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There is no budget, no shot list, no plan for production without the schedule, carefully crafted by the Assistant Director. Each cast and crew member, producer, and executive relies on this map to understand the road ahead. And yet, Assistant Directors are rarely interviewed. They are the unsung heroes of physical production, and without them and their expertise, their craft of scheduling and operating a set, movies and shows simply wouldn't get made.

We’re continuing our Assistant Director interview series Switching to 2: The Art and Science of Film and TV Scheduling with DGA 1st AD Luke Maxcy! From his work on The Idol, For All Mankind, Scandal, Little Fires Everywhere, and more, Maxcy brings thoughtful insights on the industry, scheduling words of wisdom, and his approach to leading with kindness.

Cinapse had the honor of being featured at the Directors' Guild of America's Digital Day for a third year on August 26 in Los Angeles. Surrounded by a dynamic gathering of over 400 DGA members and top film technology companies transforming film and television production, Cinapse took the spotlight to showcase its cutting-edge scheduling solution for assistant directors, by assistant directors, including Cinapse co-founder and DGA 1st AD Heather Wagner.

We are thrilled to announce our newest member of the Cinapse Board of Advisors, Deniese Davis. Deniese is a four-time Emmy®-nominated Producer and the CEO/founder of Reform Media Group, which recently inked an exclusive development deal with Tyler Perry Studios.

Widely regarded as one of the best ADs working in the industry today, Heather Wagner kicks off this interview series as our first guest to speak about the challenges, joys, and semantics of film and TV scheduling! Heather shares her insights gained from productions like The Fabelmans, Ahsoka, The Mandalorian, and Silicon Valley - this range of production styles makes her uniquely equipped to handle intimate family stories, sprawling space epics, and everything in between.

We're excited to announce that Cinapse has landed in Times Square! Our new billboard recognizes and celebrates all the hardworking Assistant Directors of the world.

We are thrilled to announce the Cinapse Scheduling Beta is now live for select ADs and UPMs in the DGA and DGC! The Scheduling Beta includes revolutionary real-time collaboration between ADs. No more waiting for the master file. All updates are live.Episodic functionality is a first-class feature uniquely designed for modern productions where crossboarding is the norm. When creating a new schedule file, Episodes can be enabled for the breakdown sheets, Day out of Days, Element Calendars, and more.Availability alerts are now live for each element. Don’t have a location until Wednesday? Add a red flag, visible on all views for all team members. A-List actor unavailable while fitting for another project? Add a red flag and keep everyone in the loop.

The entertainment industry has been shaken by the ongoing Writers Guild strike and further threats of a labor strike from SAG-AFTRA members. Meanwhile, the Directors Guild of America's (DGA) negotiated with the AMPTP beginning on May 10, and ending on June 3 when the Guild reached a tentative agreement with the producers. The final date for members to ratify or reject the contract for is today, June 23.

The film and television industry has made significant strides for the labor rights and equitable treatment of actors since its earliest days. However, it is crucial to acknowledge that the industry has not always prioritized the well-being of its performers. Within this context, the formation of the Screen Actors Guild becomes particularly noteworthy.

As film and television professionals, it is crucial for assistant directors (ADs), unit production managers (UPMs), and producers to have reliable and efficient scheduling software to help manage our increasingly complex production ecosystem. With the growing prevalence of crossboarded shoots (filming multiple episodes or films concurrently), virtual production, tandem and second units, we are in dire need of film and TV scheduling software that works how AD teams work.

Labor strikes have a long and storied history in the film and television industry, with the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) being two of the most prominent unions that have consistently engaged in strikes to protect the rights and interests of their members.

Heather was nominated today for the Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film DGA Award for her work on Steven Spielberg’s directorial team on The Fabelmans. This is Heather’s second DGA Award nomination and we could not be more proud of Heather and her exceptional work as a DGA Assistant Director and co-founder at Cinapse.