Gorilla software -- worth the cost?

Randall_Oelerich

Randall_Oelerich

Veteran
Is Gorilla software worth the $180 for the student edition? I am gearing up to direct/produce my second short film, a 15 page supernatural horror/thriller, 4 actors two locations. Working on shooting script now. Training ground to do a feature film in a few years. Should I buy Gorilla software to learn to do call sheets, etc? Currently I am using Movie Magic Screenwriter 6 software, and it looks as though Gorilla works seamlessly with MMS software script imports (also Final Draft).

I also notice they marked down the price from $199 to $179; any knowledge of if a new version is about to be released (meaning I should wait?)?

Any thoughts or advice welcome. Thank you in advance for any feedback / replies.
~randall
 
If you download the new celtx version (within the last few weeks) it's free, and play around with it, you'll find it does a ton of the pre-pro work, including breakdown sheets, call sheets, scheduling, character desciptions, story boards, on-line team writing, on-line productin planning, sharing scripts, etc... it doesn't have a budget, releases, insurance, payroll, legal and any other items yet, but I'm sure that's in the works at some point. The others don't do all this in one place unless you spend some $.

I think I'm switching over from Final Draft to Celtx because of this write and produce environment.

As for your question -- I don't know, but I really did like many things about Gorilla when I played around with it a few years ago. I'm sure it's better than ever.

You could save your MM screenplay as a txt file and import into celtx and do your pre-pro there. One other thing, with the embedded notes a person could go through scene by scene and cost out each. That would be an interesting way to play with budgets.
 
I've never had special need for that software myself, as an indie producer, but looking into it definitely makes me think, hmm, well if I get some more cash then it would be nice to buy.

I have a showbiz contract package that is really great, fill in the information in the forms, it generates the contracts. That has been extremely helpful. I have Final Draft. Besides that I do my own books, and am meticulous about keeping details, but a lot of these things generated for big projects I don't find necessary or useful. I haven't done a feature film yet, though, and if I were to do that I would obviously have more need for a lot of the stuff included.

It looks pretty sweet, though! I'd love to have it. But I'd have to get the professional version so I'll wait a bit. I need to make some more cash ;)
 
I don't know about the student version as I use the Pro version. I find it very useful for budgeting and all the scheduling functions such as breakdown sheets, stripboards, call sheet and a myriad of reports. It works very well with Final Draft. It's been a long time since I used it with MM Screenwriter but from what I remember it worked fine with that.

I think the major differences between the versions is how much budget and the shooting time the software allows. The student version allows up to 50,000 currency (dollars, euros, pesos whatever) and 14 shooting days. The standard version allows up to 1,000,000 currency and 48 shooting days. And the pro version is unlimited both in budget and shooting days.

I also like the integration of the optional rate books.

I've used it for features, TV Pilot and even shorts. It was used on both Where the Heart Lies (LoveFest) and O2 (TimeFest)
 
I currently have EP Scheduling. Which is like Gorilla, just for scheduling only. It's a standard platform for a reason. I've used it to breakdown a few dozen films and schedule them out.

It really helps out when you have the breakdowns and stripboards done. And I wouldn't do it any other way. I may make the move to Gorilla though because of its budgeting platform that is integrated into their scheduling one. EP has two separate packages.

Celtx looks okay for scheduling stuff. It's basic.
 
Mattykins said:
I currently have EP Scheduling. Which is like Gorilla, just for scheduling only. It's a standard platform for a reason. I've used it to breakdown a few dozen films and schedule them out.

It really helps out when you have the breakdowns and stripboards done. And I wouldn't do it any other way. I may make the move to Gorilla though because of its budgeting platform that is integrated into their scheduling one. EP has two separate packages.
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Well, if you're using it for yourself or indie productions, definitely go Gorilla. But as you mentioned, EP is the standard if you plan on working in the studio system or bigger productions.

James Keach used Gorilla when he made Walk the Line. He his UPM and 1st AD were in the same Gorilla seminar with me.
 
Does anyone have a tutorial DVD for Gorilla lying around? I bought the standard version but I'm not too keen about forking over another $70 for the DVD. I've seen it for $48 but then shipping and tax brings it up to $70.
 
I've got Gorilla and I've played with celtx - the thing I really like about Gorilla isn't the scheduling - it's the rescheduling - being able to quickly change a shooting schedule, move days around - I'd get the trial and put in some time - it's a steep learning curve
 
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