Script breakdown software,
from the first read to shoot days.

Storyflow is built for exactly this job: attach the script and the AI builds a scene index and a breakdown per scene from the parsed script, leaves cells empty where the script names nothing, and turns it into a strip board beside the shot list and call sheet. StudioBinder, Celtx and Filmustage suit tagging and reports in a production suite; Movie Magic Scheduling suits features and episodic TV.

A script breakdown lists cast, background and extras, stunts, props, wardrobe, makeup and hair, set dressing, vehicles, animals, special effects, sound and music, special equipment, and the location or set. Each scene also carries its number, INT or EXT, day or night, a one-line synopsis and its length in eighths of a page. Productions add categories such as security or visual effects, and each traditionally gets its own highlight colour.

Number the scenes and measure each in eighths of a page. Read one scene at a time, marking every element in the action lines as well as the dialogue: cast, extras, props, wardrobe, makeup, set dressing, vehicles, animals, effects, sound and equipment. Record the location, INT or EXT and day or night, and note continuity across story days. Check it against the script before scheduling. In Storyflow the AI builds the first pass; the checking is yours.

A breakdown sheet is one page per scene listing everything that scene needs: the scene number and heading, INT or EXT, day or night, page count, a synopsis, and the elements by category, traditionally colour-coded. The stripboard and the budget are built from these sheets. Storyflow holds the breakdown as tables instead, one row per scene and a column per category, which is easier to scan and to turn into strips than a stack of sheets.

Every scene in the breakdown becomes a strip carrying its number, location, INT or EXT, day or night, pages and cast. The strips are grouped: same-location scenes together to avoid company moves, exteriors by their light, an actor's scenes clustered to limit hold days, and each day balanced by page count. In Storyflow, asking for a strip board builds a wall per shoot day with coloured strips and page totals, and you drag strips between days.

No to both. Storyflow's strip board groups scenes into shoot days with page counts, and you move a scene by dragging its strip, but nothing recalculates when you do, and there is no day out of days report. The AI can answer which days a cast member works from the strips when you ask. A production that needs live recalculation should schedule in a dedicated tool.

Shorter and more product-led than a feature's. As an example, a fictional campaign of three 30-second spots breaks down to eleven scenes across four locations. In Storyflow the scene index shows which spots share a kitchen location and two cast members, so they shoot together, and the breakdown table lists every appearance of the product, its colourway and its packaging, so nothing is missing on the day.

Scene length is measured in eighths of a page: each script page is divided into eight parts, so a scene a little under a page and a half is 1 3/8. Schedulers use eighths to estimate how much a day can hold and to spot an overloaded day. They are estimates, since one line of action can take an afternoon. Storyflow's scene index gives each scene an estimated length in eighths, and the strip board totals them per day.

It can do a reliable first pass if it works from the script itself rather than its memory of the story. Storyflow's AI reads the script's parsed scene index, keeps the script's scene numbers, tells you how many pages, scenes and speaking parts it read, and fills element cells only from each scene's text. That makes it checkable. It will not know that a location has no power; the producer and first AD still review it.

PDF, Final Draft (.fdx), Fountain and Word (.docx) files, plus plain text; an old .doc file needs saving as .docx first. The script's scene index is parsed from the whole file when you attach it, so a long feature is covered past any reading limit. Storyflow reads and breaks down scripts; it is not a screenwriting formatter, so write and revise the script in Final Draft, WriterDuet or Celtx.

StudioBinder and Celtx are production suites built around the script: you tag elements with colour-coded categories, manage them in a catalogue, and generate breakdown summaries, stripboards and other reports. Storyflow builds the breakdown as tables with AI from the attached script and keeps it on a visual board beside the strip board, shot list, references and call sheet. Choose a suite for element management and reports, Storyflow for speed and one shared board.

Not for a large feature or episodic series. Movie Magic Scheduling is an installed Mac and Windows application from Entertainment Partners with multi-episode management, conflict detection and day out of days, and a production needing that depth should use it. For a commercial, a music video or a brand film, Storyflow covers the breakdown and strip board in the browser, with the shot list and call sheet built from the same board.

Not yet. Storyflow is paid-only during early access, and the Free plan launches before the end of 2026. Anyone invited to a board by a paid member can sign up free. The AI inside Storyflow starts on Plus at $7.99 a month billed annually ($9.99 monthly), then Pro at $14 ($19 monthly) and Max at $39 ($49 monthly). Anyone a paid member invites joins free, so the first AD or line producer checking the breakdown does not pay.