,
- Streamline video production, and
- Speed up the entire process, leaving you with more time to take up more projects, and grow your business.
#1 Plaky
Plaky is a free and user-friendly project management tool with a focus on production workflow management.
It enables teams of all sizes to organize and manage multiple simultaneous projects with ease. Additionally, it allows you to customize every aspect of your video production schedule to create the optimal workflow.
Plaky stands out from other software thanks to its amazing FREE plan — it allows you to create as many projects and tasks as you need, which makes it perfect for:
- Small video services,
- Budding indie companies, or
- Content creators and editors.
Once you have your account set up, you can:
- Create customized workspaces, boards, and tasks,
- Create customized workflow tables for every step of your production’s lifecycle,
- View and organize tasks on a Kanban board,
- Track progress with colorful tags and status bars,
- Add detailed descriptions, links, and files to each task,
- Assign deadlines or durations for tasks, and more.
Plaky’s best feature for video production — Kanban & Time tracking
Coming from the same team behind Clockify — the world’s most popular time tracking app — Plaky allows you to easily track time via the Clockify Chrome extension.
Combining Clockify’s time tracking with a Kanban board in Plaky to streamline the video creation process is one of the most effective ways of handling a multiple-step project, especially if it involves handoffs at several stages.
This process enables you to:
- Easily delegate tasks to your team members in charge of different stages of production,
- Follow their progress,
- Get notified for each change as the card makes its way to the “Done” pile,
- Keep track of your team’s work regardless if you’re in the same office or working remotely, and
- Log exactly how long each of the production stages lasted for easier scheduling, invoice management, and streamlining of future projects.
Using this combination will allow you to make the best of Plaky and lift your scheduling efforts to the next level.
And, best of all, you don’t have to worry about breaking the bank — because both Plaky and Clockify are free to use. But, if you decide to go for one of the paid plans, you’ll see that Plaky pricing is quite affordable, and it gets you a lot of useful upgrades.
| Plaky | Pricing and availability |
|---|---|
| Price | – PRO — $4.99/seat/mo; $3.99/seat/mo when billed annually — private boards, Viewer role, custom templates, and more, – ENTERPRISE — $10.99/seat/mo; $8.99/seat/mo when billed annually — 100MB per file, board permissions, custom SSO, and more |
| Free plan | – Unlimited projects – Unlimited tasks – Unlimited users – Unlimited files – Customizable tags and statuses – @mentions – Card-specific discussions – Search and filter options – Table and Kanban view – Admin and Member roles – The added security of the ISO 27001 and SOC II certificates, as well as GDPR compliance assurance – 24/7 support |
| Available for | – Web, Android, iOS |
#2 Dramatify
Dramatify is a production management tool with a focus on script and crew management.
The software is a good fit for large teams due to its all-encompassing personnel profiles, which include:
- Wardrobe measurements,
- Personal hair and makeup information,
- Food preferences and allergies,
- Health issues,
- Driving licenses and professional certifications,
- Meal cost handling,
- Break times,
- Phone numbers, and much more.
All of this, including the ability to call, text, or email anyone whose profile you have access to, makes it easy to manage large filming crews straight from your phone or browser.
Thanks to its overwhelming list of features concerning managing screenplays, characters, props, locations, and sets, Dramatify is best suited for filming:
- Movies,
- Dramas,
- Plays, or
- Documentaries.
However, this feature-packed interface is a double-edged sword. Smaller teams or video services will likely have a harder time making heads or tails of this software, and might be more comfortable with a simpler digital tool.
Dramatify’s best feature for video production — Script management
Dramatify’s focus is on helping you break down and organize complex production projects, which is why its best feature is diversified script management.
You have the option to choose from three script formats — screenplays, AV scripts, and multi-camera rundowns for live or studio shoots.
