Centralizing Your Slate of Film, Television, and Digital Projects

Building a foundation consists of the centralization of your slate, including past and upcoming projects. An organizational hub will give you a system to help you move forward in a more efficient way. In this article, we'll explain why centralizing is essential and provide insight on how to do it effectively to generate success for your creative business and brand. Before centralizing your slate, consider Establishing and Organizing Your Brand to get the most out of our recommendations.

The world has rapidly grown over the past few decades. The innovations in technology and culture have generated a plethora of new business opportunities and markets to circulate in yielding the Creator Economy. It is a different landscape; now we have to balance different digital tools, platforms, streaming services, all while new ideas emerge on the daily. Though there is an abundance of opportunities that are available, success is reserved for those who capitalize on each opportunity as it comes their way.

Expectations to deliver are higher than ever because of the mass amount of choices available. If things don’t work out with a business, it is the “on to the next” mindset. Customers have expectations that they anticipate will be met, otherwise they are quick to switch. How may this be avoided? The answer: centralize your project slate.

Centralizing is the process of bringing all your creative projects, assets, materials - anything you are working on - together in one place. It is putting everything in one place so nothing gets lost or forgotten along the way. As a creative brand and business, there are many items to juggle simultaneously; centralizing your project slate allows you to see what you have going on, what is coming up, and what is planned for the future. This process allows you and your team to stay organized on the tasks at hand and focused on achieving long-term goals.

Having a centralized hub will allow you to gain momentum on all fronts of your creative brand and business. The more specific you are with your creative assets, the better organized and focused you can be with your intellectual property. Your time is valuable, so having a bird's eye view of the business is paramount. Lucky for us, centralizing generates plenty of benefits.

Your brand is everything. Though that sounds like a bold statement, it is quite important because it is the first interaction potential customers will have with your business. Brands serve to be easily identifiable and consistent. Centralization aids in the organization of a brand and keeps the guesswork out of the equation. By centralizing the creative brand, it ensures that each interaction is to the standard you desire, messaging is clear across all fronts, and your business identity maintains continuity so you can land more deals.

Whether you are a one-man show (for now) or a large studio, team success will make or break a business. With people to manage, project deadlines and tasks can be compromised if everyone is not united under a common front. Team members want to perform their jobs well. Constantly dealing with hindrances like searching for documents or inconsistent communication channels stokes frustration and animosity, not to mention valuable time wasted. Carve a clear path for your employees with centralization that outlines tasks clearly, allows access to the materials they need to do their job well, and holds them accountable.

Time is always of the essence. Spend your time better with everything in one spot. Now, you can readily have the most up-to-date information for projects anywhere, anytime. Time management breeds a better use of time overall and you will move forward in more efficient ways. With a better view and more time, you will be able to dedicate nurturing to areas of the creative business that are in need of more attention and deliver projects on time and on budget.

By centralizing your creative business and creating this one view, strengths and weaknesses will become evident. Assessing company shortcomings can finally allow them to be fixed and improved upon. On the flip side, this new view may reveal new niches to indulge in or trends to pounce on.

You are not going to get anywhere with your great ideas if you cannot communicate them efficiently. With a centralized slate, sharing information with any collaborator is a breeze. From an internal perspective, centralization gives every single team member a snapshot of what is going on and what their obligations are to reach the business goals. Externally, it is important for clients and industry professionals to know what you’ve been working on in a timely manner and when they may expect project completion. Open streams of communication allow information to circulate seamlessly.

Having a centralized project hub gives an overarching view of what is going on. With this view, you will be able to gain insight on projects and track progress easily. When a project is wrapping up, receive accurate reports from reliable data and information. On a microscopic level, it is simple to track when tasks are completed as well as gather feedback to take the next steps in the process.

It is simple logic really; the more you spread yourself thin with tools, people, and disorganization, the more confusion you will generate. Centralization provides a strong, reliable core that establishes standards in order to avoid deletion, duplication, and time wasted trying to find the right materials. You will save your team and yourself many headaches.

Once in the rhythm of centralization, a flow is generated. Everything is easily available. Tasks are being completed. Better decisions are being made. Time allocation has improved project development. All of these components breed new opportunities on the horizon.

Perhaps with an influx of newly generated opportunities, it will become evident that the time has come to bring new team members on and scale up - that is the power of centralization. This crucial bird's eye view of what is going on in a creative business optimizes visibility and performance to create future opportunities.

Centralizing your slate is easier than you may think. All it truly requires is that you have a sole place where all of your projects may be stored. With Symbonic's workspaces and library system, we make this simple for you as a creative to have a single source of truth. The key steps to centralizing are:

As you centralize your project slate, keep in mind that this is an overarching system of central infrastructure. Over time, your creative business will evolve, and with it, so may your centralization system. Be fluid with change, but always know you have this vital foundation.

The benefits of centralizing your project slate in order to give your creative brand and business lasting success are apparent. Centralizing allows you to strengthen the foundation you have laid for yourself already while minimizing the distraction that could put you off course as you head towards your goals. Being consistently organized saves valuable time and energy to allow you and your team to get more done. With clear expectations, the team will also be focused on the most important tasks and be able to achieve more than ever before, both professionally and creatively.

Centralizing your project slate ultimately allows you as a creative entrepreneur to move forward with confidence in your career, projects, and business. As you establish a central hub for your intellectual property, your focus should shift to an internal level of organizing your materials.