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Nothing can replace the blood, sweat, and tears shed on set. But filmmaking software can certainly help.
From apps to websites to online services, we’ve compiled a list of the best filmmaking software to aid you in any phase of production.
Stories start on scratch paper and cocktail napkins. Scripts start in screenwriting software.
Note that the list below does not include screenwriting software staples like Final Draft or Celtx. Instead, we’re focusing on unique tools that writers and producers can use to expand and refine their storycrafting capabilities.
Here are the best on the market currently.
WriterDuet is a web-based app that’s free to use for up to three projects. Perfect for screenwriting partners, WriterDuet allows you to edit scripts with other collaborators in real time.
Think of WriterDuet as the Google Doc to Final Draft’s Word.
Created by screenwriter John August and his team, Highland 2 is a powerful screenwriting software, made “by screenwriters for screenwriters.” Endorsed by the likes of Phil Lord and Michael Chabon, Highland 2 is steadily gaining fans in the professional writing community.
Unlike Final Draft, where you have to tell the software whether you’re formatting dialogue or action lines, Highland 2 is smart enough to auto-format for you. The software was designed from the ground up to help writers focus on writing.
Highland 2 offers a basic package for free, but users will have to pay for a license to add on premium features.
While Scrivener may just seem like a basic word processor with a screenplay mode, it’s actually so much more. The real achievement is how it organizes your work. Each project has a left-side toolbar that displays itself as a binder, allowing you to organize the project per chapter, per act, or per anything else you can think of.
The software even enables you to split your screen and compare two documents. This can come in handy if you’re trying to look at research while writing or in the editing process when you’re trying to determine which version sounds best.
Scrivener also offers digital index cards, character development documents, and much more.
But the real steal is the pricing. Get rid of monthly payments, Scrivener believes in one time licensing. Prices for the desktop version start at only $59.99.
Screenwriting is a hard craft. Asking others for feedback can be critical to the process, but finding a good reader sometimes seems as hard as writing the script.
That’s where Coverfly comes in.
Coverfly offers coverage services from experienced readers for fairly reasonable prices. They even host contests to give writers more opportunity.
The Black List is the ultimate coverage website. The site lets you upload your work and get coverage by some of the industry’s best. For a price, you can get notes on your script, an invaluable source of feedback for any writer trying to make it in the biz. The Black List also provides services for producers, directors, or anyone else searching for the next big script. The site gives its members “unlimited access to new scripts and plays from the best emerging storytellers.”
Launch Pad’s mission is to launch writing careers. The site offers competitions, coverage, and feedback services for any level writer.
Launch Pad offers options to include developmental notes as well studio coverage (what studios would say about your script), offering a unique and honest perspective for writers everywhere. Another great filmmaking tool to add to your kit.
StoryScout is leading producers into the future of content discovery. Created by Todd Hoffman and his team at Storied Media Group, StoryScout is an online marketplace that revolutionizes how producers find intellectual property to turn into films and television series.
The StoryScout platform allows users to search with laser precision for content from more than 50 publishers across journalism, literature, comics, podcasts, and even video games. Through personal customization features and the backing of one of the industry’s finest lit agencies, StoryScout empowers users to cut through the noise and zero in on exactly the kind of content they’re looking for faster than ever.
Once the script is locked, the next stop on a producer’s agenda is figuring how much the project will cost to make. Thankfully, there’s some great filmmaking software out there to help with this extremely important process.
And since budgeting and scheduling are so closely linked, we’ve provided our favorites together.
Assemble is an end-to-end project management platform designed for film producers. It features production calendars, task lists, asset review tools, feedback and approval tracking, as well as production specific features such as casting and location management, a call sheet builder, frame specific video commenting and more.
Assemble allows you to easily collaborate with your team and track progress for every phase of the project, keeping your assets and communication centralized in one place.
Assemble offers a free 14-day trial to take their platform for a test run. After that, pricing varies according to your team’s unique needs.
PreProCloud allows you to generate and tweak film budgets from a web-based application. Perfect for production companies and freelance line producers, PreProCloud allows you to invite team members and visualize your budget breakdown in real time.
PreProCloud allows users to get started for free but charges a one-time fee when each project is activated. PreProCloud lets you pay after a bid has been awarded.
Created by Entertainment Partners, Movie Magic Budgeting and Movie Magic Scheduling are considered industry standard.
