Our work
We build industry-leading web software for Film and TV productions to manage extras. All the large film studios have used our websites, including Disney, Warner Bros., Netflix, ITV, Channel 4, HBO and Amazon Studios.
We also create bespoke web applications using Laravel for all industries and act as consultants for start-ups and established companies to offer innovative technical and business solutions.
OKCrowd
OKCrowd gives production companies confidence that on-set documentation, NDAs and T&Cs will be digitally signed before extras arrive on set.
We designed, built & continue to manage OKCrowd.
(A demo login is available for the curious)
The Casting Collective is one of the UK's largest agencies that provides Supporting Artistes for film, TV, commercials, and photography. We've worked with them for many years, creating web-based systems to help them manage their business.
Paperless Payments
Tools to plan, manage and track Supporting Artistes on set.
Built specifically for Assistant Directors and Production accounts, the system revolutionises how Supporting Artistes are managed whilst on set and how their payments are calculated.
It saves so much time for everyone, and mistakes & oversights are much quicker to deal with.
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Use online or offline, in several locations and on multiple devices, and data will sync seamlessly.
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Easily apply day rate, meal, supplement, travel and/or custom payments or rates based on your project-specific rate.Whether it is the FAA, PACT, BBC, commercials, or a custom rate card.
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Have a bird's eye view of the day's status across units and by character name and time.
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Updates to Supporting Artistes allow them to view their voucher summary and query missing items.
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Find and filter artistes by unit, character, call time, travel, name and more.
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Apply voucher changes, report on or sign artistes in and out both individually or in groups.
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Generate and export detailed reports.
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Calculate voucher payments, daily and ongoing spending, and budget using your project-specific rate calculator.
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Calculate voucher payments, daily and ongoing spending, and budget using your project-specific rate calculator.
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Updates to Supporting Artistes allow them to view their voucher summary and query missing items.
It is a very easy system that has all the information there. It does the hard work for you so you can focus on other things.
The application has full life cycle approval between AD, accounts and agency, allowing each to modify, approve or send back for changes where required.
Our work saves productions, accounts, ADs and artistes countless hours and stress.
Artiste search
The UK’s Casting Book
The site lets productions register and search over 35,000 Supporting Artistes using various filters, including region, gender, age, appearance, measurements, skills and experience.
Users can create shortlists and add and remove suitable artistes based on job requirements. Shortlists can also be printed in various layouts.
Shortlists can be sent to their workmates and are viewable via a password-protected link. When the production is ready to cast or needs further help, they can send their shortlist to the Casting Collective.
Bright Machine made a complex process easy to use. We are very happy with their calm and guiding input to make this achievable.
Laura Sheppard, Director
Artiste management
Online registration, approvals process & artiste organiser
Multi-page, in-depth application that allows prospective Supporting Artistes to save and come back later if needed.
Staff can approve, reject or request changes and view and manage artiste information.
Existing artistes have an area to manage their calendar, view their earnings, update their details & photos and renew.
What we do
Our expertise is in creating superb user experiences through thoughtful design. We believe software should be simple to use, no matter its complexity.
- — Through research & analysis, we understand your business problem to offer technical and software solutions.
- — We run user & event storming workshops to create a strategic plan for your online processes.
- — We help you rapidly test your ideas through product scoping & prototyping.
- — We build & implement software from complex bespoke web applications using Laravel, Vue, Alpine and more to off-the-shelf integrations such as Shopify, Squarespace & Statamic.
More about us
Bright Machine was formed in 2011 by Chris Martin & Kelvin Jones. We are based in the UK in Cheltenham & London.
We love to work with people genuinely in love with their product, brand or business.
Our guiding principles
- Your business needs and processes come first.
- Always be learning & remain creative and flexible in our approach.
- We're opinionated and never afraid to say no; however, we make suggestions, not prescriptions, focusing on what works best for you.
- Communicate using non-technical language.
- Make web software which is a joy to use and built to last.