The Film, Video, and Theatrical Management System was developed by FIA World Software Development Corporation with SRM Programming Dynamics (SRM) serving as its systems design and front-end development firm. FVTMS was previously known as Video & Theatrical Manuscript Planning and Execution System. This PC-based software evolved into the Film, Video, and Theatrical Management System, aka FVTMS. The system keeps track of all contacts used in the industry, film scripts, cast and crew, locations, permits, production scheduling and call sheets, assets acquired, budget and costs, and reports, and it allows collaboration with your paid subscription. The software began several decades ago as a Windows 95 based system and continuously evolved to function in various Windows operating systems over the years. The current version was augmented from the original Windows versions to be an internet-based, AI-integrated, high-performance system.
The system is uniquely designed for the entertainment industry and can accommodate as many Film, Videos, and Theatrical projects as needed. Note that the system functions in Dark and Light Mode according to your reading preference.
Register during 1st time use:
Every FVTMS installation is licensed to a single permanent Owner (SRM Programming Dynamics). When you register a new account, you become an Administrator on a 30-day free trial — full access to every menu, project, and AI tool for 30 days from your first login. When the trial ends, a "✦ Subscribe / Enter License Key" screen lets you continue with a paid license:
| Plan | Price | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Annual | $50 / year | Renews automatically each year |
| Lifetime | $120 one-time | Pay once, own forever — never expires |
Both plans include unlimited collaborators. Anyone you invite — as a Director, Producer, a Viewer, or one of six focused department roles (Budgeting, Casting Hires, Crew Hires, Location Scouting & Permits, Assets, or Script Handling & Rehearsals) — joins under your license at no extra cost, and never has to deal with the trial or license screens themselves. After you purchase a plan, Stripe emails you a license key automatically. Go back to the Subscribe screen and click "Enter License Key" to activate it.
To change your password, click your User Name (top right) → 🔑 Change Password.
FVTMS includes 14 AI-powered production tools: Script Analyst, Scene Synopsis Generator, Dialogue Coach, Character Developer, Costume Concept Generator, Shot List Generator, Location Scout Assistant, Scheduling Assistant, Risk Assessor, Call Sheet Writer, Production Report Writer, Budget Estimator, Stage Adaptation Advisor, and Photo/Location Analyzer. To use them, you connect one to three AI services under SYSTEM → ☁️ Cloud Sync & AI Settings → AI tab:
You only truly need the first one, Groq, to get started. The box below walks through all three.
You only need ONE of these three keys to get started: Groq. It's free, it's fast, and it powers all 14 AI tools except one. Add the other two later, whenever you're ready for what they unlock — nothing breaks if you skip them for now.
Groq (console.groq.com) is the engine FVTMS reaches for first, every single time, for every AI tool. Create a free account, copy your API key, and paste it into the AI tab of Cloud Sync & AI Settings. No payment method is normally required.
Perplexity (perplexity.ai/settings/api) does two jobs. First, it is the only one of the three engines that can look at a photo, so it powers the Photo/Location Analyzer — Groq cannot do this at all, no matter what. Second, once you've added a Perplexity key, FVTMS automatically switches over to it for any of the other 13 tools if Groq is ever slow or temporarily unavailable, so your work doesn't just stop. One important difference from Groq: Perplexity charges you directly for what you use — it is a paid, metered service, not a free one. Before you start, set a small spending limit on your Perplexity account, and keep an eye on the running total shown on the Status & Sync tab of Cloud Sync & AI Settings — it tracks exactly what each of your AI requests has actually cost, in real dollars, pulled straight from Perplexity's own billing data.
Gemini (aistudio.google.com) is entirely optional. If you add a Gemini key too, it becomes a second, last-resort backup — FVTMS only reaches for it if both Groq and Perplexity are unavailable at the same time. If you were already using Gemini before Perplexity existed in this app, your key still works fine; it simply moves one step further down the line. If you do use Gemini, we recommend turning on a pay-as-you-go or prepaid billing plan on that Google account: some free-tier accounts get blocked from image requests entirely, and Google has also been reducing free access to its newer models over time.
In short, here is the order FVTMS tries these in: Groq, then Perplexity, then Gemini. Groq goes first for every tool except photos, where Perplexity goes first instead. Add Perplexity when you want the Photo/Location Analyzer, or just want extra reliability. Gemini is a nice-to-have on top of that — never a requirement.
Once you're logged in, the menu bar across the top is your home base: FILE (new project, backup/restore, sign out), PEOPLE (registry, crew roles guide, cast & crew assignment), LOCATIONS (location list, permits tracker, scout reports), PRODUCTION (script viewer & import, script versions, scene list, shot lists, strip board, element report, schedule, call sheets, day-out-of-days, daily reports), ASSETS / BUDGET (props, costumes, equipment, vehicles, SFX/VFX, budget, expenses, vendors), ✦ AI TOOLS (all 14 AI assistants in one panel), REPORTS (proposals, pitch deck, and printable reports), and SYSTEM (Cloud Sync, Collaborators, Activity Log, Backup/Restore, Help). Every menu except FILE and the PEOPLE Registry requires an open project first.
