Documentary reference. These role and gate descriptions explain a method. They are not active commands, automated approvals or a running production system. Use only the guidance relevant to your project.

CHAPTER 11

Roles, decisions and handoffs

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Version 1.3 · 17 September 2026. Use alongside the Workflow, Instruction manual and Prompt library. This is a recommended operating design, not a claim that the historical films used a full crew.

Assign functions, not headcount

A role is a responsibility that must be fulfilled, not necessarily a separate person or agent. One creator can hold all roles; a larger crew can split them. Assign one named owner and, where useful, a backup to each active function. Record the assignment in 00_admin/roles.md. A service, model or generation tool is not an accountable owner.

For each gate below, A is the single accountable function that accepts or holds the decision; R performs the work and supplies evidence; C is consulted before the decision when affected; I receives the result. An A may also execute work; the map normally lists additional performers under R. A role title does not grant account access, spending or publication authority. Record those delegated limits explicitly. Existing valid user approval remains effective within its scope.

The director owns creative acceptance. QC owns the truth of its review findings and pass/fail record. Rights/release review owns its clearance assessment. The project owner owns publication and any material budget/scope expansion. These are separate decisions: a director cannot turn an unheard soundtrack into a QC pass, and the project owner cannot label an unresolved clearance as verified. Resolve a failure, change the permitted requirement with recorded authority, or hold the affected release.

Lean review passes

One creator can complete these as separate passes. Assign people only when the actual project needs collaborators.

Pass	Decision and record
Producer	Scope, cumulative spend, delivery reserve and authority envelope
Writer	What changes for the character or audience; beat map and timed script
Director	What the viewer must notice and feel; performance and scene intention
Art/continuity	What stays fixed and what changes deliberately; scoped canon and references
Camera/light	How framing, movement and motivated light express the beat
Sound	What is heard, withheld or bridged; cues and listening evidence
Editor	Why this interval and cut advance meaning; selects and change notes
QA/release	Actual master, applicable rights, destination and recoverable handover

Prithu's G0–G5 labels are summary groups only: brief maps to G00–G01; story/canon to G02–G05; generation to G06–G07; clip/seam to G08–G11 as applicable; picture/sound to G12–G14; master/delivery/archive to G15–G19. Existing G00–G19 records remain authoritative. Reading a summary never passes its underlying gates.

Specialist coverage within these functions

The department matrix maps thirty-one specialist areas to these nineteen functions, with intent, inputs, decisions, deliverables, handoffs, acceptance and tool limits. Each machine role contract lists its specialist_modules; the module contracts are their canonical detailed source. Use copyable M01–M31 prompts only for the current need. A selected module does not create another agent, confer authority or require all department outputs at every stage.

Role cards

EP — Executive producer / project owner

Responsible for: purpose, audience, financing, risk appetite, final delivery objective and whether the film should continue.
Inputs: brief options, budget/schedule, feasibility and rights reports, release candidate and review evidence.
Outputs: approved brief, spending/delegation envelope, delivery mandate, pivot/defer decision and publication authorization.
Decisions / authority: accepts scope, material budget increases, changed delivery destination, abandon/pivot and public release. Does not certify specialist evidence on their behalf.
Handoff: mandate and constraints to PM/DR; release decision and exact master version to DA. Combines with PM/DR in solo work.

PM — Producer / production manager

Responsible for: critical path, people/functions, scheduling, dependencies, credit ledger, deadline reserve and current status.
Inputs: EP mandate, scene/asset estimates, actual costs and job states, department blockers.
Outputs: production plan, owner assignments, bounded attempts, daily status, change-impact schedule and fallback recommendation.
Decisions / authority: allocates work and spends only within delegated limits; holds an over-budget/out-of-scope generation. Escalates new money or pivot to EP.
Handoff: approved work envelope to ML/GO; delivery reserve to ED/DA; actual-versus-plan report to EP. Can combine with AR/DA in a small crew.

