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Showrunner
The lead creative-executive on a series, responsible for writers' room direction and overall creative authority.
Sides
Excerpted script pages given to actors for an audition or day's work, usually only the scenes they need.
Sizzle Reel
A short promotional video that showcases a project's tone and visual style, often AI-generated from a script or pitch deck to help sell the concept.
Also known as: gen-o-matic, concept video
Slate
On New Hollywood, the production-company portfolio view for managing projects across lifecycle, financing, and rights.
Smash Cut
An abrupt, high-contrast cut used for shock, comedy, or sharp tonal change between shots or scenes.
Sound Design
Creating and shaping non-musical audio — atmospheres, effects, and textures — that build the film's sonic world.
Source Music
Music that characters can hear in the story world — a radio, club, or phone — distinct from underscore.
Also known as: diegetic music
Spec Script
A screenplay written on speculation — not under commission — intended to showcase the writer or sell the project.
Also known as: spec
Spotting Session
A meeting where director, editor, and composers or sound leads mark where music and major sound design cues land.
Squib
A small practical charge that simulates a bullet hit or impact effect on wardrobe or a surface.
Steadicam
A stabilized camera-support system that allows fluid moving shots without the shake of handheld.
Stem Mix
Grouped mix outputs (dialogue, music, effects) delivered separately so platforms or foreign versions can rebalance.
Also known as: stems
Storyboard
Sequential drawings or frames planning shots and continuity before or during production.
Stringout
A long sequential layout of selects or scenes in timeline order used as a starting point before tightening the cut.
Stripboard
A traditional production board of colored scene strips arranged into shooting days; digital tools still use the same logic.
Also known as: production board
Stunt Coordinator
The department head who designs, staffs, and safety-approves action and stunt work for the production.
Stunt Double
A performer who executes hazardous or specialized action in place of a principal actor, matched for look and wardrobe.
Stunt Performer
A trained specialist hired to execute falls, fights, vehicle work, and other physical action for camera.
Subtext
What a character means or feels beneath the spoken dialogue — the unspoken intention the scene is really about.
Sudocut
New Hollywood dailies-to-assembly tool that builds an initial cut with alternate takes per shot and exports MP4 and OTIO.
Also known as: SudoCut
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Table Read
Cast and creatives reading the script aloud together, usually before production, to hear pace and performance.
Talent Release
A signed agreement granting permission to use a performer's likeness and performance in the project and its marketing.
Temp Track
Temporary music or sound laid under a cut to guide pace and emotion before the final score or mix.
Also known as: temp music
Theme
The underlying idea or question a story explores through character choices and plot, beyond the logline premise.
Three-Act Structure
A common dramatic framework of setup, confrontation, and resolution used to organize story turns and escalating stakes.