Anyone who regularly works with schedules knows the problem: Word or Excel files are sent back and forth by email, versions overlap, comments are lost, and during the show itself, the crew frantically leafs through printed pages. The document-based approach has outlived its usefulness – it is error-prone, slow, inflexible and anything but team-friendly.

But there is another way! With colada.scripts, the work involved in directing and scheduling is not only digitized, but radically simplified and taken to a whole new level.

The dark side of document-based direction plans

In many productions, the typical workflow still looks like this: One person creates the document, others provide input via email or verbally, the final version is printed – or saved multiple times – and distributed. This leads to numerous challenges:

• No teamwork in real time: Manual merging of changes prevents real collaboration.
• A lot of effort: From planning to final distribution, a lot of copy & paste is required.
• No logic, no rules: Excel and Word are not designed to manage complex processes efficiently.
• Error-prone: Changes creep in, are overlooked or not documented.
• Paper cannot be synchronized: Updates during the show? Not a chance.
• No integration of mobile devices: Anyone not sitting at a laptop is left out.
• Version chaos: Different versions are circulating in parallel – nobody knows which is the latest version.
• Data protection problems: Who sent what and where? Not traceable.
• No live process: There is no way to transparently control the actual progress during the event.

The solution: colada.scripts – director planning in the digital age

With colada.scripts, colada offers an innovative, browser-based tool that seamlessly digitizes all aspects of production planning – from the initial idea to the live run on location.

Planning together – in real time

Control and flow charts are created directly in the browser. The simple, intuitive interface allows several team members to work on a script at the same time – without any version chaos. Every editing step is automatically saved and documented. All changes can be tracked at any time.

Key features:

• Drag & drop of cues with automatic time update
• Convenient text editor for cue descriptions
• Attachments such as images, documents and comments per cue
• Internal conversations for coordination between authors
• Colored marking of cues for a better overview
• Integration of stakeholders such as technology, catering or moderation – incl. personal note function

LIVE – with the scripts.PLAYER

During the event, scripts.PLAYER takes over the direction. It shows all participants the current status to the second – synchronized on all devices, whether laptop, tablet or smartphone.

The director controls the sequence manually cue by cue – and everyone involved can see LIVE where they are at any given moment. The player shows:

• Countdown of the current cue
• Preview of the next cue
• Information on time deviations
• All relevant details at a glance

Roles & rights – customized for every team

To ensure that everyone can see and edit exactly the information that is relevant to them, colada.scripts offers sophisticated rights management:

• Authors: Full access to the script and the player.
• Crews: Read rights + personal notes that are retained even if changes are made.
• Viewer: Read-only access for guests or customers – no login required.

Conclusion: Director planning can be so much easier

colada.scripts does not simply replace Excel and Word – it changes the way teams plan, communicate and implement events together. Whether for live events, virtual productions or hybrid formats: If you want to say goodbye to mountains of paper, version chaos and confusing processes, you’ll find the perfect solution here.