WR — Writer / story editor

Responsible for: premise, character intent, causal structure, reveals, dialogue and script revisions.
Inputs: brief, approved story facts, runtime budget, director notes and coverage feasibility.
Outputs: versioned script, scene/beat map, exact dialogue, revision diff and affected-shot list.
Decisions / authority: proposes story solutions; DR approves creative script lock and EP approves changes to the project mandate. Cannot silently rewrite an approved outcome to fit a bad generation.
Handoff: script and narrative acceptance tests to DR/SB/ED/SD. Commonly combined with DR.

DR — Director

Responsible for: the audience's experience, performance, story meaning, staging and final creative coherence.
Inputs: approved brief/script, visual options, packets, takes, continuity findings, cuts and mix.
Outputs: creative locks, shot priorities, accepted takes/intervals, documented deviations and picture/mix approval.
Decisions / authority: approves script, canon, storyboards, scene packets, creative changes and finished creative cut within EP scope. Does not bypass cost or factual QC holds.
Handoff: intent to CV/DP/SB/ML; take decisions to CC/AR/ED; locked cut to finishing. Combine with WR/CV for lean work.

CV — Creative director / visual development

Responsible for: visual concept, art direction, palette, stylistic coherence and design exploration.
Inputs: brief, story, binding versus inspirational references, delivery framing.
Outputs: look bible, style frames, palette/state progression and design recommendations.
Decisions / authority: chooses exploration methods and proposes visual solutions; DR approves the active look. Exploratory beauty does not supersede approved identity/geography.
Handoff: approved look to DP/PD/CC/SB/ML/CF. Can combine with DR or PD.

DP — Cinematographer / virtual camera lead

Responsible for: framing, camera side, lens perspective, movement, focus, lighting motivation and visual coverage.
Inputs: staging, geography, storyboards, target crop and approved look.
Outputs: camera/lighting plan, framing-safe guides, shot specifications and boundary relationships.
Decisions / authority: selects camera solutions within the locked grammar; DR approves meaning-changing coverage, axis or lighting changes. Treats lens terms as intent unless the tool exposes an actual control.
Handoff: shot grammar to SB/ML/GO; matching notes to ED/CF. Can combine with SB/ML in a small production.

PD — Production designer / world and prop lead

Responsible for: physical world, architecture, geography, materials, scale, props and functional states.
Inputs: script, canon, location/prop references, camera coverage needs and period constraints.
Outputs: location maps, prop sheets, scale comparisons, mechanism states and consistent alternate views.
Decisions / authority: recommends designs/repairs; DR approves canon-changing geometry or hero-prop redesign. Does not invent an unseen room simply to satisfy a prompt.
Handoff: designs to CV/DP/CC/AR; repair constraints to FX. Can combine with CV/CC for a limited cast/world.

CC — Character and continuity supervisor

Responsible for: identity, wardrobe, injuries, pose, object counts, hand usage, geography, screen direction and chronological state.
Inputs: approved canon/assets, script chronology, actual clips and selected edit boundaries.
Outputs: character/state sheets, continuity ledger, boundary frame records, mismatch reports and change dependency list.
Decisions / authority: places a hold on incompatible continuation and certifies state matching; DR decides creative acceptance or an authorized canon revision. Rejected footage never becomes an implicit reference.
Handoff: precise incoming/outgoing states to ML/GO/ED; defects to QC/DR. Can combine with AR, but separate evidence review from asset selection.

SB — Storyboard / previs artist

Responsible for: visualizing shot order, blocking, action legibility, screen direction and planned cut points before expensive generation.
Inputs: script, approved assets, DP camera plan, DR staging and timing.
Outputs: numbered panels, animatic or written shot list, panel-to-clip map and coverage gaps.
Decisions / authority: proposes coverage and flags impossible action; DR approves boards. Does not introduce new identity or architecture through a panel.
Handoff: approved frames and timings to ML/ED; missing views to PD/AR. Can combine with DP/ED.

