Creating and publishing draft sessions in Film Manager

Draft mode allows programmers to build and review sessions in Film Manager without making them visible to cinema managers immediately. 

When you create a draft session, users of Cinema Manager can see that the time has been blocked out, but cannot see the session's details or edit it. This lets you work on advance schedules without other staff questioning or editing the schedules before you've finalised the proposal. 

When you are ready to share your proposed schedule, convert the drafts to planned sessions to publish them. 

Tip: You can also use draft sessions to set up secret events: reserve a time slot using a draft session, then reveal the details when the event is made public. 

Video walkthrough

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Creating draft sessions

1. In Film Manager, go to Showtime Manager. 

2. In the toolbar, click Enable draft mode.

3. Create sessions as normal. You can tell a session is a draft by looking for these indications on the session tile:

   • Draft icon in the lower left corner

   • Black dot in the upper left corner
   • Dashed border around the tile
4. Optionally, select Status colour view in the toolbar. Draft sessions are displayed in black and white. 
5. Click Save. 

When you create draft sessions, users of Cinema Manager see a reserved time slot with no further details. They cannot edit draft sessions. 

Publishing draft sessions

When you are ready to publish the schedule, convert your draft sessions to planned or open sessions. 

To publish one or more draft sessions:

1. In Film Manager, go to Showtime Manager. 
2. Select the draft sessions.
3. In the settings bar, set the Session status to Planned or Open. 
4. Click Save.

To publish all draft sessions in the week you are viewing:

1. In Film Manager, go to Showtime Manager. 
2. Deselect all sessions by clicking on the background of the schedule. 
3. Click Manage sessions. 
4. Select Make Draft sessions Planned.
5. Click Continue. 
6. Click Save.

Note: The Manage sessions > Open sessions button does not open draft sessions unless you specifically select them. To open all draft sessions, convert them to planned sessions first. 

Tip: Before you close Showtime Manager, check the Status colour view to ensure that all sessions have the status you expect. This will help you avoid publishing an incomplete schedule. 

See also:

• Films overview
• Creating sessions in Showtime Manager
• Opening sessions for sale