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Creating & Managing Productions

A production is the top-level container in ScriptMagic. It holds your script, people, characters, structure, annotations, and blocking — everything related to a single show.

Creating a production

To create a new production, you'll need Production Admin or Company Admin permissions. See Roles & Permissions for details.

  1. From the productions dashboard, click Create Production
  2. Fill in the production details:

Core information:

  • Production name (required)
  • Description (optional)
  • Theatre company (required) — select which company this production belongs to
  • Venue (optional)
  • Rights holder information (optional) — for documenting licensing company, contract notes, and billing requirements

Dates:

  • Production start date — when rehearsals or production work begins
  • Opening date — the official opening performance
  • Freeze date — after this date, the production becomes read-only for non-admin users. See Production freeze.

Script & media:

  • Script PDF — upload your master script. Can be processed on the server (cloud import) or on your device. See Uploading a Script.
  • Production image — a poster or cover image for the production card
  • Pages before script page 1 — set an offset if your PDF contains cover pages or front matter before the actual script begins (see Page Offset)

External resources:

  • External links — add labeled URLs to external resources like Google Drive folders, Dropbox links, Discord servers, or reference videos. Each link has a label and URL.

Sharing:

  • Production admins — enter email addresses to add people as production admins. Existing users are added immediately; unknown emails are pre-approved for when they create an account.

  • Share with users — enter email addresses to grant access. Existing users get immediate access; new emails are queued for invitation.

  • Click Save to create the production

Create production form — production details with dates, script upload, and sharing fields

Editing a production

Click the Edit button on a production card (visible if you have edit permissions). From here you can update any of the fields above, including:

  • Replacing the script PDF
  • Changing the production image
  • Updating dates and external links
  • Managing who the production is shared with
  • Opening the script variants manager

Warning

Replacing the script PDF may break existing annotations, blocking, and page references. You'll see a confirmation warning before this change is applied.

Production freeze

When a production's freeze date passes, it becomes read-only for all non-admin users. This prevents accidental changes during performances. Site admins and company admins can still make edits when a production is frozen.

Frozen productions show visual indicators that editing is disabled, and all modification controls (layer visibility changes, annotation edits, etc.) are locked.

Production freeze — frozen production with read-only indicators

Deleting a production

Productions can be permanently deleted from the edit screen. This removes the production and all associated files (script pages, images, blocking maps). This action cannot be undone.

Production dashboard

Your productions dashboard shows all productions you have access to. Each card displays:

  • Production image
  • Name and company
  • Venue
  • Opening date with a countdown (e.g., "Opens in 5 days")
  • A celebration banner once the show has opened

Productions are sorted by opening date, with upcoming shows listed first.