Features
Everything in BacklotHub, grouped the way a production office works.
Every feature on this page is live in the app today. Things still being built are listed separately at the bottom.
Every crew member you have ever booked, in one roster you can search.
A roster that stays current because crew keep their own details up to date.
More on crew rosterYour studio’s own crew page
Crew sign up for work with your company on its own page, send their résumé, and come back to keep their profile current. You approve every sign-up before anyone joins your roster.
One searchable crew database
Search by name, department, position or city. On a phone the roster turns into cards with one-tap calling, so you can reach the person you need from set.
An approval queue, not an open door
Applications wait in one queue with the résumé, links, gear and asking rate the person sent. Approving one creates their login and emails them. Nobody lands on your roster without a person on your team saying yes.
Crew keep their own details current
Approved crew sign in to a self-service portal to update their contact details and profile. They see only their own record. Other people’s details and your internal notes are never shown to them.
Rates only managers can see
Day, weekly and hourly rates are held on the record and shown only to Manager roles and above. Crew never see their own rate notes or anyone else’s.
Filter a list, then act on it
Export the filtered list to CSV, or send a group text to everyone in it. Whatever is on screen is what goes out.
Import what you already have
Bring crew in from a spreadsheet, or let AI read old call sheets and crew lists. Likely duplicates are flagged, and you choose to create, skip or overwrite each row before anything is saved.
Time off and working days
Staff request time off and managers approve it. Working-day calendars show who is available before you book them.
From “we’re booking them” to “payroll has them”, without the email chain.
One hire form that reaches payroll, and a status you can see without chasing.
More on crew hiresOne form for new crew and vendors
Add up to 20 crew and 10 vendors per submission, with positions, dates and rates, tied to one or more productions.
Matched against your roster
People you have hired before are recognised, and the rates you already have on file sit next to the new booking.
Payroll confirms without a login
Your payroll contact gets an email with a signed, time-limited link and confirms enrolment in one step. They do not need an account.
Status everyone can see
Each hire moves from New to Payroll started to Cleared, or Cancelled. Staff add notes and link the hire to its productions, and the original submission stays read-only.
Onboarding and offboarding checklists
Start and end dates, paperwork and system access are tracked on checklists, and named approvers sign off from their notifications.
Know who you rent from, whether they’re insured, and who approved the spend.
Vendor records, insurance certificates and purchase orders that need a second approver.
More on vendors & posA vendor list with a map
Vendor types, services, service area, contacts and net terms, plus a map of where your vendors are when you are prepping a location.
Vendors update their own listing
Send a vendor their claim link from a PO or invoice. Once verified they keep their contacts, services and insurance details current. Your internal notes and spend history are never shown to them.
Insurance certificates you can see at a glance
Record each certificate’s expiry, carrier and policy number. A weekly digest lists every certificate expiring in the next 45 days, before it stops a booking at the door.
POs that need a second approver
Managers raise purchase orders against a vendor and a production. An Admin approves them, and nobody can approve their own. If the vendor’s insurance needs attention, the PO shows a warning.
Expenses and payment requests
Staff submit expense reports. Payment requests email the people you tick. A weekly crew-cost view is available to managers.
Running costs per production
Recurring costs like storage, software and edit bays are attached to the production they belong to, so they don’t get lost in overhead.
Every production in one place, with call sheets built from your own roster.
Projects, schedules, call sheets and the production calendar, all working from the same roster.
More on productions & call sheetsA page for every production
Overview, roster, schedule, travel, logistics, assets, running costs and wrap-up notes live on the production, not in separate files.
Multi-day call sheets
Build call sheets day by day with department sections and call times, using crew from your roster.
Weather and nearest hospital, filled in
Give a location and the call sheet fills in the forecast, sunrise, sunset, chance of rain and nearest hospital, after checking the address.
On-set mode
Switch a call sheet into a live view for the day, made for checking on a phone on set.
Production calendar with Google Calendar
See shoot days, bookings and time off on one calendar, connected to your Google Calendar.
Your Asana tasks on the dashboard
Connect Asana and each person sees their own My Tasks list next to production work. There are also tasks inside BacklotHub if you don’t use Asana.
Travel briefs and shared documents
Email travel briefs to the people travelling, and keep company documents such as policies, templates and deal memos in one library.
Know where every camera, drive and package is.
Asset tags, drive indexes, shipping requests and live carrier tracking.
More on gear, drives & shippingInventory with real asset tags
Every item gets a short, sequential tag for its sticker, and tags are never reused. You can see what each crew member has signed out.
Bulk import
Load your existing gear list from a spreadsheet instead of retyping it.
Hard-drive indexing
Scan a drive’s folders from the browser and attach a searchable file index to that drive’s record, with an AI summary of what is on it.
Drive transfers with a safety check
Record contents moving from one drive to another. The operator has to type the destination drive’s tag before anything changes.
Shipping requests from anyone
Crew and staff fill in a shipping request form with no login. The request email shows carrier rates, and you can buy a label from a secure link or add a tracking number.
Live carrier status
The In Transit board shows each shipment’s real carrier status and ETA. Deliveries are announced once and confirmed on the board when received.
Screenings, parties and festival weeks, without the Google Form.
RSVP pages, guest lists, door check-in and festival invitations.
More on events & festivalsOpen, request or invite-only
Choose per event: confirm RSVPs until capacity, approve requests yourself, or accept invitations only. Capacity, waitlist, plus-ones and an RSVP-by date are built in.
Guest lists from a spreadsheet
Paste a list from Google Sheets, then add staff-only tiers such as VIP, talent or press, and custom questions like dietary needs and photo consent.
Personal RSVP links
Each guest gets their own signed link to change their answer, party size or details. Confirmations include calendar files.
Door check-in on a phone
Search by name and tap Check in. It updates live on every device at the door, and walk-ins are one tap.
Festivals: many events, one list
Group screenings and parties under a festival. Tick who is invited to what on one grid, and each person gets a single email listing only their events.
Export for the door
Download the guest list as CSV to keep as a paper backup.
Across the app
Things that apply everywhere.
Access by role and screen
Four roles: Super Admin, Admin, Manager and Employee. A role-by-screen matrix lets an owner turn screens off for a role. It can only take access away, never add it.
Audit log
Admins can see who changed what and when.
AI that runs on our server
AI imports, crew search and call-sheet helpers use Anthropic’s Claude through our own server. No AI key is ever sent to the browser.
Command palette
Press ⌘K to go to any screen, crew member or production. There are keyboard shortcuts for people who live in the app.
Export what you see
Crew, vendor and guest lists export to CSV exactly as filtered on screen.
Email that goes through
Every system email is logged with its outcome and never sent twice by accident, and opt-outs are honoured on anything that isn’t transactional.
Coming soon
In progress, not live yet.
We only list what the product actually does. These are being built now.
Native iOS and Android apps
App Store and Google Play builds are being prepared now. Until they ship, BacklotHub runs in Safari and Chrome on any phone, and you can add it to your home screen.
Multi-studio workspaces
For groups running more than one company or label: separate workspaces under one account, each with its own crew, vendors and productions.
BacklotHub Jobs
A public job board for crew, with paid jobs only: every posting shows a real day or weekly rate. Studios post jobs, included with every plan. Crew join free and keep one profile they can share with the studios they work for and use to apply.
See it with your own shows in mind.
A 30-minute walkthrough with someone who has run a production office. Bring your messiest spreadsheet.