ML — AI model and prompt lead

Responsible for: translating approved intent into feasible, model-appropriate cards without losing continuity.
Inputs: packet, reference scope, approved boundary state, verified model capabilities and budget.
Outputs: model/mode recommendation, fixed and variable prompt blocks, attachment plan, acceptance tests and failure diagnosis.
Decisions / authority: chooses prompt technique within the mandate; PM owns spend envelope and DR owns creative changes. Does not promise unavailable controls or silently substitute models.
Handoff: versioned full prompt/settings/reference card to GO; capability gaps to DR/PM. Can combine with DP/GO; required composer checks still apply.

AR — Asset librarian / reference manager

Responsible for: asset identity, provenance pointers, versions, platform IDs, availability, status and active-source integrity.
Inputs: source files, approved derivatives, approval decisions and job outputs.
Outputs: registry, exact reference bundles, original/trim separation, source links and active/superseded pointers.
Decisions / authority: certifies that IDs resolve to the intended approved asset; holds ambiguous/stale references. Records creative approval from DR rather than inventing it.
Handoff: verified bundle to ML/GO/CC; manifest and originals to DA. Can combine with PM/CC/DA.

GO — Generation operator

Responsible for: the actual selected account/project, composer settings, prompt completeness, reference chips and one-time submission.
Inputs: passed packet, exact reference bundle and PM-authorized cost/attempt scope.
Outputs: preflight evidence, job ID, actual settings/cost, full generated file and prompt/reference record.
Decisions / authority: may submit only a verified authorized job; must stop on truncation, zero/mismatched references, uncertain prior submission or spend mismatch. Cannot approve its output by declaring the job successful.
Handoff: immutable generation package to AR/QC/CC, status/cost to PM. May combine with ML; it need not be a separate agent.

FX — VFX / compositing

Responsible for: scoped image repairs, cleanup, compositing, tracking, masks and deliberate effects.
Inputs: approved sources, timecoded repair brief, edit timing, canon and permitted transformations.
Outputs: versioned composite, change mask/description, original comparison, handles and any alpha/matte assets needed for edit.
Decisions / authority: chooses repair technique within approved scope; DR accepts creative result, QC verifies artifacts. Identity-changing cleanup or invented story action requires an explicit creative change.
Handoff: repaired interval to ED/CF/QC; altered continuity to CC. Can combine with ED/CF for simple fixes.

ED — Editor

Responsible for: selection, causal coverage, rhythm, continuity at cuts, titles and picture revisions.
Inputs: approved usable intervals, script/boards, boundary records, dialogue/score timing and technical delivery target.
Outputs: EDL, working edit project, versioned review cut, gap/repair list and locked timeline.
Decisions / authority: trims and arranges within the approved story; DR approves picture lock and meaning-changing cuts. Cannot use an insert or cutaway to falsely imply a required action happened.
Handoff: locked timing/handles to SD/FX/CF; final edit and relinkable project to DA. Can combine with finishing and sound on small work.

SD — Sound designer / dialogue / voice / music lead

Responsible for: intelligible performance, sync, ambience, Foley, coherent score, silence and final mix.
Inputs: script/exact dialogue, approved voice references and permissions, picture/EDL, music plan and destination targets.
Outputs: voice/dialogue takes, ambience/Foley/score stems, cue sheet, mix and listening/measurement record. A full studio may split dialogue editor, voice director, composer and mixer beneath this accountable lead.
Decisions / authority: chooses sound treatment within DR's intent and licensed scope; DR accepts creative mix, QC verifies listening/technical checks. Does not invent dialogue, mimic an unapproved voice or treat native audio as a finished mix.
Handoff: synced stems and mix to ED/CF/DA; rights sources to LR. Solo creators may combine with ED while reserving a separate listening pass.

CF — Colorist / finishing

Responsible for: shot matching, controlled grade, conform, crop/ratio, graphics integration and export fidelity.
Inputs: locked edit, originals/repair outputs, look bible, final mix, editable text and destination spec.
Outputs: conformed finished master, export settings, grade notes and platform variants.
Decisions / authority: applies approved finishing; DR accepts intended look, QC certifies technical result. Upscaling or grading cannot be described as recovered source detail without evidence.
Handoff: exact master/version/settings to QC/DA; revised looks to DR. Can combine with ED/FX.

