You’ve just been hired to manage a new TV show production. Starting a new project is always exciting.
You’re eager to help bring a new show to life, but you also know what’s coming next: spreadsheets. Lots of spreadsheets.
From pre-production through delivery, spreadsheets become the backbone of your workflow. You'll use them to:
- Track team members and contact information
- Assign tasks and responsibilities
- Manage episode breakdowns and asset lists
- Collect production notes and animator requirements
- Monitor schedules and production progress
- Build reports for producers and stakeholders
Because so many people rely on these documents, the information must remain accurate, up to date, and easy to access. In many studios, spreadsheets become the primary communication tool for the entire production.
Day One: Setting Up Production
It's the first day of production, and you've already prepared a variety of documents:
- Contact lists
- Script breakdowns
- Task assignments
- Production schedules
- Director and artist to-do lists
If you've worked on TV productions before, you may already have your own templates. Otherwise, your studio will likely provide standard documents that you'll customize for the entire show, sometimes for each episode.
Create standardized templates early. Consistent formats make collaboration easier and reduce errors as the team grows.
Sharing Your Spreadsheets
Spreadsheets don't stay static for long. Once they're created, they need to be shared, reviewed, and updated by multiple team members.
Typically, you have three options:
Option 1: Desktop Software
Everyone must have the same software installed on their computer. This often requires:
- IT support for installation
- Additional software licenses
- Ongoing maintenance
Option 2: Cloud-Based Spreadsheet Tools
Web-based tools simplify collaboration, but users generally need accounts and licenses. If team members use personal accounts instead of company-managed ones, security and access control can become concerns.
Option 3: Email and File Sharing
For remote collaborators, spreadsheets are often exchanged through email or cloud storage services.
The downside? Endless versioning issues, duplicate files, and constant back-and-forth communication.
Establish a single source of truth for production data. The fewer duplicate files you maintain, the less time you'll spend reconciling information.
The Early Production Phase
At the beginning of production, things are manageable.
You distribute information, assign work, and keep track of a limited number of episodes. With fewer moving parts, maintaining spreadsheets feels straightforward.
That's when inefficiencies begin to appear.
Consider storyboard breakdowns and leadsheets. They often contain the same data displayed in different ways for different audiences. While it's possible to link these documents together, doing so requires additional setup and maintenance.
Identify duplicate data entry points early. Whenever possible, store information once and display it in multiple formats.
As Production Scales
Fast forward a few months.
Some episodes are in script development, others are in storyboarding, and several are already in animation.
Your spreadsheet count has exploded.
More importantly, multiple people are now editing the same documents:
- Directors
- Animation Supervisors
- Background Supervisors
- Production Coordinators
As usage increases, so do mistakes:
- Data entered into the wrong tab
- Missing information
- Accidental deletions
- Broken formulas
- Entire tabs overwritten
You spend hours fixing spreadsheets instead of managing production.
To reduce risk, you may start creating separate copies for different departments and manually consolidating updates later. While this limits accidental edits, it dramatically increases administrative work.
The result is familiar to many production managers:
- Longer workdays
- More manual data entry
- Less visibility into the overall production
- More time managing documents than supporting the team
Track how much time your team spends maintaining spreadsheets. The number is often much higher than expected.
Working with External Contributors
Most productions involve freelancers, remote artists, or directors working outside the studio.
Without direct access to your systems, these collaborators depend on email exchanges for:
- Drawings
- Reviews
- Asset lists
- Notes
- Deliverables
Every request creates additional delays:
- Send information
- Wait for a response
- Review the submission
- Request revisions or clarification
- Repeat
These communication cycles add significant latency to production.
Reduce approval and file-sharing bottlenecks by giving external contributors direct access to the information they need whenever possible.
Creating Production Reports
Eventually, producers and heads of production will ask for status reports.
These reports help stakeholders understand:
- Production progress
- Team performance
- Schedule risks
- Upcoming milestones
If you're technically inclined, you may automate some reporting by pulling data directly from spreadsheets.
Even then, you'll still need to verify that:
- Formulas are working correctly
- Data hasn't been accidentally modified
- Reports reflect current production status
If reporting isn't automated, you'll spend hours collecting information manually across multiple files and tabs.
Ironically, producing reports often requires creating even more spreadsheets.
Measure how long reporting takes each week. Reporting should not become a full-time job.
Why Production Tracking Software Exists
Production tracking software was created to solve exactly these challenges.
Instead of managing hundreds of spreadsheets, teams work from a shared production database.
This allows everyone to:
- Access the same information
- Collaborate in real time
- Reduce data-entry errors
- Track progress more effectively
- Generate reports automatically
Most importantly, artists can focus on creative work rather than administrative tasks.
A good production management system helps the entire team stay aligned without requiring constant spreadsheet maintenance.
The Numbers Add Up
Let's do the math.
Suppose each episode requires six spreadsheets throughout production.
A typical TV series contains around 52 episodes.
That's more than 300 spreadsheets to create, update, review, share, and maintain over the course of a single production.
Now imagine managing five episodes simultaneously, each with multiple spreadsheets and tabs open at once.
When someone asks for the status of a shot, sequence, or episode, they expect an answer immediately.
As a production manager, you're often the central source of information for the entire team. That's a significant responsibility, and the right tools can make it much easier.
How Kitsu Helps
At CGWire, we developed Kitsu to reduce the administrative burden of production management.
Kitsu helps teams:
- Assign and track tasks
- Manage approvals, comments, and retakes
- Organize breakdowns and assets
- Track time and production progress
- Share information instantly across the studio
- Generate up-to-date production reports
- Keep everyone aligned through a single source of truth
Instead of spending your day maintaining spreadsheets, you can focus on keeping the production moving forward.
If you're looking for a better way to manage animation or TV production workflows, request a free trial and see how it fits your team's needs.
We'd love to hear your feedback and learn more about your production challenges.
