Open Filmmaker Toolkit

Free, open-source tools and templates for documentary and independent narrative filmmakers. Open a tool in your browser, load your project file, and keep working: your data never leaves your computer.

Status: Early release. Every tool is a first version, so expect rough edges, and tell us what's broken or missing from the new issue page. Where it's headed: the Roadmap.

Contents

• Quick start
• What this is
• The tools
• How our tools work
• Shared project file
• Who it's for
• Repository layout
• Validation
• Licenses
• Not legal advice
• Maintainers
• Contributing

Quick start

The easiest way in is the toolkit's home page: every tool, by stage of production, with how they connect. Click a tool to use it in your browser.

To use the tools offline, or to work on them:

1. Clone the repo, or download it as a ZIP:

   git clone https://github.com/open-filmmaker-toolkit/toolkit.git
   

2. Open tools/clearance-log/index.html in Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari.
3. Click Open file and choose samples/the-river-keeps.oft.json.
4. Make a change, then save. The same file opens in the music cue sheet.

That's it. No install, no build step, no account. Each tool is one self-contained HTML file. Open index.html for the home page, which works offline too.

What this is

The toolkit has two halves:

1. Tools we build to fill the gaps, especially the paperwork that runs on hand-built spreadsheets today: clearances, releases, rights, funding and impact. They are listed by production phase in TOOLS.md.
2. A directory of other people's open-source tools, sorted by production phase, so filmmakers don't pay for what's already free. See Other open-source tools, also linked from the home page.

The tools

Tool	Phase	Use it for
Subject tracker	Development	Track people you might film and when to follow up.
Research and archival log	Development	Log archival leads and sources.
Comps tracker	Development	Track comparable films and where each number came from.
Treatment builder	Development	Write your treatment section by section.
Pitch deck builder	Development	Build a pitch deck from your project and stills.
Grant calendar	Funding	Track grant deadlines and what each application needs.
Grant narrative library	Funding	Keep your application answers in every length.
Budget converter	Funding	Convert your budget to a funder's categories.
Finance plan	Funding	See how the film gets paid for and what's left to raise.

All 62 are first versions: they work, and they're still changing. To ask for another tool, use the request form.

How our tools work

• Forever free. No subscriptions, no paid tiers, no "pro" version.
• Local-first. Every tool runs in your browser or on your own machine. No accounts and no cloud. Your project data never leaves your computer.
• Works offline. Each tool is one HTML file. Keep a copy on your laptop and it works on set with no signal.
• One shared project file. All tools read and write the same project. Add a person once and they show up in your call sheets, releases, name supers and credits; log an archival clip once and it flows from the research log to the clearance log to the credits.
• Your file, your copy. Projects save as a file on disk that you back up and share however you already do (Drive, Dropbox, a hard drive).
• Plain templates too. Most tools also have a blank spreadsheet or Word template for people who'd rather not use the tool.

Shared project file

Tools share a local .oft.json project file. Its version 1 format is described by the JSON Schema, with the data model notes and a sample project. Tools preserve fields they do not own when saving.

Who it's for

Documentary and independent narrative filmmakers, producers, coordinators and ADs working without a studio's back office.

Repository layout

toolkit/
|-- index.html            # The home page: every tool by stage, how they connect, search
|-- tools/                # One folder per tool: index.html plus its own README
|-- schemas/              # JSON Schema and data model notes for the project file
|-- samples/              # Fictional sample project to try the tools with
|-- templates/            # Blank templates for people who don't use the tools
|-- tests/                # Browser tests CI runs in Chromium
|-- docs/                 # Directory of other open-source tools; logo and artwork in docs/assets/
|-- .github/
|   |-- workflows/        # DCO and CI checks
|   `-- scripts/          # validate_repo.py, the check CI runs
|-- TOOLS.md              # Every tool we build or plan to, by production phase
|-- ROADMAP.md            # Milestones, each linked to its issue
|-- GOVERNANCE.md         # How decisions get made
|-- CONTRIBUTING.md       # How to contribute, DCO sign-off, CI practices
`-- README.md             # This page

Validation

CI checks the project schema against the sample files, that IDs and references in samples resolve, that every tool has a README and makes no network requests, that the home page lists every tool just as TOOLS.md does, and that templates are plain spreadsheets or Word files with no macros or external links. Run the same check locally:

python3 -m pip install jsonschema
python3 .github/scripts/validate_repo.py

CI also runs browser tests in Chromium: opening and saving the sample, CSV exports, the save-conflict warning, phone width, dark mode and print layout. A second run turns off Chromium's file access, to test the download-and-upload saving that Firefox and Safari use. A weekly check runs the basics in the real Firefox and Safari. CI can't judge look and feel or drive a real printer or phone. Those checks are manual: see Before you open a pull request.

Licenses

Copyright © 2026 the Open Filmmaker Toolkit contributors. Contributors keep the copyright to their work and share it under these licenses:

What	Where	License
Code	The tools, project schema, sample project, tests and CI scripts	GPL-3.0-or-later
Templates, guides and documentation	templates/ (except legal forms), docs/, and the README and other Markdown files	CC BY-SA 4.0
Legal forms, such as releases and deal memos	templates/legal-forms/	CC0 1.0: no rights reserved, so you can turn a form into your own contract without crediting us

If we ever run a tool as a hosted service, that code will be under AGPL-3.0.

Not legal advice

The templates and forms in this toolkit are general starting points, and the tools are working records. None of it is legal advice. No lawyer has reviewed any of it for your film or where you work, and laws differ from place to place. Have a lawyer licensed where you work review any release, contract or other legal document before you use it. You use the toolkit at your own risk. It's provided "as is," without warranty of any kind, and the maintainers and contributors aren't liable for any loss or claim that comes from using it. The licenses say the same in their own terms.

Maintainers

• Basil Shadid
• Alex Perrault

See GOVERNANCE.md for how decisions get made.

Contributing

You don't need to code to help. Request a tool, submit a template or report a problem from the new issue page. Code contributions are signed off under the Developer Certificate of Origin. See CONTRIBUTING.md for both, and our code of conduct.