What Is USS?
The Universal Schedule Standard (USS) is an open, license-free format for storing and transporting breakdown and schedule data across entertainment industry software. USS was created by Michael R Williams - who is also one of the original creators of Casper, the Excel-based call sheet template that preceded G-Casper Pro. USS solves a long-standing problem: productions generate detailed schedules in one application but then need that data in other tools - for budgets, call sheets, reports, and more. Without a common format, every software company has to build and maintain its own import/export solutions, and productions end up stuck with incompatible files.
Why It Matters
Before USS, moving schedule data between applications meant dealing with a fractured landscape of proprietary file formats. Each format required dedicated support from both the exporting and importing application, which meant frustration for production teams who just wanted their data to move cleanly from one tool to another. USS provides a single, common method so your data is always portable.
How It Works
USS stores schedule and breakdown data in JSON format - a simple text-based structure that any system can read, now and in the future. A single USS file can contain:
- Complete scene breakdowns with all element categories
- Multiple stripboards (shooting schedules)
- Cast and element assignments per scene
- Production calendars with start dates, holidays, and off days
- Scene metadata including locations, page counts, INT/EXT, Day/Night
- Custom categories and element data
Who Supports USS
The USS was pioneered by ThinkCrew (thinkcrew.com), the cloud-based production scheduling platform. A growing coalition of entertainment software companies have adopted the standard as collaborators:
- ThinkCrew - Production scheduling (USS originator)
- Boom Interactive - Production management
- Cinapse - Script breakdown
- Croo - Crew management
- Everyset - Set management
- Filmustage - AI-powered script breakdown
- Scriptation - Script annotation
- Set Hero - Call sheet software
- Shotlister - Shot planning
- Virtual Production Partners - Virtual production
USS and G-Casper Pro
G-Casper Pro natively supports USS imports. If you use ThinkCrew to schedule your production, you can export a USS file and import it directly into G-Casper Pro. Your scenes, cast assignments, locations, day numbers, page counts, and shooting order all transfer cleanly - and G-Casper Pro's Multi-Day Auto Call Sheet Generation creates call sheets for every shoot day in a single pass from that imported data.
What About Movie Magic?
Movie Magic Scheduling does not currently support USS export. G-Casper Pro fills that gap with a world-first approach: a matching engine that combines two standard PDF reports from Movie Magic into a high-fidelity schedule import. Movie Magic users get the same clean import experience that USS provides for ThinkCrew users, with no custom report formats, no plugins, and no workarounds.
The Future of Schedule Data
USS represents an important shift in how the entertainment industry thinks about production data. Instead of every company building proprietary formats that lock productions in, an open standard lets productions choose the best tool for each job and move their data freely between them. G-Casper Pro supports this vision - your schedule data should work for you.