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About StoryboardCanvas

Built by people who've been on set, to fix a global problem in how film gets made.

StoryboardCanvas was founded by people who spent decades on set, in the edit, and in the production office - not in software. We built the tool we wished existed, because nothing on the market held a real production together in one synchronised project file.

The short version

Filmmakers first, software company second.

This wasn't built by a tech team guessing at our problems. It was built by the people who had them - on set, in the edit, in the production office - which is why it behaves like something made by someone who's actually run a shoot.
StoryboardCanvas film production software, built by film production professionals.
WHY WE BUILT THIS

An operating system for everyone who makes film.

We wanted one place that carried a film the whole way - from the first line of script to the last shot of the day, and out the other side in the edit - with real help built into every step. We started building it to scratch our own itch. What it became surprised us, so we didn't stop.

StoryboardCanvas is that operating system: twenty production apps sharing one synchronised project file across the whole write → break down → schedule → shoot → wrap pipeline. Change a detail in one app and a cross-app spine updates every other in 0.3ms - no re-typing, no version anyone forgot to send. And DollyAI™ - your built-in assistant, with agent mode and a crew of specialists - works beside you in every single app.

It's built to empower everyone who makes film - the solo creator on a phone, the hobbyist, the indie crew, the video house and the ad agency, all the way up to streaming-scale coordination across a whole slate. The entire suite is free forever on one seat, no card, and it now runs in any browser in twenty-six languages.

And we haven't stopped - not even close. Every fortnight we ship. If StoryboardCanvas has helped you, pass it to someone who'd love it too. Thank you - truly - for being here, and for your support. This is just the beginning.

Why we built this

It started as scratching our own itch.

We weren't trying to build a company. We wanted one place that held a story from the first line to the last shot, with real help at every step. We built it for ourselves first - then it grew into something we couldn't keep to ourselves.
Why StoryboardCanvas was built - an operating system for everyone who makes film.

Our mission

Make a finished, shoot-ready production faster, synchronised, and far less expensive.

Moving-image production runs on a 1990s software stack at 2026 prices. The tools that plan and produce the world's scripted content were built in separate decades, by separate companies, for separate departments - and have been duct-taped together ever since. Every department works in a different application. No one owns the latest version of anything. Everyone pays the bill.

StoryboardCanvas replaces that stack with one synchronised project file. Twenty apps, one source of truth, every feature on every paid tier - so any team operates with the fluency of a studio without paying like one.

What we're building toward

Studio fluency, without the studio bill.

The goal is simple: any team should be able to plan and produce with the ease of a major studio without paying like one. Every feature on every paid tier, no enterprise gate - the same power for a solo creator and a slate of shows.
The StoryboardCanvas mission - one synchronised project file replacing the old film production-software stack.

Built by filmmakers

Craft knowledge is the hiring prerequisite.

StoryboardCanvas is built by directors, producers, production coordinators, DPs, editors, and software engineers who shipped real productions before they shipped a single line of code for this product. Engineers who haven't been on set don't design our tools.

Every design decision is pressure-tested by a working director and a working producer before it ships. If a feature can't survive a shoot day, it doesn't survive review.

Mitchell Hughes, founder of StoryboardCanvas, with his dogs

Mitchell Hughes

Founder · Storyboard Artist

Follow the founder

Meet the founder

Mitchell Hughes is a visual storyteller who lives between imagination and execution - a storyboard artist whose work transforms scripts into cinematic moments long before the cameras roll. With nearly two decades immersed in advertising, film, branded content, and design, his craft is rooted not only in drawing frames, but in understanding emotion, pacing, composition, and the language of cinema itself.

From global campaigns to intimate creative concepts, Mitch approaches every project with the eye of a director and the instinct of an artist, building worlds where movement, atmosphere, and narrative collide. His work is less about illustration alone, and more about giving shape to ideas before they exist - turning rough concepts into something audiences can already feel.

StoryboardCanvas is the conception of every lesson learnt from many talented humans not mentioned here - a tool to empower humans, not replace them.

Made on set, not in a lab

If it can't survive a shoot day, it doesn't ship.

A working director and a working producer pressure-test every decision before it goes out. The test is brutal and simple: if a feature wouldn't hold up on set, it doesn't make it past review.
StoryboardCanvas built by working filmmakers and engineers who use it on real productions.

What we believe

Six principles that shape every shipped feature.

Craft before tech

The software speaks cinema first - shot grammar, revision colours, stripboards, the 180° rule, why a call sheet has to be right at 5am. The tech serves the craft. Full stop.

One roof, not fifteen tabs

Production is underserved because it's been asked to duct-tape fifteen single-purpose tools across five subscriptions. We ship one synchronised project file every department reads and writes to.

