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1. Intake: every lead lands in the same pipeline
A form on your site (project type, budget range, timeline) feeding one pipeline, in place of DMs and a partner's inbox. The form's budget question alone saves hours of discovery calls with $500 budgets, and a reply the same day, ideally within the hour, is the cheapest edge a small studio has.
2. Proposal: assembled, not written
Healthy studios don't write proposals; they assemble them from a rate card and saved sections, tiered, and send within 24 hours. The proposal that arrives first frames the conversation every later proposal has to argue with.
3. Contract & retainer: one motion
Signature raises the retainer invoice on its own. The date isn't held until money moves, a rule that feels strict exactly once, then becomes the reason you stopped getting ghosted after "verbal yes."
4. Production: the call sheet is the handoff
Crew booked from a database with rates and W-9s, call sheets generated from the project (not rebuilt in a doc), day rates flowing into the budget. This is the stage where "the founder knows everything" quietly becomes "the system knows everything," which is what lets you not be on every shoot.
5. Review: feedback attached to frames
Timecoded comments, consolidated rounds, versions kept. The alternative (feedback via email, cuts via WeTransfer, versions via filename_final_FINAL_v3) is where more post-production margin dies than anywhere else.
6. Delivery: payment first, then files
Final invoice clears, delivery opens, on its own. The end-of-project payment chase, the least dignified part of this business, stops.
7. After: the loop
Testimonial ask, referral nudge, and a note in the client record about what they'll need next quarter. Repeat clients cost nothing to acquire; a workflow that ends at delivery leaves the cheapest revenue in the industry on the table.
The test
Could a producer you hired next month run a job through this pipeline without asking you anything? If yes, you own a studio. If no, you own a job with employees.
The workflow, stage by stage
| Stage | What happens | Done when | Who owns it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inquiry | Lead qualified, brief taken | A proposal goes out | Producer |
| Sale | Proposal signed, deposit paid | The deposit lands | Producer |
| Prep | Script, shot list, locations, crew | Call sheet confirmed | Producer, director |
| Shoot | The day | Footage backed up, twice | Director, DIT or editor |
| Post | Edit, notes, color, sound | Cut approved | Editor |
| Delivery | Finals, spec check | Balance paid, files out | Producer |
| Wrap | Crew paid, costs in, archive | Margin known | Owner |
Where jobs stall
The stall is rarely inside a stage. It sits at the hand-off, when one person thinks the other has it.
| Hand-off | What goes wrong | The fix |
|---|---|---|
| Sale to prep | The producer does not know what was promised | The signed scope sits on the project |
| Prep to shoot | A late change reaches half the crew | One call sheet, sent to who it touches |
| Shoot to post | Footage arrives with no notes | Card labels and a one-page handover |
| Post to client | The cut goes out with no deadline | One link, one date, one list of what to review |
| Approval to invoice | Nobody tells accounts | Approval raises the invoice |
| Invoice to delivery | Files go before the money | Delivery waits for the balance |
| Delivery to wrap | Crew invoices drift | Costs land on the job as they come in |
A sample timeline for a 2-minute brand film
| Week | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1 | Inquiry, call, proposal, signature |
| 2 | Script or outline, shot list |
| 3 | Crew booked, location confirmed, call sheet |
| 4 | Shoot day, footage backed up |
| 5 | First cut |
| 6 | Notes, second cut |
| 7 | Color, sound, approval |
| 8 | Final invoice, delivery, crew paid |
Eight weeks with no surprises. The risk is mostly in weeks 5 to 7, when you are waiting on a client. How to get clients to approve faster deals with that.
Cutvey is built around these hand-offs. How that looks in practice, or see one job in the plan the shoot stage.