MANAGING COVID-19
PROTOCOLS FOR
CANADIAN PRODUCTIONS

Production Office Best Practices

From prep to post, go contact-free and paperless.

The production office has the technology to be truly remote. Plan ahead to take your production office remote and manage your workflows, approvals, and reporting digitally. Learn how with this guide.

Table of Contents

 

As productions return to work, they are faced with the realities of what it will take to create the safest possible work environments. 

While some locations have specific restrictions, including quarantine requirements, there are some universal precautions that will apply to any production no matter where you shoot - such as limiting contact, increasing off-set work, and implementing staggered work shifts, the zone system, and/or small working groups.

Official government committees, such as The Film and Television Health and Safety Advisory Committee of the Ontario Ministry of Labour, recommend “making use of available technology to allow individuals to work remotely” and “limiting the requirement for workers to physically attend at the production office for petty cash, P-Card increases, to pick up cheques, etc."

 
 
 
 
GET STARTED WITH THE BASICS
 
SET UP YOUR APPROVAL FLOWS
 
BUILD TRAINING INTO YOUR ONBOARDING PROCESS
 
MANAGE YOUR PRODUCTION PAYROLL
      • Timecards
 
ENABLE YOUR ACCOUNTANTS TO WORK REMOTELY
      • Expense management tools
      • Accounting records
 
STREAMLINE YOUR POST ACCOUNTING 

THE PRODUCTION OFFICE HAS THE TECHNOLOGY TO BE TRULY REMOTE

This guide will help you to plan ahead to take your production office remote and manage your workflows, approvals, and reporting with GreenSlate and other technologies. Not only will you help keep your team safe, but you will also keep your employee data secure and save money through greater efficiencies in your processes. Remote digital solutions eliminate travel, office space, supplies, rentals, and storing boxes of files; it adds up.

From prep to post, go contact-free and paperless. Here’s how.

Get started with the basics.

  1. Set up your payroll and accounting with GreenSlate, an all-in-one platform built for digital workflows The system uniquely leverages one database to allow all crew to submit digital timecards, view cheque copies, and initiate purchase orders and cheque requests in a single online application. Having one platform where all payroll and accounting forms can be completed without paper is critical to contactless operations.

      

  2. Select production management software that works for your needs and budget. With industry standard tools such as SetKeeper or Scenechronize, you will be able to share scripts, production reports, call sheets, sides, and more, without any paper.


    TECH TIP:     Establish which technology your team will use for video calling, screen sharing, and messaging (Slack, G Suite, Zoom, etc.), communicate this information to your entire team, and make every effort to hold all meetings online or via phone. 

     

  3. Set up and check your internet on set. The technologies that allow you to eliminate paper all require internet access. If you are shooting in a remote location, test your internet, and, if needed, set up wireless hotspots.


    INTERNET ACCESS TIP:     To check your internet speed, visit speedtest.net. We recommend that your minimum upload and download speed is not lower than 5 Mbps. If your internet speed is slower than this, we recommend setting up wireless internet hotspots. Dedicated hotspot devices can be purchased from most cellular companies.

 



Easily track document approvals in the app

Color coded icons highlight the status of your approvals.

 

 

 

 

needed

Needed
This item or task has  yet to be completed and requires attention.

pending

Pending
This item or task has been sent to an approver and is awaiting approval.

approved

Approved
This item or task has been completed. No further steps are needed at this time.

Set up your approval flows. 

Think about what you do on set and share your process with our Digital Success team.

We will make sure you have the flexibility you need and that everything is configured to work the way you work.

Start with our default approval flows and customize from there!

  1. Designate who your approvers are, by person or by role. 
  2. Indicate the order of approvers.
  3. Indicate whether an approver can be skipped.
  4. Designate who needs to sign.
  5. Set up conditional approval steps based on amounts. 
  6. Set automated notifications throughout the process to help keep everything on track.

Approval Flow Template

 

Customize and manage training for your crew

 

The GreenSlate training module makes online training quick and convenient. 

  • Build trainings using presentations or videos you already have or by sourcing content online, and add required checklists or attestation forms.  
  • Collect survey, quiz, and attestation responses. 
  • Set parameters for how trainings can be completed or course content can be viewed.
  • Add certifications that are valid for predefined periods of time.
  • Track completions.

Build training into your onboarding process.

Schedule webinars and set up required trainings for your production.

