A 6-month short film or feature production plan covering development, pre-production, production, post, sound, color, music and distribution, with the rolling departments that decide whether a film stays on schedule.
Pre-built chart, ready to open and edit.
Open in the app →Film production is one of the most logistically dense projects in the creative world. Pre-production sets up everything (location, crew, cast, equipment, schedule) so that the shoot, which costs the most per day, runs without surprises. This 6-month template covers a short film or low-budget feature. The pre-pro and post-pro phases are intentionally long because compressed schedules in either reliably hurt the final film.
Script lock: multiple drafts, table reads, feedback. Budget. Producing partner or production company attached. Pitch deck if seeking financing. Most projects spend more time in development than any other phase; that is fine, because the script and budget are the foundation everything sits on.
Crew hiring, casting, location scouting, schedule, shot list, storyboards, equipment rental, insurance. Pre-production failures cause production day overruns. Spend the time here so the shoot is execution, not problem-solving.
The shoot: typically 2–6 weeks for short films, 4–8 weeks for low-budget features. 10–12 hour days are common but unsustainable past 5 days/week. Daily call sheets distributed by 6pm the day before. Dailies reviewed each evening. Coverage notes: every scene shot from enough angles to give the editor real options.
Editor assembles a rough cut. Director and producer feedback rounds. Picture lock: the final cut where no more scene changes happen. After picture lock, sound design and color grading begin in earnest. Locking picture is the most-missed milestone in indie film, because every additional change cascades into sound and color.
Sound design, ADR (additional dialogue recording), foley, mix. Color grading. Composer scores to picture-lock. Music supervision for any licensed tracks. Final mix and master. These three departments work in parallel after picture lock.
Deliverables: master files in multiple formats, closed captions, trailer cut, key art, EPK. Festival submissions if going that route. Most festivals require 6+ months lead time. Distribution strategy: festivals first, then streaming, or direct to streaming/VOD.
Short film: 3–6 months. Low-budget feature: 9–18 months. Studio feature: 2–4 years. This template targets the short film / low-budget feature case.
Insufficient pre-production. Compressed pre-pro reliably produces a chaotic shoot, which produces a worse film for the same budget.
Depends on the film. Genre films and shorts often do better with the festival route; documentaries often benefit from a streaming-first strategy. Decide before locking picture.
Open the film template, fit it to your shoot dates, and you have a working 6-month plan with pre-pro, shoot, and post laid out.
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