The variety of script types, combined with the ability to connect the actors with the characters, characters with locations, and locations with sets, makes for an all-around well-organized film production system.
| Dramatify | Pricing and availability |
|---|---|
| Price | – For commercials, streaming, and short productions — $299/mo – For TV, commercials, and smaller drama productions — $599/mo – For production companies and drama productions — $999/mo – For studios, broadcasters, and production houses — $1799/mo |
| Free plan | – Unlimited productions – Unlimited episodes – Up to 3 admins & creators – Screenplays and breakdowns – Character lists – Stripboards – Scene items – Sets with locations |
| Available for | Web |
#3 StudioBinder
StudioBinder is a video production tool with a modern look and feel.
The software is fairly intuitive and offers some useful quality-of-life features, such as mood boards and automatic schedule creation.
Some of its other noteworthy features include:
- Editable call sheets,
- Gantt chart production calendar, and
- Automatic stripboards.
Featurewise, it’s a good fit for both small and large teams — although it lacks some options suitable for larger productions, such as budgeting or contract features.
Pricewise, however, it leans more towards production studios than aspiring indie filmmakers. This is because some of its most useful features, such as production calendars, script breakdowns, and collaboration, are available only at the more advanced plans.
StudioBinder’s best feature for video production – Screenwriting
With StudioBinder, you don’t have to think about formatting your scripts ever again — everything is done automatically.
The software recognizes action scenes, characters, dialogue, explanations, and automatically formats them according to traditional screenwriting rules.
Additionally, you can break down your script directly from the editing window, while you’re writing it. The breakdown reports will then automatically be created in shareable or printable form.
The same thing can be done with both created and imported scripts.
| StudioBinder | Pricing and availability |
|---|---|
| Price | – Individual plans = $29–$99/mo – Company plans = $249–$1499/mo |
| Free plan | 1 project + limited organizational features |
| Available for | Web |
#4 Yamdu
Yamdu is a collaborative production management software with slightly more advanced features, including:
- Budgeting,
- Shot lists, and
- Production contracts.
The software is mainly geared at professional screenwriters and film producers. Some of Yamdu’s standout features include:
- Call sheets,
- Crew management,
- PDF and video watermarks,
- Resource planning,
- Project freezing,
- Contract tracking, and other.
This is a feature-rich software — but, similarly to StudioBinder, it tends to lock basic features behind a high paywall.
This includes something as simple as keeping your contacts across different projects. Instead, you have to re-enter all of them every time you start a new project.
Yamdu’s best feature for video production — Extensive integration
Yamdu integrates with many major video production management systems, including popular ones like Movie Magic and Celtx.
This makes it easy to make the switch from another management software to Yamdu. But, this also allows you to leverage features from other tools that Yamdu lacks and seamlessly transition from one product to another.
| Yamdu | Pricing and availability |
|---|---|
| Price | – $70/mo — 1 project, 5 users + standard feature set – $120/mo — 3 projects, 25 users + advanced feature set – $350/mo — 6 projects, 75 users + advanced feature set and more – Enterprise tier for a custom price |
| Free plan | Unlimited productions and episodes + no more than 3 admins & creators |
| Available for | Web |
#5 Movie Magic Scheduling
Even a casual Google search will probably tell you that Movie Magic is “the industry standard” when it comes to production management.
Movie Magic is indeed a well-thought-out piece of software. It offers a variety of features necessary for in-depth script management, such as:
- Flexible stripboards,
- Script breakdowns,
- Cast breakdowns,
- Scheduling based on script and cast breakdowns,
- Advanced budgeting, and more.
However, industry standards keep changing.
Movie Magic might have held the crown once, but with the advent of modern technologies, and breakthroughs in online collaboration techniques that other project management tools provide, it can no longer keep its title.
Movie Magic’s best feature for video production — Budgeting
Movie Magic has one particularly useful feature, and that’s advanced budgeting. It helps producers create, edit, or estimate the cost of the production.
The software also allows you to derive your project budget from the stripboard to make sure everything aligns properly.
