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

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.

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 an element catalogue, and generate breakdown summaries, stripboards, day out of days 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 installed desktop software from Entertainment Partners with multi-episode management, unit coordination, conflict detection and day out of days reports, and a production needing that depth should use it. For a short, a commercial, a music video or a smaller indie feature, Storyflow covers the breakdown and strip board in the browser, with the shot list and call sheets built from the same board.

Not yet. 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 the first AD or line producer checking the breakdown does not pay. Department heads who only read it open a view-only link with no account.