Practice & capstones

How capstones work

Each level’s lessons end with one small move. The capstone is where those moves assemble into a real deliverable for the next Filmmakers Connect event. Grade yourself honestly against the rubric: Not yet, Passing, or Strong. The gate is the one-line test that says you’re ready for the next level.

Level 0 · See the Whole Board

Capstone: the master sheet, live. One spreadsheet with four named tabs (Runway, Budget, Sponsor Pipeline, Volunteers), a weekly planning block on your calendar, and your one-page three-arcs sort of the August event.

Not yet: the sheet exists but the tabs are empty shells and the weekly block isn’t scheduled.
Passing: all four tabs named, the three-arcs page done, the weekly block recurring on the calendar.
Strong: the sheet is already the single source of truth: the last three event decisions you made are written in it, not in your head or a chat thread.

Gate: say the three arcs from memory, master sheet in hand.

Level 1 · The Blueprint

Capstone: the Event Blueprint. One document for the August event assembling every lesson’s move: the 5-line concept (1.1), the nine-function org chart with a named person on every function (1.2), the runway with milestones and the freeze date (1.3), the three-tier budget with one go/no-go date (1.4), the one-page prospectus draft (1.5), the venue scorecard (1.6), and the risk page with five single points of failure and their plan Bs (1.7).

Not yet: some sections exist, but functions are unowned or the budget has one tier.
Passing: every section present; every function has a name (hats allowed); the budget has three tiers and a go/no-go date; the risk page names five failure points with plan Bs.
Strong: the blueprint has already changed something: a function got handed off, a venue got rescored, or the go/no-go date moved a spending decision. The document is steering the event, not describing it.

Gate: blueprint one event end to end on paper, every function owned by a named person.

Level 2 · Fill the Room

Capstone: registration open and filling. A live Luma page for the August event with the whole campaign running behind it, assembling every lesson’s move: the launch, ramp, and convert dates sitting on the runway tab with owners (2.1), the registration cap derived from the room number and your assumed no-show rate, both written down (2.2), the launch post drafted hook first in the community voice (2.3), ten named prospects in the pipeline tab (2.4), the program sketched as an energy curve with exactly one liaison beside every guest (2.5), the run of show drafted top to bottom from call time to load-out with gaps marked TBD (2.6), and the station by shift grid with the recruiting number at the bottom, posted to the team before it went public (2.7).

Not yet: the Luma page is live but the promotion calendar has no real dates, the cap was guessed rather than derived, or the pipeline has fewer than ten rows.
Passing: registration is open with a cap you can defend from two written numbers; the runway tab carries launch, ramp, and convert dates with owners; the launch post exists; ten prospects are in the pipeline; the program has an energy shape and no guest is missing a liaison; the run of show runs unbroken; every station has a shift count and a name or a gap you can see.
Strong: the plan is already in contact with reality. The prospectus has gone out, a discovery call is booked, the first announcement moment posted on the date it was supposed to, volunteers are claiming stations from the team-first call, and you are checking registration pace against the target instead of hoping about it.

Gate: registration open, prospectus out, run of show drafted, every station staffed on paper.

Level 3 · Show Day and Beyond

Capstone brief ships with Level 3.