Rock-steady plans for every shoot
Indie filmmaker software
for the person wearing every hat.
When you are the writer, producer, director and first AD, the plan has to live somewhere you can hold in one glance. One board per film: the script, the look, the breakdown, the shot list, the shoot days and the call sheet.
Creatives working for these brands already got early access
- Red Bull
- Canon
- Artlist
- Porsche
See how easy it is to get started
Watch a real project come together, from a blank board to a finished plan, clicked through step by step.
Start from a ready-made template
Pick a board to see what you can build, then let AI fill it in. Every template is a real, editable starting point on the same infinite canvas.
Pre-Production
Pull the brief, script, shot list, and moodboard into one pre-production hub so the whole shoot is planned in one place.
What software do indie filmmakers use to plan a film?
Storyflow is software for indie filmmakers who produce, direct and schedule the film themselves: one board holds the script and the look, and its AI drafts the breakdown, the shot list, the shoot days and the call sheet PDF from the script. The crew opens the board by link with no account. Most indie films still start in Google Drive, Docs and Sheets. For a crew, StudioBinder sends call sheets and tracks confirmations; Celtx emails them as PDFs.
The indie problem is not a missing document. It is that one person holds every document, and each one lives in a different place: the lookbook in a folder, the shot list in a spreadsheet, the schedule in a text thread, the cast availability in your head. A change to one never reaches the others, and the shoot day is where you find out.
Studio software is shaped for a production office with a coordinator whose job is keeping paperwork in sync. Without that coordinator, a system with six modules is six things you personally maintain. What an indie film needs is fewer documents, each derived from the one before it, all visible at once.
So the board follows the film. Development at the top (logline, treatment, beat sheet, lookbook), pre-production in the middle (breakdown, shot list, stripboard, locations, cast and crew), and the shoot days at the bottom, with a call sheet PDF per day. When the second location falls through, you see which scenes, shots and people it touches on the same screen.
Ultra fast from brief to board
From a script to a shootable film in four passes.
Each pass builds on the last, so nothing is typed twice.
01
Open a board for the film
It runs in your browser, nothing to install. Attach the script as a document; the AI takes up to five documents and three other boards as context.
02
Let the AI draft the breakdown
Scenes, cast and elements with page-eighth estimates, laid out on the board. You correct what it got wrong, which is faster than typing it from zero.
03
Build shots and shoot days
A shot list per scene, then a stripboard that groups scenes into shoot days by location, with night exteriors on the same night, or keeps script order if you shoot in continuity.
04
Hand the crew a link and a call sheet
The crew opens the board with no account. For each shoot day the AI drafts a call sheet PDF from the board that anyone can open on a phone.
The whole film, readable in one glance.
Development, pre-production and shoot days on one board instead of five folders.
Logline, treatment and beat sheet
Develop the film where you will plan it
The AI drafts a treatment, a beat sheet and character sheets from your idea. When pre-production starts, the story is already on the board it has to agree with.
See the film treatment template →
Scenes, cast and elements from the script
A breakdown you did not type
The AI reads the script and lays out every scene with its cast, props, wardrobe and locations. That breakdown is what surfaces the prop nobody sourced and the location that needs a permit.
Try the AI script breakdown →
Shots and shoot days
Shot list and stripboard side by side
Break each scene into shots, then group scenes into days. Because both sit on one board, cutting a shot to save an hour shows you which day gets lighter.
See the stripboard →
One PDF per shoot day
A call sheet drafted from the board
Ask for tomorrow's call sheet and the AI drafts a PDF from the schedule, locations and contacts already on the board. You still send it yourself.
See the AI call sheet generator →Unlimited boards. No object cap.
One board per film, and another for the next one. Storyflow is paid-only during early access, with plans from $7.99 a month billed annually ($9.99 monthly). A free plan launches before the end of 2026, and anyone a paid member invites to a board joins free.
