Gorilla Pro software?

[Jaime Vallés]

Hello, all. Just wondering if any of you have experience using Gorilla Pro software for scheduling and budgeting an independent production. Right now they have a Holiday sale (55% off) that expires on Jan. 15, and I'd like to get any feedback you may have.

Is is useful for low-budget (less than $2,500,00) films?
Any pitfalls I should be aware of?
Is $250 a good price for scheduling & budgeting software?
Are there any better and/or cheaper alternatives out there?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Jordan Livingston]

Hi Jamie,

I have used Gorilla since I started as a film student 11 years ago, and I still use it today (obviously having undergone many upgrades).

I will say that Gorilla is indeed a useful tool, but the learning curve to understanding the interface and methodology remains by far one of the steepest and most convoluted I have ever experienced. The software is based on a FileMakerPro backend, and as such it doesn't follow the 'normal' conventions of your operating system. Until I received formal, professional instruction on how to use Gorilla (something that the company offers, by the way), I was completely and utterly lost.

These days, if I can avoid having to do EVERYTHING myself, I greatly prefer to work with a line producer, or at least a coordinator. Even an up-and-coming coordinator is worth his or her weight in gold, and almost every one of these people I've encountered has at least some arsenal of custom Excel templates they're already comfortable using.

If your project has anything resembling a reasonable budget, I highly suggest you skimp on the "pro" software and splurge on a line producer who brings their own tools, but more importantly, the knowledge of how to use them to budget and schedule your film effectively and creatively.

Best,

- Jordan

 

[Steve Sherrick]

I agree with Jordan. There are many ways to go about budgeting and scheduling a movie. The best way is hiring the line producer and they will have their methods. If that is not in the cards or you just want to do a preliminary budget, then either the dedicated software bundles can work, or something even like this.
My recommendation is whatever you end up going with - get the training. For example with Showbiz Scheduling they have training sessions at Media Services and they have started to do webinars as well. Knowing how this stuff works, even beyond pushing the right buttons, is key to success. You need to know the theory behind scheduling/budgeting as it can be a very complex task, even with the help of software tools. I've played around with gorilla tools and if I took the training I would probably adapt okay. But the tools I have right now get the job done.

 

[Kristians Luhaers]

Jaime,
I've used Gorilla for 1 or 2 projects in 2004. It come with Mac PowerBook which I bought used from production manager I worked with. It was really complicated. I couldn't relay on the software because it was crashing all the time. So I returned to my MS excell templates. Now I'm using Movie Magic Budgeting and Scheduling which are primary tools for planning the production. Unfortunately they are expensive, but it is worth every cent.
_________________
Kristians Luhaers
Producer
Screen Vision
www.screenvision.lv

 

[Jaime Vallés]

Thanks for all the advice. In an ideal world, I'd definitely hire a good line producer or unit production manager to do all the scheduling & budgeting, but this is one of those scenarios where a core group of us are going to be handling most of the heavy lifting... at least initially. Once a preliminary budget exists, and we get some investors on board, I might very well bring in more experienced folk into the mix.

I downloaded the free trial of Gorilla Pro, and have very mixed feelings about it. The interface does seem very clunky and, as Jordan said, doesn't follow the normal OS conventions. However, I like that it has both scheduling and budgeting combined in one app. I still have 14 days to go on the free trial, so I'll give it my best and see if I can become familiar enough with the software to use it with confidence. But so far, I'm not convinced.

I also stumbled across scenechronize.com, which seems very slick and user friendly. It's an online scheduling program that's free to use (in it's basic form) but doesn't include budgeting. However, combined with some spreadsheet templates like the ones Steve Sherrick suggested above, might make for a better & cheaper option. The only thing I'm concerned about is that scenechronize is a website... so what happens if I have to use it somewhere without internet access? Need to investigate more.

Thanks again for the feedback, and do share if you have any other suggestions for software or templates.

 

[Jordan Livingston]

I've never used "scenechronize.com" before, so it might be great, but in my view the main benefit of apps like Gorilla (and also the EP "Movie Magic" products) is that they 'automatically' track your "tagged" elements (characters, locations, props, wardrobe, etc.) identified in the script, and carry these elements into the budgeting and scheduling documentation. That way, when you make a change to the script itself, with minimal intervention those changes all cascade throughout the applicable paperwork. If it wasn't for that core functionality I'd probably just use Excel.

Best,

- Jordan