Our Support team works as an extension of your crew. We can customize GreenSlate platform webinars for crew, department heads, approvers and/or accountants, and can set up any required trainings. Provide us with your COVID-19 specific protocols in video, slide, or document format, and we will set up a required course in our training module for employees to complete as part of their onboarding. Alternatively, you can require your crew to take GreenSlate's COVID-19 safety training.

Managing your required trainings

  1. Review your protocols for any specific requirements you need the crew to adhere to. Consult with our Onboarding and Support teams to review your content and preload your trainings before production starts. 
  2. Manage required trainings from the app and send reminder emails to crew as needed.
  3. Track completed trainings and certifications in the app.

    support.gslate.comsupportsolutionsarticles6000226993-how-to-manage-trainings-employer-hittrainings module

Manage your production payroll. 

Timecards can be entered any time, from anywhere.

  • View real time status updates and approvals.
  • Eliminate incomplete submissions, readability issues, and the possibility of lost notes and paperwork.
  • Resolve issues via notes and notifications.
  • Work quickly by reviewing and approving in batches.


For the Crew: Save time by copying and pasting weekly or daily hours. Access all pay history and pay stubs any time through the GreenSlate app.

Log in to the GreenSlate app to access their payroll history anytime.

  • View, download, and print individual pay stubs.
  • View their digital timecards and cheque copies.
  • Export, search, and filter their work history by date, project or company.

 

 

 

Quickly get answers to any questions with direct access to our Support team over live chat, phone, or email. Software support is available 24/7.

Enable your accountants to work remotely.

Get started quickly with multiple budget import options.
Seamlessly import Excel, Movie Magic, or Showbiz budgeting files.

Set up your expense management tools. 
Access all transaction documents and email PDFs of POs with associated backup directly from the app.

  • Initiate and distribute purchase orders digitally. Eliminate trips to the office to submit forms or to photocopy documents. 
  • Replace petty cash with CASHét or contact your local bank to set up prepaid cards to eliminate the need to physically pick up cash. Make online purchases, deliveries, and check balances in real time and easily upload receipts from your mobile device.
  • Attach any related backup to transactions, along with system digital signatures/approvals, once bills have been entered digitally.
  • Approve payments, print cheques with digital signatures, and access transactions with remote bill payments.
     

Manage your production accounting records. 
You can check account balances for all projects with one click and monitor the Chart of Accounts and General Ledger in real time on your computer or mobile device without having to run reports.

  • Instantly access information on screen, instead of printing reports, with multi-filter views and drilldowns.
  • Easily open and view backup attachments within the active window when reviewing and approving transactions.
  • Instantly view subledgers and transactions to address questions and investigate spend coding with our interactive Trial Balance and Cost Report Dashboard.
  • Easily code or recode spend to track all expenditures with the Edit Transaction Details.
  • Run any report by any currency and rate you require with our flexible multi-currency entry and reporting.
  • Select and filter your document downloads to save them the way you need them, by employee/vendor name, transaction type, or number. 

SIMPLIFY YOUR RECORDS MANAGEMENT

Robust tools accessible directly in the accounting General Ledger allow you to work quickly.

 

 

Funnel

Filters - Easily locate information with granular filter options.

 

paper-clip

Attachments - Easily locate transactions that are missing backup.

 

cloud_upload

Cloud storage - Easily upload backup, such as invoices, receipts, etc. to all accounting transactions.

Streamline your post accounting

Implement end to end digital tools to simplify your post accounting and save money by eliminating the need for paper, bankers boxes, shipping, and storage costs.

  • Cloud storage of all files provides access to all transaction details and speeds up both filing and the audit process.
  • All accounting transactions in the web allow for the upload of backup, such as invoices, receipts, etc.
  • The GreenSlate Dashboard, a comprehensive management tool, allows you to find all the information you need, all in one place.
  • A full reconciliation report at the end of production provides payment summaries for Union Remittance, PR Withholding Tax, Provincial Workers Compensation, and Provincial Employer Health Tax, where applicable.

Project Payable Reconcliation Report-1

The most advanced technology for production accounting and entertainment payroll. Our innovative cloud-based platform is evolving the entertainment industry’s back-office. By replacing paper-based processes with digital technologies, GreenSlate’s clients benefit from greater efficiencies, better access to data, and cost savings, all while minimizing their impact on the environment. GreenSlate offers a full range of solutions for payroll and production accounting.

Accessibility is everything. We design each feature of our software to allow you to access the information you need, when you need it, from greenlight to delivery. 

Learn more about our digital solutions for Canadian productions here.