QC — Quality-control and rating reviewer

Responsible for: independent criteria application where feasible, defect detection, evidence coverage and honest pass/fail reporting.
Inputs: candidate files, neighbours, approved packet/canon, rubric version, delivery spec and prior defect list.
Outputs: timecoded findings, ratings, hard-gate results, review coverage, repair verification and technical release recommendation.
Decisions / authority: owns the assessment, may hold a release candidate, and cannot mark unreviewed aspects passed. DR accepts creative tradeoffs; unresolved factual failure remains in the QC record.
Handoff: defects to responsible department; release evidence to EP/DA. Separate from maker when feasible; a solo self-review must be labelled, not presented as independent.

LR — Legal, rights, provenance and release reviewer

Responsible for: collecting and checking source permissions, likeness/voice consents, attribution, music/font/stock records, required disclosures and destination eligibility evidence.
Inputs: asset provenance, usage/consent documents, intended distribution and dated applicable requirements.
Outputs: clearance ledger with scope/limits, missing-document holds and release readiness assessment.
Decisions / authority: determines whether required clearance evidence is present under the documented criteria; flags uncertainty for an appropriate qualified adviser when needed. Does not invent legal permission or guarantee compliance from an AI score.
Handoff: restrictions to AR/DR/SD; evidence/holds to EP/DA. In small teams the producer may own this function; external expertise is used for a concrete unresolved issue, not as automatic overhead.

DA — Delivery, archive and handover owner

Responsible for: master identity, transfer, uploaded playback checks, submission proof, reproducible archive and recovery.
Inputs: QC-cleared master, EP release authority, LR status, project/stems/assets and delivery settings.
Outputs: master checksum/metadata, upload-to-file mapping, receipt/URL, archive manifest, missing-items list and handover.
Decisions / authority: executes authorized transfer/release and certifies what arrived; holds wrong/undecodable/missing files. Never replaces a submitted master merely because a newer filename exists.
Handoff: confirmed delivery and archive to EP/PM; accessible package to the next creator. Can combine with PM/AR but must verify the exported file separately from the editing UI.

Responsibility map by workflow phase

Roles not listed in C/I need no routine involvement. This keeps consultation proportional. The gate register below defines the narrower approval decisions within each phase.

Workflow phase / deliverable	A	R	C	I
0 Recovery and active-version reconciliation	PM	AR, DA	CC, ED, QC	EP, DR
1 Brief, scope and production mandate	EP	PM, WR	DR, LR, DA	CV, ML
2 Script and causal story lock	DR	WR	ED, SB, SD, PM	CV, CC
3 Canon and visual development	DR	CV, PD, CC	DP, SD, LR	AR, ML, SB
4 Approved source registration and availability	AR	GO, CC	DR, CV, PD, LR	ML, PM
5 Scene packets, boards and camera coverage	DR	SB, DP, ML	CC, ED, SD, PD, PM	GO, AR
6 Composer preflight and spend eligibility	PM	GO	ML, AR, CC, LR	DR
7 Authorized generation and job capture	PM	GO	ML, AR	QC, CC, DR
8 Clip acceptance and continuity handoff	DR	QC, CC	DP, ML, ED, SD	AR, GO, PM
9 Edit and scoped VFX repair	DR	ED, FX	CC, DP, QC, PM	CF, SD, DA
10 Sound and creative mix lock	DR	SD	ED, QC, LR	CF, DA
11a Finishing and creative master acceptance	DR	CF	ED, FX, SD, DP	QC, DA
11b Technical master review	QC	CF, DA	CC, SD, ED	DR, PM, EP
12a Rights / provenance readiness	LR	AR, PM	SD, CV, DA	EP, DR
12b Publication and submission	EP	DA	QC, LR, PM, DR	AR, ED
13a Archive and recoverable handover	DA	AR, ED, SD, CF	PM, QC	EP, DR
13b Lessons and workflow update proposal	PM	QC, ML, CC	All affected functions	EP, DR

Gate register: evidence and accountable decisions

No gate requires a meeting by default. A dated record with the decision, artifact version and evidence is sufficient. One valid approval may cover repeated unchanged actions within a bounded scope.