While there’s a considerable learning curve for both Movie Magic Scheduling & Budgeting, there’s no denying the track record of either program. These two filmmaking softwares are used on almost every major production, making them essential tools if you’re working as a coordinator or UPM.
The best deals for renting equipment are often found in tiny rental houses only your friend’s friends’ friends know about.
However, like everything else, the internet has made renting more convenient and – sometimes – even more affordable.
You don’t need to know a friend of a friend with a camera anymore. Thanks to filmmaking sites like ShareGrid, finding equipment is easier (and cheaper) than ever.
For all intents and purposes, ShareGrid is an online rental house, connecting you to film equipment of all types, right in your area. From cameras to lenses to drones, ShareGrid carries just about any equipment you might need for your shoot. Plus, everything they rent automatically comes with equipment insurance.
All equipment and vendors are user-reviewed, so you can evaluate a purchase with confidence before you shell out some of your budget. You can even choose to rent out your own equipment if you want to make some cash on the side.
If you’re looking for gear online, you might also want to visit KitSplit. An alternative to ShareGrid, the company has a slightly stronger focus on cameras.
While their prices are transparent, if you’re looking to rent a ton of gear for a shoot, definitely reach out to one of their agents, as they might be able to cut a deal for you.
As with any equipment rental sites, be sure to review terms and conditions before renting or lending out your own equipment.
Lensrentals is a solid and highly reliable service for renting video and photo equipment.
Keep in mind, they are definitely a larger company, which means they won’t be as flexible with their services as ShareGrid. That being said, their camera selection is top notch.
Perhaps the place where filmmaking software comes in most handy is during the editing process.
At any point in your post-production workflow – from giving notes to actually making edits – you likely won’t make it through the day without using one of these:
AVID Media Composer remains the industry standard non-linear editing software for professional film and television productions. With a focus on speed, organization, and collaboration between stakeholders, AVID is the perfect tool for creating media projects on a large-scale.
AVID continues to push its Media Composer software forward with innovative features, like AI-powered tools and an increasing number of third-party integrations. Professional pricing for the AVID Media Composer suite starts at $239 per year, but there’s now a free version for beginners and anyone looking to take the software for a spin.
Adobe Premiere Pro is the standard filmmaking software for many types of video editing, and for good reason: it allows you to do everything you might need.
Perfect for collaboration, color grading, splicing clips, and building complex timelines, Premiere Pro is a film editor’s dream come true. Thanks to the full support of Adobe, Premiere also updates with new features on a regular basis, including innovative tools that integrate machine learning and artificial intelligence directly into the software.
Premiere also benefits from its direct connection to the rest of the Adobe Creative Suite. You can easily hop between Premiere Pro, After Effects, Photoshop, and much more all without disrupting your workflow.
DaVinci Resolve is another great option for editors. Built by Blackmagic Design, Resolve made a name for itself years ago as the go-to program for professional color correction. More recently, the software has become competitive as an all-in-one editing and visual post-production solution.
DaVinci Resolve is known for its high degree of technical quality. It has a distinctly modern interface and is constantly being optimized for better performance. Critically, Resolve brings the professional-grade tools of editors, colorists, VFX artists, and sound engineers into a single platform.
Unlike most of its competitors, Resolve offers its base software for free. The upgraded DaVinci Resolve Studio offers an expanded collection of features, assets, and support for a one-time price of $295.
This next one isn’t a film editing software but it does enable better work while editing. Frame.io is a cloud-based collaboration tool that integrates with Adobe products, Slack, and more, to help you stay connected with everyone you work with across everything you work with.
At its core, Frame.io is a filmmaking software that creates a streamlined system for managing project feedback. It allows creative teams to move from first assembly to final cut faster than ever and enables a more pleasant video collaboration experience overall.
If you’re working with a remote editor or churning out many videos in a short span of time, check out Wipster. Similar to Frame.io, Wipster allows you to give notes for your project directly on the project itself.
By uploading your video project to Wipster, collaborators can add “sticky notes” to any frame of their choosing. Anyone with access can then easily add comments to notes and organize them clearly for your editor.
This filmmaking software is a must for video teams working remotely.
Topaz Labs has been at the forefront of creating AI-driven tools that have real-world applications for professional filmmakers. Topaz Video AI empowers users with new abilities that allow them to stabilize footage, heal artifacts, upscale videos, and much more with greater speed and efficiency.
