The status ladder: one status list for projects and deliverables

Projects and deliverables share one status list, organized into sections by phase. Picking a status is the way you move work forward, and the phase follows automatically.

The full ladder

These are the default statuses in order. Your workspace can rename, reorder, add and remove columns, so your own ladder may differ — your labels are what show throughout the app.

Pre-production

1. Concept — the idea exists, nothing written yet.
2. Scripting — being written.
3. Client review — with the client for sign-off. This is the end of pre-production.

Production

1. Ready for production — approved and handed to the shoot.
2. Planned — shoot date and logistics are set.
3. Shooting — on set.
4. Shot — footage captured. This is the end of production.

Post-production

1. Ingest — footage uploaded and organized, not yet with an editor.
2. Ready for editing — queued for an editor.
3. Editing — being cut.
4. Awaiting feedback — with the client for review.
5. Changes requested — feedback received, revisions to do.
6. Approved — signed off. This is the end of post-production.

Distribution

1. Scheduled — publication planned.
2. Published — live.
3. Reported — results reported back. This is the end of distribution.

Completed

Completed is a project-only end state. Deliverables do not sit at Completed — you mark the project completed once the work is done.

Why Shot and Ingest are two different things

It is tempting to read them as duplicates. They are not: Shot means the footage was captured, and belongs to production because production did the work. Ingest means the footage has been uploaded and organized, and belongs to post-production for the same reason. A deliverable that has just wrapped sits at Shot, not somewhere in post it has not reached yet.

Changing a status moves the phase

Because each status belongs to exactly one phase, picking a status from another phase's group moves the work there. The status menu warns you when this will happen with the note "This also moves the project to another phase."

Auto versus locked

By default a project's status follows its deliverables — the status menu shows this as Auto (follow deliverables). It is derived from the least-advanced active deliverable, and it only ever moves forward: adding a new script to a project already in production will not drag the project backwards.

If you set a project status by hand, it is pinned and stops following the work. The badge shows a lock icon with the tooltip "Status is locked — pick 'Auto' to follow deliverables". Choose Auto (follow deliverables) in the dropdown to hand control back.

The end-of-phase nudge

When every active deliverable reaches the last status of a phase, the app asks rather than jumping ahead on its own. You will see "All deliverables are Shot." followed by "This phase is done — where should the project go next?", with a Move to … button and Not now. Accepting moves the project forward and leaves each deliverable exactly where it is.

Nothing can disappear

If a deliverable's status does not match any column on the board — for example after a custom column was deleted — it collects in a catch-all No column group instead of vanishing. Drag it onto a real column to file it again.