Are you looking for the best film production software tools to become more efficient as a filmmaker?

As an indie filmmaker myself, I know it’s easy to get so caught up on the creative side that you forget about the project management side of filmmaking – like budgeting, scheduling, marketing, etc.

Luckily, no matter what kind of film you’re working on, the basic steps and elements are the same. This way, you can use the same programs for every project.

In this article, I’ve compiled a list of my favorite film production software I’ve used to help streamline my filmmaking workflows. I’ll go into the details of each tool and explain what it’s used for, how much it costs, who it’s best for, and my personal opinion on it.

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. Please read full disclosure for more information.

What Are the Best Film Production Software Tools?

1. Celtx

Overview

Celtx is a great user-friendly production management software. It has a ton of features and tools to help you plan, write, and format scripts, as well as create storyboards and shooting schedules.

They also give you access to a large library of free sound effects, music, and images.

I have found Celtx to be my favorite all-in-one tool for any beginner or experienced professional in the filmmaking industry.

Top Benefits

Organized Workflow: Keep track of everything from characters and locations to props and wardrobe, saving you time and making sure all your project elements are easily accessible.
Seamless Collaboration: Collaborate effortlessly with your team, regardless of location. Celtx helps keep everyone on the same page.
Visualize Your Story: Bring your film to life before it’s shot! The storyboarding feature lets you visualize each scene and plan out your shot list.
All-in-One Filmmaking Suite: Write and format professional screenplays, develop your story, manage pre-production tasks (budgeting, shot lists), and streamline daily activities.

Pricing

Celtx has three pricing options (with discounts for yearly payments):

Writer: $14.99/month (this option is only suitable for screenwriters, not filmmakers)

Writer Pro: $24.99/month (BEST OPTION)

Team: $59.95/month (for 5 members; +$10/month per member)

My Experience Using Celtx

After starting your free trial with Celtx, you can immediately start working on your first project.

There’s a toolbar on the left side with all of the key components to creating a successful film, like a storyboard, cast & crew sheet, budget, schedule, etc.

I really like that it has everything you need easily located in one space.

When you’re writing your script, you’ll find this toolbar on the page where you can leave comments, break down individual scenes, or create a shot list from specific scenes.

The breakdown and shot list tools are pretty cool because Celtx easily dissects your script, automatically filtering the heading, scenes, characters, props, etc. This takes out so much manual work that you would be doing without using production software.

When you’re ready to make the storyboard, there’s a ton of characters, props, locations, camera equipment, and other tools you can use to make your vision come to life on the page.

You can add a scene and camera description to give even more detail for the rest of your crew to follow.

The scheduling tool is my favorite to use because I know that creating these schedules from scratch tooks a lot of time for the AD!

This schedule automatically creates itself based on the script you write in Celtx. It gives you the time of day, how many pages of the script that scene is, which characters are in the scene, and more.

It’s also really customizable so you can easily adjust any settings that you need to.

You can add how long you think it’ll take to shoot that scene to the duration, and then it’ll add up all the duration times at the bottom so you have a rough estimate of how long it’ll take to shoot everything.

Every producer’s dream is an automated budget, so you can easily track how much the production has spent and which categories are over or under.

When you enter the cast and crew rates individually into the crew sheets, it automatically adds their rates into the budget for you.

I typically work on small crews and have a hand in creating all of these pre-production sheets, so having a tool like Celtx where it automatically links and updates everything together is such a time saver!

Bottom Line

Celtx is great for anyone who wants to collaborate with a team on their writing projects. You can share your work and give people special access to view, edit, or comment. You can also track changes made by each person so everyone is always on the same page.

Try Celtx for Free!