As artificial intelligence continues to evolve, the technology is bound to impact post-production workflows in new and exciting ways, but Topaz Labs is using AI to solve real problems right now. You can purchase Topaz Video AI for a one-time price of $299.
Endcrawl is a post-production resource for filmmakers who are looking to streamline the construction of their project’s end credits. Endcrawl’s post-production software creates your credit scrawl nearly from scratch, empowering teams to quickly make adjustments and customizations with more ease and efficiency.
This is a great example of post production software that’s truly worth it. It fulfills a real need and is incredibly easy to use.
Endcrawl takes away the hard work, sorting through all of the data from your film or show and organizing it into customized templates. It saves time, conserves energy, and produces a final result that always looks pretty.
Common crowdfunding platforms such as GoFundMe have been used for films in the past, but there are others that focus more on the craft of filmmaking. With these, funding film projects has never been easier.
But no two crowdfunding sites are alike. Each offers different benefits that can make or break your project’s budget.
Kickstarter has revolutionized the art of film financing, opening the gates to both producers and investors without connection to the traditional finance ecosystem.. This crowdfunding tool has afforded really talented filmmakers the chance to actually make their movie, even when they don’t have a direct connection to the big bucks.
The only downside about Kickstarter is that if you don’t reach your goal, you won’t receive any of the money. And if you do, the platform takes a small cut. It’s not the right solution for every low-budget filmmaker, but it’s the perfect tool for independent creators who have an established fanbase.
Seed&Spark was made by filmmakers for filmmakers.
Tailored specifically to indie film projects, Seed&Spark allows donors to either give generally or earmark their donations to specific areas of production.
However, your project isn’t greenlit unless you hit your funding goal.
Like most crowdfunding sites, Seed&Spark charges 5% of your goal to process your project. Unlike other sites, Seed&Spark lets your donors cover that cost.
When registering your project, you can allow contributors to cover your project fee, so that all of the other money your raise goes directly into the budget.
This, coupled with the platform’s high rate of success, makes Seed&Spark an incredible filmmaking resource.
Featuring campaigns for tech gadgets, comic books, and all other sorts of indie endeavors (get it?), Indiegogo is often a popular choice for crowdfunding.
While Seed&Spark is exclusively made for filmmakers, Indiegogo is built for a wider range of creators. As such, it offers both fixed and flexible funding.
In practice, this means that if your project doesn’t hit its goal, you still get to keep the rest of the money you raised along the way. This can come in especially handy on a filmmaking project, where a decreased budget sometimes just means calling in more favors from friends.
The platform fee is 5%, and it cannot be covered by contributors.
Ask any crew member, and they’ll tell you their favorite part of the job: getting paid on time.
Since union contracts are complicated beasts, most producers turn to entertainment payroll companies for help with getting their people paid and maintaining compliance while they do it..
Created in 2018, Wrapbook is a powerful entertainment payroll service that allows you to digitally onboard and pay your cast and crew.
Wrapbook offers integrated production accounting features. It allows you to handle purchase orders, monitor actual expenses compared to your budget, and facilitate vendor payments with just one click.All of these features are available in real time and are consolidated within a single, intuitive platform.
With everything on one dashboard, you can easily review timecards, pay people, and share important documents with just a few clicks.
The software focuses on helping producers stay union compliant whenever applicable. For certain unions, Wrapbook can even automatically handle timecard calculations for OT rates and gross wages.
There’s also no subscription or monthly fee. You only pay for the payroll you actually run. If you’re looking to cut costs on your indie film, that means Wrapbook might be the perfect choice for you.
At the end of the day, filmmaking software can save you lots of time and headaches, but film production tools are only as good as the people wielding them.
To sharpen your skills, check out our conversation with producer Gabe Godoi about building the perfect crew or take a deep dive into what makes payroll tick with Wrapbook’s own Lila Nawrocki.
At Wrapbook, we pride ourselves on providing outstanding free resources to producers and their crews, but this post is for informational purposes only as of the date above. The content on our website is not intended to provide and should not be relied on for legal, accounting, or tax advice. You should consult with your own legal, accounting, or tax advisors to determine how this general information may apply to your specific circumstances.
The Wrapbook Team consists of individuals who are thrilled about building modern software tools for creators. We’re a team of compassionate and curious people dedicated to solving complex problems with sophisticated solutions. You can find us across the U.S. and Canada.