A few extras worth knowing about from day one:
FVTMS is organized around Projects — there is no separate company-wide setup step to complete first. Go to FILE → ➕ New Project, choose the project type (Film, Stage, Film + Stage, Commercial, or Music Video), and enter a title, genre, format, estimated runtime, total budget, and the Studio / Production Company name. Save it, and it becomes your current open project — every other menu (People, Locations, Production, Assets/Budget, Reports) works against whichever project is currently open. You can create as many projects as you need and switch between them anytime from FILE → 📁 All Projects.
Have a script ready? PRODUCTION → 📥 Import Script accepts Final Draft (.fdx), Word (.docx), plain text/Fountain files, and now a plain screenplay PDF too — FVTMS reads the PDF's page layout to automatically detect scene headings, characters, and dialogue, and can optionally clean up and standardize the result with AI before you import it (straightening out scene heading wording and merging inconsistent character name spellings, for example). Whichever format you start from, your scene breakdown is extracted automatically — a fast way to populate a new project instead of entering scenes by hand. Any script already in the system can also be downloaded as a real Final Draft (.fdx) file from the Script Viewer's ⬇ Export .fdx button.
FVTMS stores all your project data locally in your browser by default. This works perfectly on a single computer, but has limitations:
Firebase Firestore (Google's cloud database) solves all of these issues — and the free Spark Plan is permanently free with no credit card required.
Note: this is completely separate from signing in — logging in and registering always work the same way on every device, whether or not you've connected Cloud Sync yet. Cloud Sync only governs where your project data (scenes, budgets, cast, schedules, etc.) lives.
Running your own account? Create your own free Firebase project — your data stays private to you, and your trial/license status is still tracked automatically behind the scenes regardless. Invited as a collaborator into someone else's project? Don't create your own project — instead enter the Firebase credentials that person gives you, since you need to be in the same project as them to see what they've shared with you.
const firebaseConfig = {
apiKey: "AIzaSyXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX",
authDomain: "your-project.firebaseapp.com",
projectId: "your-project-id",
storageBucket: "your-project.appspot.com",
messagingSenderId: "123456789012",
appId: "1:123456789012:web:abcdef1234567890"
};
You will need these values from this block:
In the Firestore Rules tab, paste the following rules exactly and click Publish:
rules_version = '2';
service cloud.firestore {
match /databases/{database}/documents {
match /{document=**} {
allow read, write: if true;
}
}
}
If you want to sync location and production photos across devices, also set up Firebase Storage:
rules_version = '2';
service firebase.storage {
match /b/{bucket}/o {
match /{allPaths=**} { allow read, write: if true; }
}
}
If you choose not to set up Cloud Sync, your FVTMS data — and any song audio files, which are never uploaded to the cloud even with Cloud Sync on — is stored only in your browser on your current computer. We strongly recommend:
Backup files can be transferred to any computer and restored there, but this is a manual process compared to Cloud Sync's automatic sync.
| Resource | Free Limit | Typical Production Usage |
|---|---|---|
| Storage | 1 GB | Well under 1 GB for most productions' text data |
| Reads/day | 50,000 | Varies with project size and collaborator count |
| Writes/day | 20,000 | Varies with how actively the project is being updated |
| Auth sign-ins/month | 10,000 | A few per day per user |
| Cost | $0.00 — Permanently Free | |
This guide covers setup and first steps. For day-to-day use, open SYSTEM → ❓ Help inside FVTMS itself — it includes a step-by-step Guided Path for your specific project type (Film, Stage, Commercial, or Music Video), a Highlights tab covering deeper features like the On-Location Map Generator, the Script Viewer's zoom and Final Draft-style printing, and the Song Structure & Markers waveform tool, and a full feature index. SYSTEM → ℹ️ About FVTMS shows your current version.
To begin using this Software System: 1) Create your first project (FILE → ➕ New Project), 2) Import or view your script (PRODUCTION → 📥 Import Script — now including a plain screenplay PDF, not just Final Draft/.docx/.txt — or 📄 Script Viewer) to build your scene breakdown, 3) Build out your Scene List, Shot Lists, and Strip Board (PRODUCTION menu), 4) Add your cast and crew to the Registry and assign them to the project (PEOPLE menu), 5) Add filming locations and track permits (LOCATIONS menu), 6) Build your production Schedule and generate Call Sheets (PRODUCTION menu), 7) Track props, costumes, equipment, vehicles, SFX/VFX, and your Budget (ASSETS / BUDGET menu), 8) Explore the 14 built-in AI production tools (✦ AI TOOLS button) once your Groq key is set, and 9) Generate reports and AI-drafted proposals — the Production/Commercial/Music Video Proposal, the Pitch Deck (exports as a real PowerPoint file), One-Liner Schedules, Budget Reports, Cast Lists, Location Reports, and the final Wrap Report — from the REPORTS menu.
Best and Warmest Regards...
SRM