Story Maker vs Gorilla Scheduling
A long-established desktop toolset with serious budgeting depth — including a union ratebook nothing else integrates. Here is the honest split.
Gorilla, from Jungle Software, is a long-standing scheduling and budgeting toolset for film and television. It covers screenplay import, breakdown sheets, stripboards, cast, crew and location management, with Gorilla Budgeting alongside it and add-ons for call sheets and union rates.
Its budgeting is the part to take seriously. Globals, fringes, sub-groups, tax credits, deferments, fourth-level budgeting and expense tracking is a professional feature set, and the Gorilla Ratebook — over 11,500 verified labour rates across more than 200 union agreements, integrated directly into the budget — is something no other product in this comparison offers.
The Story Maker takes a different shape: cloud-native, script-first, AI-assisted, and spanning development through distribution. Facts below were read from Jungle Software's own site on 3 August 2026.
⚡ Quick Verdict
Gorilla wins decisively for US union productions — the Ratebook's 11,500+ rates across 200+ union agreements integrated into budgeting has no equivalent here.
The Story Maker wins for script-first, cloud-collaborative and non-English production, and for anyone who wants the schedule generated from the screenplay rather than built from it.
Desktop versus cloud is the other axis. Gorilla is installed software with one-time purchase options; this is a browser platform with pay-as-you-go credits.
| Feature | The Story Maker | Gorilla Scheduling |
|---|---|---|
Integrated union ratebook The Gorilla Ratebook carries 11,500+ verified labour rates across 200+ union agreements and integrates directly with Gorilla Budgeting. Nothing here is comparable. | ||
Deep budgeting mechanics Globals, fringes, sub-groups, tax credits, deferments, fourth-level budgeting and expense tracking — a mature professional budgeting feature set. | ||
AI screenplay generation and development Beat boards, character bibles, drafting, coverage, scoring. Gorilla imports screenplays rather than helping write them. | ||
Automated breakdown from the script Elements tagged automatically from the screenplay, feeding the stripboard and DOOD. Gorilla offers a separate Breakdown Assistant AI Web product. | ||
Cloud-native and collaborative by default Browser-based with shared workspaces and role permissions. Gorilla is installed desktop software. | ||
Full offline authoring as installed software Gorilla runs locally, so you can build a schedule with no connection at all. Here, pages stay readable offline once loaded, but creating new work needs a connection. | ||
One-time purchase options and subscription pausing Jungle Software publishes one-time products alongside subscriptions and documents a subscription pausing policy — useful between productions. | ||
17 languages with native screenplay formatting Including 10 Indian languages, formatted correctly per language. | ||
Budgets in 110 currencies Denominated in the production's own currency with regional rate bands, rather than US-union-shaped by default. | ||
Call sheets included rather than an add-on Gorilla's Koala handles call sheets as a paid add-on with dozens of industry templates; here they generate from the schedule directly. | ||
Post, VFX costing, EPK and festival planning The lifecycle past the shoot sits in the same project. | ||
Academic pricing Jungle Software publishes dedicated academic pricing for students and institutions. |
Where Gorilla Scheduling is better
The Gorilla Ratebook is the strongest single argument for Gorilla and it is not close. Over 11,500 verified labour rates covering more than 200 union agreements, integrated directly into the budgeting software, is a data asset rather than a feature — the kind of thing that takes years to compile and maintain. For a US union production, budgeting without accurate current rates is guesswork, and nothing in this comparison offers an equivalent. If that describes your work, this page probably ends here.
Gorilla Budgeting is a serious professional tool in its own right. Globals, fringes, sub-groups, tax credits, deferments, fourth-level budgeting and expense tracking cover the mechanics a line producer actually needs on a properly financed picture. Depth like that comes from a long time spent with people who budget for a living, and a newer generalist platform should not pretend to match it.
Being desktop software is a genuine advantage for some people rather than a legacy trait. It runs locally, without a browser or a connection, which matters on location, on a plane, or anywhere connectivity is unreliable — and some productions have security policies that favour local files over cloud storage.
Their commercial model is also more flexible than most. Jungle Software publishes one-time purchase products alongside subscriptions and documents an explicit subscription pausing policy, which fits the reality of production work — nobody wants to pay through a nine-month financing gap. Academic pricing is published as well.