Keep in mind though, that the budgeting features in Movie Magic Scheduling are not the same as Movie Magic Budgeting features. Those are two different products and are paid for separately.
| Movie Magic | Pricing and availability |
|---|---|
| Price | $489 one-time purchase for Premiere or $489 per seat for the Bulk Yearly Coupon |
| Free plan | / |
| Available for | Windows and macOS app |
#6 Celtx
Celtx is a unique production management software in that it specializes in game production in addition to the usual drama or play screenwriting.
This is a cloud-based software, meaning that you can use it directly in your browser from any of your devices. There are also Apple and Google apps available — however, the mobile versions are very poorly received due to glitches, crashes, and poor syncing with the web version.
What once began as an offline app today offers many useful collaboration features, like:
- Editing a script with your team in real-time,
- Creating stripboards directly from the scripts,
- Creating call sheets,
- Forming reports, and
- Distributing them to the entire crew to keep everyone on the same page.
Like StudioBinder, Celtx also provides automatic script formatting, although not quite as effortless.
Something to note is that the game production management is a feature that only comes with the full Celtx studio, and is not available in Celtx Screenwriter. Celtx Screenwriter only supports film and TV-type projects.
Celtx’s best feature for video production — Shot lists
Celtx allows you to easily create detailed shot lists with all the necessary information, including:
- Angle,
- Movements,
- Camera,
- Frame,
- Focal length,
- Equipment, etc.
This feature enables you to plan out every shot to the minutest detail and never forget another prop or miss a scene.
| Celtx | Pricing and availability |
|---|---|
| Price | – For scriptwriting — $20/mo – For video production — $30/mo – Custom price for the Enterprise plan |
| Free plan | 14-day free trial |
| Available for | Web |
#7 Gorilla Scheduling
Gorilla Scheduling is an all-encompassing film management software meant for large teams and productions.
With Gorilla Scheduling, you can:
- Manage wardrobe, props, and makeup,
- Import screenplays,
- Create script breakdowns,
- Create call sheets,
- Schedule shoots,
- Create storyboards,
- Create detailed stripboards and shot lists, and much more.
For those who aren’t used to having so much functionality in their production software, Gorilla Scheduling offers over 40 videos to help you get a hang of the program.
And, for those in need of more functionality, you can purchase any other Jungle Software tool and pair it with Gorilla Scheduling.
Keep in mind that this piece of software is primarily meant for large-scale production teams — smaller teams are likely to get lost in its sea of functionality and outdated interface.
Gorilla Scheduling’s best feature for video production — Tagging elements
With Gorilla Scheduling, you can tag an element directly from the script editing window — and the elements will automatically appear in the breakdown reports.
You can do this by simply selecting the text you wish to tag, and adding a pre-existing or custom tag to it. These tags can later be reused as many times as you wish — and also used to mark synonyms in addition to identical words.
| Gorilla Scheduling | Pricing and availability |
|---|---|
| Price | $69 for the first month + $20 for each consequent month (or $240 for the year) |
| Free plan | / |
| Available for | macOS and Windows app (up to 2 installations at a time) |
#8 Monday
Monday is a well-established project management tool. It offers a variety of task and schedule management options, such as:
- Gantt charts for schedule management,
- Statuses, timelines, and estimates for tracking progress,
- Kanban boards for a clean overview of your project,
- Pie charts and bar charts for easy visualization, and much more.
The software is best suited for software development and marketing teams, but its long list of basic project management features makes it adaptable to all industries.
However, for those of you looking for a more creative approach to production management that includes screenwriting, storyboarding, or call sheets, Monday may not be the ideal solution.
Monday is primarily a project management software that offers a host of scheduling and organizational features that will help you manage the video production workflow. Meanwhile, writing scripts and creating videos will have to be done elsewhere.
Monday’s best feature for video production — Editable templates
Monday is a project management tool that’s not specialized in any one area of project management. However, this is also what makes it so flexible.
In Monday, you’ll find many pre-made, editable templates you can just import and use.