Gate	Decision and evidence required	A	R	Hold / escalation
G00	Current project/master and active records reconciled	PM	AR, DA	Ambiguous versions held; seek source evidence
G01	Brief, budget, deadline reserve and delegated authority approved	EP	PM	Missing mandate or unsupported deadline assumptions
G02	Script has coherent setup/action/consequence and feasible runtime	DR	WR, ED	Revise before buying missing story coverage
G03	Canon/version and visual/state references creatively approved	DR	CV, PD, CC	Conflicting designs resolved or versioned
G04	Active IDs open correct approved assets with provenance scope	AR	CC, GO	Stale, unrelated or unresolved reference held
G05	Scene packet, board/coverage, incoming/outgoing state approved	DR	SB, DP, ML, CC	Split incompatible actions/camera changes
G06	Full actual composer and cost/attempt envelope pass preflight	PM	GO	No submission on truncation, wrong chips or excess scope
G07	Submission outcome/job ID and actual cost reconciled	PM	GO, AR	Uncertain launch checked before retry
G08	Clip has documented review coverage, accepted interval and handoff	DR	QC, CC	Required unknown/failure blocks continuation
G09	Retry/repair within remaining limits and causal plan	PM	ML, QC, CC	Creative change to DR; new funds to EP
G10	Material canon/story change and affected-shot plan accepted	DR	CC, WR, AR, PM	Invalidate only affected approvals; EP if scope/budget changes
G11	Continue, fallback, pivot or defer before reserve is consumed	EP	PM	DR assesses coherent fallback; no silent deadline overrun
G12	Picture lock and VFX changes preserve story and joins	DR	ED, FX, CC	Repair/review changed boundaries
G13	Mix creatively accepted with listening evidence	DR	SD	Missing listening/sync evidence stays pending
G14	Finished look/crops/text accepted against delivery brief	DR	CF	New grade/crop changes go back through affected review
G15	Actual master passes documented technical/playback QA	QC	CF, DA, SD	No status inferred from export button or thumbnails
G16	Required rights/provenance/release evidence assessed	LR	AR, PM	Unresolved applicable requirement flagged to EP
G17	Exact master and destination authorized for publication	EP	DA	Requires G15/G16 readiness and creative acceptance
G18	Uploaded result/submission receipt matches approved master/link	DA	GO, AR	Keep old valid version until replacement verified
G19	Archive relinks, omissions declared, lessons and status reconciled	DA	AR, ED, SD, PM	Missing source/stem/project explicitly recorded

Anti-drift control ownership

Control	Responsible functions	Accountable decision	Required handoff
Freeze identity, world, prop and state rules	CV, PD, CC	DR / G03	Versioned canon → AR/ML
Match actual asset, ID and scoped visual authority	AR, GO	AR / G04	Checked bundle → ML/GO
Keep one readable action and a coherent camera setup	ML, DP, SB	DR / G05	Approved packet → GO
Verify full text and real attachments at spend time	GO	PM / G06	Composer evidence → job ledger
Prevent a rejected clip seeding its descendants	CC, AR	DR / G08	Approved boundary only → next packet
Bound retries and revise the failed component	ML, QC, PM	PM / G09	Diagnosed repair → GO; new scope → EP
Track material change and downstream invalidation	CC, WR, AR, PM	DR / G10	Dependency list → all affected departments
Protect edit/QA/upload time and choose pivot early	PM, DR	EP / G11	Frozen feasible plan → ED/DA
Audit every similar join after one reference flash	QC, ED	QC / G15	Boundary defect sweep → ED/FX
Preserve approved score during picture repair	ED, SD	DR / G12–G13	Revised EDL and unchanged/changed audio declaration → CF
Prove final file and submitted version separately	DA, QC	QC / G15; DA / G18	Checksum + upload/receipt mapping → EP

Three recommended operating modes

Solo creator

The creator holds EP/PM/DR and the specialist functions; an assistant can prepare packets, inventories, prompts and QC evidence within authorized scope. Make three distinct passes: creative build, evidence review, release decision. A pause and fresh viewing can reduce familiarity bias but does not make a solo review independent. For a complex or high-consequence gap, seek targeted external review rather than automatically creating nineteen agents.