Unlimited boards and file uploads on every paid plan
AI workflows for breakdowns, shot lists, stripboards and call sheet PDFs
Crew and collaborators you invite join free and edit in real time
View-only links the cast and investors open with no account
Built for people with taste
Indie films rarely fail on set. They fail in the gaps between documents.
Four patterns that repeat on small productions, and what the board does about each.
One person, five documents
The drift problem
The shot list forgets the lookbook: The look was agreed in development and the shot list was written three weeks later. Keeping both on one board means the reference sits beside the shot it is supposed to shape.
The schedule books the wrong day: A location swap changes which scenes can shoot on Saturday. When the stripboard and the location notes share a board, the clash shows before anyone drives anywhere.
Cast availability lives in a text thread: Put each actor's dates in a table with a date column, rows kept in date order, next to the stripboard. Availability, not page count, decides most indie schedules.
Nobody knows which version is current: There is one board, so there is one version. View-only visitors see the latest state when they open or reload the link.
Only the paperwork that earns its place
What a small production actually needs
Keep: breakdown, shot list, stripboard, call sheet: These four decide whether a shoot day works. Everything on set traces back to one of them, so they are the ones worth drafting properly.
Keep: releases, permits and insurance: Skipping them is cheap until a festival or distributor asks. A to-do list on the board with each release and permit is enough for most shorts.
Skip: the production-office extras: Day-out-of-days reports and department budgets matter on a crewed feature. On a weekend short they are documents one person maintains for nobody.
An AI that reads the film
The first AD you cannot afford
It drafts from your script: Breakdown, shot list, stripboard and budget come from the script and the board, not from a generic template, so the first draft is about your film.
It finds what is missing: Ask which scenes have no location confirmed or which shots have no gear listed. It reads the open board, so the answer is specific.
It proposes, you decide: Edits land on the board with one-click Undo. What to cut, who to cast and when to shoot stay your calls.
Crew, cast and investors
Share the film without a tool to learn
Crew edit alongside you: Invite the DP or a producing partner and they edit the board in real time. Anyone a paid member invites joins free.
Everyone else gets a link: Cast and investors open a view-only link with no account, and sign in to comment on the specific scene or shot.
Pitch from the same board: Presentation mode steps through frames on the board full screen, and the AI drafts a treatment, one-pager or lookbook PDF for the people you are asking for money.
Explore templates for your project
Every template opens as a real, editable board on the infinite canvas. Pick the closest fit and make it your own.
Pre-Production
Pull the brief, script, shot list, and moodboard into one pre-production hub so the whole shoot is planned in one place.
One app instead of five
Storyflow vs StudioBinder, Celtx and Google Drive.
StudioBinder and Celtx are full production suites with screenwriting and crew call sheet distribution. Drive, Docs and Sheets are free and familiar. Here is where each fits an indie film.
Storyflow
Recommended
The whole film on one visual board
Breakdowns, stripboards and call sheets built from the script
Comments on the specific item
Screenplay editor in industry format
Sends call sheets to the crew
StudioBinder
The whole film on one visual board
Breakdowns, stripboards and call sheets built from the script
Comments on the specific item
Screenplay editor in industry format
Sends call sheets to the crew
Celtx
The whole film on one visual board
Breakdowns, stripboards and call sheets built from the script
Comments on the specific item
Screenplay editor in industry format
Sends call sheets to the crew
Google Drive
The whole film on one visual board
Breakdowns, stripboards and call sheets built from the script
Comments on the specific item
Screenplay editor in industry format
Sends call sheets to the crew
What creators are saying
Join early creators getting structured workspaces and AI that remembers their projects
“Storyflow has sped up my workflow by at least 3x, which means more flow state and more projects I can actually ship. It truly changed the way me and my team create.”
Reilin Joey
Director & YouTuber
“One prompt gets me a structured board. But the tactics are my favorite. I run my YouTube scripts through them and my intros and retention got better. It's amazing.”
Justkay
YouTuber & Freelance Filmmaker
“I used to juggle five apps to plan a project. Now I describe what I am making and get boards, lists, and a schedule. All in one place.”