AI that suggests, never overrides

DollyAI™ is a co-pilot. She proposes coverage, flags schedule risk, locks your art style - but never pulls the trigger. Every suggestion is one click to accept, one to ignore.

You own your work

Full commercial rights on every tier. We never train on your projects. Your scripts, storyboards, cast data, schedules - yours to keep, export, and take with you.

Curated style, not scraped slop

Our signature style profiles are built in-house from reference sets we curate ourselves - never from datasets scraped without consent. Crews get on-model frames; styles ship as named profiles, not real-world licensed people.

Every feature on every tier

Plans differ on seats, credits, and priority - never on capability. Hobbyist gets the same Script, Draw, DollyAI™, and revision mode as Enterprise. No feature gates, no surprise paywalls.

Principles, not slogans

Beliefs we can point to in the code.

These aren't wall posters. Craft before tech, one roof instead of fifteen tabs, AI that suggests but never overrides - each one is a rule you can see in how the product actually behaves, not a line in a deck.
The six principles guiding StoryboardCanvas film production software design

Our commitment

Every app. Lifetime development. Every two weeks.

StoryboardCanvas is not a launch-and-move-on product. Every one of the twenty apps gets continuous lifetime development, on a fortnightly release cadence, steered by the people actually using it on real productions.

Lifetime
development

Every app, always evolving

No feature-freeze, no sunset. Every app in the suite - Script, Draw, AI Artist, Animate, and every Producer Suite module - receives lifetime feature development. The price you pay is for the whole future, not a single snapshot.

Every 2 weeks
release cadence

Bi-weekly shipping, publicly logged

A production release every fortnight, logged openly on the Changelog. New features, reliability fixes, and craft-driven polish arrive on a predictable rhythm that matches how filmmaking teams actually work - not vague coming-soon roadmaps.

User-driven
roadmap

Quality-of-life from the people using it

Every subscriber can file QoL requests directly from inside the product. Requests are triaged weekly, promoted to the roadmap transparently, and prioritised by craft value - not engineering convenience. Your shoot-day paper cut is our next sprint.

< 24 hr
response SLA

In-house support, production-literate

Our support team is in-house and production-literate - never outsourced, never a chatbot fence. Responses within 24 hours, faster for Studio and above. Live chat, email, and priority escalation on every paid tier. 24/7 coverage is on the post-launch roadmap.

The feedback loop

01

File in-product

Any subscriber flags a paper cut, request, or wish directly inside the app.

02

Weekly triage

Product + working directors review the queue every week, publicly.

03

Roadmap promote

Prioritised items land on the open roadmap with target sprint numbers.

04

Ship + credit

Shipped in a fortnightly release. Contributors are credited in the Changelog.

Our long-term pact

Your shoot-day paper cut is our next sprint.

This isn't launch-and-leave. The roadmap is steered by the people on set: the small friction that ruins a shoot day becomes the fix that ships a fortnight later, logged openly in the changelog.
The StoryboardCanvas commitment - lifetime development on a fortnightly release cadence.

Together

We are building a new world for filmmaking. And we are building it with you.

StoryboardCanvas is a long game. Every subscription is a seat at the table - your craft knowledge steers the roadmap, your shoot-day friction becomes our next release, and your work stays yours. Full commercial rights. Exportable project files. Nothing trained on. Nothing held hostage.

If you've ever re-typed a scene heading into a fifth application at midnight before a 5am call, you already know why this exists. Join us and help shape what ships next.

See it for yourself

Step inside a real production, completely free.

Open the actual software on Origin: Ascension, a finished short film, and explore every app exactly as the crew left it. Read the script, walk the boards, open the budget, print the call sheet. Fully read-only, with no sign-up. Nothing you touch is saved.

Try the free demo20 apps · one project file · 0 seconds of setup
No sign-upNo cardNo downloadFully read-onlyNothing you touch is saved
Live demo · Origin: Ascension
The AI Artist app in the free demo, generating an Origin: Ascension storyboard frame in the project's locked house style.
The Draw studio in the free demo, painting over an Origin: Ascension storyboard frame on the GPU canvas.
The Animate app in the free demo, playing back the timed Origin: Ascension animatic.
The Call Sheet app in the free demo, showing a finished Origin: Ascension shoot-day call sheet.

Script · breakdown · boards · animatic · call sheets · budget

The demo is a view-only copy shared for exploration. Some features need a paid subscription to run.

One project file. Every department.

From first draft to final wrap - StoryboardCanvas replaces the fragmented stack with one synchronised suite.

Storyboard Canvas · the complete production suite

The complete script-to-screen suite - start free

Twenty synchronised apps, one project file. Every app on every plan - pick a tier by team size, not features.

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