Minimum records: brief/canon, active asset list, shot/job/continuity ledger, edit decisions and delivery receipt. Each row still names the responsible function, even if the same person occupies every role. Before a paid generation, act as PM/GO; after it, act as CC/QC; creative acceptance remains DR. This prevents enthusiasm for a render from substituting for a completed review.

Small crew — suggested four-person grouping

Owner function group	Combined roles	Practical separation
Creator / producer-director	EP, PM, WR, DR; LR coordination	Owns mandate and creative acceptance; delegates only bounded execution
Visual and generation lead	CV, DP, PD, SB, ML, GO	Authors/operates clips; does not independently certify its own results
Continuity and media lead	CC, AR, QC, DA	Verifies reference chains, joins and delivery; consults specialists for audio/finishing
Post-production lead	ED, FX, SD, CF	Builds edit/mix/finish; receives QC findings from another owner

This is a starting allocation, not a staffing requirement. In a two-person crew, combine creator/continuity on one side and generation/post on the other, with cross-checks for clips and final files. If either person cannot assess a discipline, mark the limit and obtain focused review rather than fabricate approval. LR coordination does not imply legal qualification.

Full virtual studio

Assign named departmental owners for the nineteen functions and split specialist subroles only where the workload warrants it. PM manages a shared schedule and bounded work orders; DR controls creative lock; AR owns the active asset registry; CC owns continuity state; QC reviews separately from the departments producing candidates. EP authorizes scope/funds/release, and DA carries the exact master through publication/archive.

Separate concurrent work by scene/asset ownership and immutable canon version. A worker may return a candidate but cannot promote it into the active registry without the designated approval. Reserve platform operation to an assigned operator per account/project to avoid competing composer edits and duplicate jobs. Creating agents, hiring people or granting account permissions remains a separately authorized action; this role system performs none of those actions.

Handoff contract and disputed decisions

Every material handoff contains: project/scene/shot ID; canon and artifact versions; source paths/platform IDs; current lifecycle status; allowed use and limits; evidence reviewed; unresolved defects; downstream dependencies; cost/attempt scope if relevant; sender; recipient; accountable gate owner; timestamp. Receiver acknowledges that the files open and the version is usable. Approval of a thumbnail alone is not acceptance of full-motion footage.

For disagreement, identify the criterion and evidence before escalation. Technical measurement goes to QC; creative intent to DR; factual reference/state conflicts to CC/AR then DR; schedule/spend to PM then EP; rights uncertainty to LR and the appropriate source/adviser. A favourable score never overrides a failed hard gate. Record accepted minor deviations with their scope; a material change goes through G10. The requested Divinium rubric remains unresolved, so no role may claim to have applied it.

Validation cases and evidence limits

Truncated prompt / missing chips: GO reports fail; PM holds G06. DR's approved prose does not prove the live composer is ready.
New prop shape mid-sequence: CC flags the affected shots; AR prevents promotion; DR decides repair or versioned canon change at G10.
Retry ceiling reached near deadline: PM proposes feasible options; EP decides G11 with DR's story assessment. GO does not continue spending.
Maker gives excellent rating but soundtrack was never heard: QC leaves sound unverified; G15 stays pending regardless of aesthetic score.
Latest file exists but wrong upload remains submitted: DA fails G18 until the actual asset/link/receipt is reconciled; EP's intent alone is not evidence.
Solo creator fills every role: assignments are valid, but the review is explicitly self-reviewed; no independent-review claim.

These are documented decision walkthroughs, not live production tests. Historical Apple drift and Night Watch repairs motivated the controls; the full role arrangement is newly proposed and was not retrospectively attributed to those productions.

Approved cinematic intent

ED/DR may plan offscreen action, montage, ellipsis or stylized physics where the intended audience inference remains clear. Explicit visible mechanics are required only when the brief/scene tests require them. This does not permit relabelling an accidental missing story beat after failure; a changed intent uses the normal creative-change decision.