George
@fernwehchronicles
Indie filmmaker questions, answered.
What people making films without a production office ask before they plan one on a board.
Storyflow is built for the indie filmmaker who produces, directs and schedules alone: one board holds the script and lookbook beside the breakdown, shot list, stripboard and a call sheet PDF per day, which its AI drafts from the script. Use StudioBinder or Celtx if you need an industry-format screenplay editor; StudioBinder sends call sheets and tracks confirmations, and Celtx emails them as PDFs. Google Drive and Sheets cost nothing and work until the documents start disagreeing.
By keeping fewer documents and deriving each from the one before it: script to breakdown, breakdown to shot list, shot list to stripboard, stripboard to call sheet. In Storyflow all of them sit on one board, so a change is visible against everything it touches. Add numbered folders for media and a 3-2-1 backup of every card. For the full stage-by-stage method, see the indie film production workflow page.
Not during early access. Storyflow is paid-only during early access, with plans from $7.99 a month billed annually ($9.99 monthly). A free plan launches before the end of 2026, and anyone a paid member invites to a board joins free, so your crew adds nothing to the bill. Cast and investors viewing a link never need an account.
You can draft in a Doc on the board, which has rich text, inline comment threads and Word and PDF export, but it is not an industry-format screenplay editor. Most indie filmmakers write in Final Draft, WriterDuet, Celtx or Fade In, then attach the script as a PDF or text. The AI plans from the script itself, whatever it was written in.
Yes. Attach the script and ask for a breakdown: the AI lays out each scene with its cast and elements, with page-eighth estimates, on the board. From there it can group scenes into shoot days as a stripboard and break scenes into shots. Check its work the way you would check a new first AD's, because a missed prop is still your problem on the day.
It drafts them. Ask for a call sheet for a shoot day and the AI produces a PDF from the schedule, locations and contacts on the board, which the crew can open on a phone. It does not send the call sheet, collect confirmations or track crew availability, so you still send it by email or message. StudioBinder does the sending and confirming if you need that.
Around the constraints you cannot move, which on most indies are location access and cast availability rather than script order. Group scenes by location first, then by cast, then by day or night. Put the hardest scene early in a day, not late. On a Storyflow board the stripboard sits beside the availability table, so a date that does not work is visible before you lock it.
Yes. Invite them and they edit the same board in real time with live cursors, on any paid plan, and anyone a paid member invites joins free. People who only need to follow along, such as cast, investors or a location owner, open a view-only link with no account and sign in if they want to comment.
Yes, where documentaries hurt most: research, subjects and a plan that changes after every interview. Keep research notes, interview subjects, uploaded reference video with grabbed frames, and a shooting plan on one board, and ask the AI which subjects have no date yet. For documentary-specific planning, see the documentary pre-production page.
Yes. Presentation mode shows the board full screen and steps through its frames, which works for a lookbook or a development pitch. The AI also drafts a treatment, a one-pager or a lookbook as a PDF from what is on the board. Investors can also open a view-only link with no account to see the plan behind the pitch.
It does not edit video, review cuts with timecoded comments, write in industry screenplay format, send call sheets or track crew confirmations. Dates live in tables and tickets rather than a calendar, and it runs in the browser with nothing to install. It is also newer than Notion or StudioBinder, with a smaller template library. It is the planning layer, not the whole post pipeline.
Not on a one day short with four people; a shared folder and one shot list will do. It starts paying off when the film has several locations, cast with day jobs and more than a weekend of shooting, because that is when documents begin to disagree. Storyflow earns its place at that point by keeping the documents on one board and drafting them from the script.
More from Storyflow
Indie film production workflow
Film shoot planner
Film production planning
Low budget film planning
Short film production plan
AI script breakdown
Stripboard
AI call sheet generator
Film treatment template
Documentary pre-production
For directors
For producers
Pre-production tools
How indie filmmakers organize projects
Video production software
Film press kit
Stop carrying the film in your head.
Open a board, attach the script, and let the AI draft the breakdown and shot list. No download.