Streamlining Documentary Film Production with Monday.com
Producing a documentary is a MASSIVE undertaking
It involves extensive research, funding efforts, production schedules, and post-production coordination. For this award winning and very well sought after independent documentary filmmaker, managing investor relations, pre-production planning, film crew logistics, and distribution timelines became increasingly difficult using disconnected spreadsheets, emails, and shared folders
The Goal
Create a centralized, automated, and scalable workflow to streamline production, optimize collaboration, and enhance efficiency from pre-production to red carpet screenings.
First - The Foundation : Identifying Key Pain Points
Before building the system, we analyzed the production team's workflow to pinpoint their biggest challenges. Our experience in film production proved beneficial in quickly understanding the chaos that engulfed their productions.
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Critical information was scattered across emails, messages, and documents, leading to inefficiencies and missed updates.
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Crew contacts, investor details, and project notes were stored in multiple places, making it hard to track key information.
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Assignments were often unclear, and deadlines were missed due to lack of structured tracking.
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Coordinating meetings, shoots, and deadlines across multiple calendars and tools caused confusion.
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Too much time was spent on repetitive tasks like updating stakeholders, tracking approvals, and sending reminders.
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Managing fundraising efforts lacked structure, leading to missed follow-ups and inconsistent communication.
Second - The Basics : Building the CRM Structure
With these pain points in mind, we established a strong and customized CRM foundation to centralize all critical production elements, eliminating wasted time searching for information. We set up.
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A centralized database for clients, crew members, investors and relevant stakeholders.
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Boards to track scriptwriting, location scouting, budgeting, and pre-production tasks.
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An integrated system where all meetings were logged, tracking decisions and storing key information.
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A structured pipeline to track potential projects and funding opportunities.
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Seamless connections with Gmail, Google Calendar, Slack, and more for effortless collaboration.
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Additionally, we utilized Monday's "My Work" feature, giving every team member a consolidated view of their responsibilities in both list and calendar formats.
Third - Industry Specific Features : The Real Movie Magic
Once the foundational setup was in place, we developed industry-specific boards and features tailored to filmmaking needs. By designing these specialized features, we provided a structured yet flexible approach to film production planning while also streamlining the fundraising process.
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A centralized database of crew members from all departments.
Tracks availability, experience, rates, CVs, and past project involvement.
Ensures efficient hiring and allocation of personnel for each production.
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By far the most actively used board. To support the documentary's financing, we created a dedicated board for fundraising and investor pitching, enabling the team to:
Track investor outreach: Monitoring communication status, follow-ups, and key decision-makers.
Manage proposal submissions: Logging grant applications, sponsorship pitches, and investor decks.
Monitor funding milestones: Keeping tabs on pledged contributions, secured funding, and outstanding commitments.
Automate follow-ups: Ensuring no opportunity is missed with scheduled reminders for investor communications.
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Top Sheet Budget:
Provides a high-level summary of the production budget, including major cost categories.
Helps producers and investors quickly assess overall financial needs and allocations.
Detailed Budget:
Breaks down every expense with line items, applicable fringes, and contingencies.
Designed to work for any production size, from indie films to large-scale documentaries.
Highly customizable to accommodate different budgeting structures.
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Contracts & Agreements: Storing legal documents in an organized manner.
Film Materials: Managing scripts, treatments, and production notes.
Asset Management: Keeping track of camera gear, props, and production-related assets.
Media Storage: Organizing reference images, raw footage, and finalized edits.
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Creative Visualization: Uploading and managing visual references for each scene.
Shot Planning: Structuring camera angles, framing, and sequencing for efficient shoot days.
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Structuring filming sequences for efficient execution.
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Scene Analysis: Logging cast, props, locations, and shot requirements for each scene.
Scheduling Shoots: Coordinating filming days with crew availability and logistical constraints.
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Automatically generating call sheets using data from Monday.com’s boards and effortlessly distributing to the team.
Fourth - The Final Touch : Automations, Integrations & Real-Time Monitoring
To reduce manual workload, improve efficiency, and enhance decision-making, we introduced key automations and integrations. These improvements allowed the production team to focus on creative execution without administrative bottlenecks.
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Ensuring key deadlines weren’t missed with scheduled alerts.
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Keeping external communication streamlined and in sync with project updates.
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A real-time overview of project status, financials, and upcoming deadlines.
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Logging and resolving production challenges efficiently.
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Managing team availability and equipment bookings.
Highlights
Top Sheet Budget based on the detailes provided in the detail budget board.
Detailed Budget with industry labelled line items, applicable taxes/friges, rates and all other pertinent data necessary.
Project Board grouped via production stage. Timelines, assignees and cost associated for each task included. Each item can be broken down into sub items.
Scene Breakdown Board where scenes are planned and assigned locations, crew, various film elements etc. Shot lists pertaining to the seen can be accessed here as well.
Shot list board where each shot is detailed in terms of camera type, shot type, camera movement, frames per sec etc etc. It gets technical here.
Conclusion
By leveraging Monday.com, this film production company transformed their operations—from fragmented workflows to an integrated, structured, and efficient system. Whether handling a single documentary or multiple film projects, the solution ensured clarity, creativity, and control.
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With centralized information hubs, ensuring all stakeholders stayed aligned.
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With automated dashboards providing real-time insights into project progress and budgets.
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Reducing missed deadlines and enhancing overall project efficiency.
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With structured fundraising boards leading to more consistent follow-ups and higher funding success rates.
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With real-time updates leading to faster decision-making and fewer bottlenecks.
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Allowing for seamless adaptation of workflows to new productions and larger-scale initiatives.
Contact us.
Complete the form or contact us via our details below. We would love to learn how we can help with your business.
Alternatively, you can schedule a call directly from our calendar using the button below.
info@lukco.com
(201) 800-4797
227 East 60th Street
New York, NY 10022