One of them is a neat video production management template that will transform Monday into a production management tool.
| Monday | Pricing and availability |
|---|---|
| Price | – Basic — $8/seat/mo – Standard — $10/seat/mo – Pro — $16/seat/mo – Custom price for the Enterprise plan |
| Free plan | – No more than 3 boards – 5 team members – Templates – Unlimited docs |
| Available for | Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android app |
#9 Asana
Asana is a robust project management tool with a variety of customization options.
Similar to Monday, Asana is not constrained by a specialized set of features — instead, it adapts to nearly all industries with relative ease.
Asana offers extensive collaboration and scheduling features, such as:
- Table, list, and Kanban views,
- Organized tasks and subtasks for each category,
- Easy communication and file-sharing within each task,
- Gantt chart and calendar for the optimum organization of shooting schedules, and more.
But, Asana’s extensive list of features might not suit everyone.
Smaller teams can easily find themselves lost among a multitude of options they don’t need, and still find themselves paying for a costly premium plan because of a few necessary features.
Asana’s best feature for video production — Production calendar
Asana’s production calendar is an incredibly useful tool for organizing video production and launches. It gives you the ability to customize everything — from statuses, tags, assignees, due dates, video types, to the view that will best suit your preferences.
While it doesn’t have Script writing and collaboration options or crew management, Asana can be used for small-scale video production just fine.
| Asana | Pricing and availability |
|---|---|
| Price | – Premium — $13.49/user/mo; – Business— $30.49/user/mo; – Custom price for the Enterprise plan; |
| Free plan | – Board, list, and calendar views – Up to 15 people – Unlimited tasks, projects, messages, files – Activity log |
| Available for | Web and desktop for Windows and macOS + Android and iOS apps |
#10 Assemble
Assemble is an all-in-one, modern software for video production.
This software is suited for both small and large teams, and focuses mainly on streamlining the process of creating simpler video projects. As such, it wouldn’t be the best choice for large film or drama productions with enormous crews.
Some of Assemble’s highlight features include:
- Scheduling management using a calendar or Gantt chart view,
- Tracking file status,
- Synchronization with iCalendar, Outlook, and Google Calendar,
- Managing multiple versions of your videos,
- Creating production binders and collaborating on them with your team,
- Regulating user permissions, etc.
So, Assemble is the perfect idea for smaller video production services — but, it has its limitations.
Namely, users have reported unresponsive editing features, unresponsiveness under high loads, the lack of an undo option, and poor export options.
Assemble’s best feature for video production — Frame-specific comments
Assemble enables you to leave comments directly on videos. Write on them frame-by-frame and mark the exact spots that need improvements.
Your comments can be seen by other people working on the same video. They can then give private feedback or share the comments on multiple threads.
| Assemble | Pricing and availability |
|---|---|
| Price | Standard plan = $19/mo, 1GB storage + $10/mo for 100GB additional storage + $20/mo for 250GB additional storage + $40/mo for 500GB additional storage + $80/mo for 1TB additional storage + Custom price for a custom amount of storage |
| Free plan | 30-day free trial |
| Available for | Web |
💡 Plaky Pro Tip
If you’re looking for a more general tool to help you manage your creative projects, you may want to take a look at the following:
Conclusion: The best video production software is the one that fits your requirements
Armed with the knowledge of the best project management tools for video production, how should you pick the right PM software?
Well, you should, of course, choose the one that’s best suited for your profession and style of work — choosing Monday or Asana is not a viable option if you work with hundreds of people every day and produce feature-length movies, documentaries, or talk shows.
On the other hand, software like Dramatify or Celtx won’t do you much good if your full-time job is being a content creator or a small video service owner — something like Plaky, for example, would be the better option.
The trick to finding the right software is to make it match your workflow and project type. Luckily, with all the information above, you are on the right track to picking the tool that will change the rules of the game.
If you take your time to carefully demo and explore your options, the right choice will present itself soon enough.
