Filmmaking / Directing : Director Binder/Computer Folder by Maurice Vaughan

Yes! I have a folder for each screenplay I work on. In it are my pitch decks, notes, outlines and Final Draft doc of the script. I'm just a writer so I don't have spreadsheets with budgets, etc.

That's great, Michael David. I do the same thing with my spec scripts and writing jobs/ghostwriting jobs. I had files all over the place on my laptop until I spring cleaned it a while back.

Hi Maurice, my screenplay

Hi, Billy Kwack. Great. Which screenplay?

Hi Maurice, all of them, I don't trust computers and I type slow

Have you thought about using typing software to learn how to type faster, Billy Kwack?

Hi Maurice, yes, I remember that in junior high school

Production binders: Current script, shooting schedule, budget, SFX and VFX breakdowns and anything directly related to production. Legal has so much so that's filed elsewhere in file drawers. So new script pages go into the binder as well as latest schedules and budgets, etc. On the computer, I name a folder for the project, and inside will be a number of folders and the updated files go there under their respective folders. And naming conventions will have the dates in the file name. (Yes, I've been in meetings and calls where someone was looking at an earlier document because someone didn't name the file properly).

Hi Maurice,

Yeah, but only digital. ;)

Production binders have a lot, Lindbergh E Hollingsworth. It sounds like a lot of work putting one together, but it's worth it to have those things and have everyone on the same page. I could've really used production binders back when I was trying to make movies. I didn't know about production binders back then. I didn't know a lot about producing actually.

My suggest to anyone getting into filmmaking is learn about film production, the legal side, and financing ahead of time. You can learn more about these things as you go and while you're on set, but it helps to know these things upfront.

Hi, Frank Van Der Meijden. What do you put in your digital folder?

Maurice, yep, gotta keep them updated. On big films there's a team to help do this (on top of what they usually do). I remember on a few studio productions the director had a few binders. One production binder, and another with the script and his notes on how to shoot, another for story boards (yes, these were heavy action shoots with plenty of SFX and VFX).

I remember seeing a video where Francis Ford Coppola showed his binder for The Godfather, Lindbergh E Hollingsworth. It was THICK! I think it'd be easier having separate binders. One for production, one for the script, etc. I use separate computer folders for my scripts. One for the outline/research, one for pictures, one for the script, one for the rewrite, etc.

I have a couple of different ways I do that.

The first is when I'm still developing a project and that goes into the development folder, that contains the project name and under that folder there are various things like screenplay development, pitching material, art, etc.

When a project goes from the development stage to the production page it's moved to one of the production company folders, where there are folders for each year and then project folders and these projects contain folders for different things like budgeting, production and various documents like shot lists, call sheets, shooting schedules, etc.

Then once the production starts there are some new folders for material that's shot, etc.

I also keep a couple of spreadsheets for each production company of important information, like lists of people we work with, actors, contact information, etc.

All of this is set up on a storage system that's backed up and available across different networks so that everyone involved who needs to access stuff can do so and even the post production database is held there so that many different people can do work on a project at the same time.

I set up the system about 8 years ago when we started doing projects and it seems to be a good system since we haven't had any problems yet.

There's also a communication CRM web interface running on the server that we use to communicate and plan stuff. Which makes it easier.

Right now there's about 64 TB of stuff on the server, granted most of the bulk is the raw project files and masters of projects. The development and preproduction files don't take up much space.

It helps that I used to do IT before I got into filmmaking. :)

That's a fantastic system, Vital Butinar! "All of this is set up on a storage system that's backed up and available across different networks so that everyone involved who needs to access stuff can do so and even the post production database is held there so that many different people can do work on a project at the same time." I'm sure that saves you and your team time, money, and headaches.

Maurice Vaughan it does and it's set up in a way that I'm never worried that something might go missing (I seem to have severe data hording syndrome), but at the same time sometimes it seems over elaborate and if I wasn't working with another production company who also uses this system it would probably not be worth it.

The data storage system uses a lot of power, thankfully it is hosted at the production company's office and with fiber being what it is these days, you can hardly tell the difference between something on your workstation and on the storage system.

But I think organization of the information is really important and if it's consistent it makes a lot of difference in saving time when doing something new.

Maurice Vaughan I’m a big fan of keeping organized folders, both digital and hard copy, for just about everything. Back in college, I relied heavily on physical binders for all my production documents. These days, I’ve shifted mostly to digital, and I really appreciate the convenience of accessing my Google Drive folders from any device. It makes collaborating and staying organized so much easier, especially across multiple projects.

Yes, I do the binder thing for my live-action productions. I act as producer / first AD to my partner who is cinematographer / director. He does some storyboards and production design work on paper, but I'm the one who keeps track of it all.

I’m a big fan of keeping organized folders too, Ashley Renee Smith. I only use computer folders, but your comment got me thinking about doing both. Digital and hard copy.

Great, Mike Boas. Do you make a binder for your animation productions? Or is it easier to keep digital folders for those?

I think that's something filmmakers should keep in mind, Vital Butinar. How much power a data storage system uses. And if they even need data storage systems because like you said, "with fiber being what it is these days, you can hardly tell the difference between something on your workstation and on the storage system."

Maurice Vaughan that's true, but at the same time Ashley Renee Smith mentioned using googles cloud systems. I always keep reminding myself of one things, "there is no cloud, it's just someone else's computer" and that kind of stuff keeps me up at night if my stuff was stored somewhere else. Yes the accessibility is great, but as it was shown more than one time, things can just go missing and with the amount of data that we generate you have to think about it and backing it up otherwise stuff goes missing.

No binder for my animation work. it’s mostly people working in different locations, so it’s all managed with google sheets, pdf files, frame.io, and Dropbox.