And Koala, the call sheet add-on, ships dozens of industry-standard templates with print, email and text distribution, usable from studio features down to student productions.
Where we're better
Gorilla begins with a screenplay you have written; The Story Maker can write it with you. Beat boards, character bibles, scene drafting, dialogue polish, coverage and screenplay scoring cover the development stage that a scheduling and budgeting toolset deliberately does not address. For a writer-director-producer, that is most of the work before a schedule is even possible.
Cloud-native and collaborative by default changes how a team works. Shared workspaces, role-based permissions, pooled credits and organisation billing mean a director, 1st AD and line producer look at the same project rather than passing files. Desktop software has real advantages, but concurrent multi-user work is not among them.
Language and currency are where the two diverge most sharply for non-US productions. Screenplays are generated and formatted natively in 17 languages including ten Indian languages, and budgets are built in the production's own currency across 110 supported currencies with regional rate bands. Gorilla's budgeting depth is shaped substantially around US union structures — which is exactly right if that is your market and much less useful if it is not.
The pieces also come as one platform rather than a product plus add-ons. Call sheets generate from the schedule rather than requiring a separate call sheet application; breakdown, scheduling, budgeting, continuity, VFX costing, post planning, EPKs and festival strategy sit in one project. Gorilla's model of a core product with Koala and the Ratebook alongside is coherent, but it is more moving parts to buy and keep in sync.
And credits suit irregular work. There is no monthly fee during months when nothing is shooting — though it is worth noting Gorilla's pausing policy and one-time purchase options address the same problem from a different angle.
Choose Gorilla Schedulingif…
Choose Gorilla if you are budgeting a US union production. The Ratebook's 11,500+ rates across 200+ union agreements, integrated into the budget, has no equivalent here and would be the deciding factor on its own. Its budgeting mechanics — globals, fringes, tax credits, deferments, fourth-level detail — are deeper than ours, and if you need software that runs locally without a connection, or prefer a one-time purchase to a subscription, Gorilla accommodates both in ways a browser platform does not.
Choose The Story Maker if…
Choose The Story Maker if you are writing as well as producing, if your team needs to work in the same project simultaneously from different places, or if you are producing outside the US union system — particularly in one of the 17 supported languages or budgeting in a currency other than USD. It also suits productions that want breakdown, scheduling, call sheets, continuity, post planning and festival strategy as one platform rather than a core product plus add-ons.
Switching from Gorilla Scheduling
The screenplay is the portable part. Export as .fdx or Fountain from whatever you drafted in and import it here; scene headings, characters, dialogue and action carry over, and the script becomes the canon the automated breakdown reads from.
Schedules and budgets do not transfer between the two in either direction. Gorilla's files are its own, and The Story Maker exports to PDF and XLSX rather than to Gorilla formats. If you are mid-production on a Gorilla schedule, finish on it — changing scheduling software during principal photography is a bad idea regardless of direction.
If union rates are central to your budgeting, treat that as a reason to stay rather than a migration problem to solve. The Ratebook is a data asset, and no import path substitutes for it.
Frequently asked questions
Does The Story Maker have union rate data?
Not in the way Gorilla does. Cast and crew rate bands are regional rather than a licensed union ratebook, and there is nothing here equivalent to the Gorilla Ratebook's 11,500+ verified rates across 200+ union agreements. For a US union production that is a real gap, and we would rather say so than let you find out at budget review.
Is Gorilla desktop-only?
Gorilla Scheduling and Budgeting are installed desktop software, and Jungle Software also publishes a web-based Breakdown Assistant AI product. Running locally is an advantage where connectivity is poor and a limitation where several people need to work in the same project at once.
Which is better for a low-budget independent film?
It depends on where your difficulty is. If you are still writing, or working in a language other than English, or need the whole lifecycle in one place, this is the better fit. If you are budgeting against union agreements or want a one-time purchase rather than any recurring cost, Gorilla's model is well suited to that — and their published pausing policy and academic pricing are genuinely thoughtful for smaller productions.
Do I need a separate product for call sheets with Gorilla?
Call sheets come from Koala, a Gorilla Scheduling add-on with dozens of industry-standard templates and print, email and text distribution. Here call sheets are generated from the shooting schedule as part of the platform rather than as a separate purchase.
How does budgeting depth compare honestly?
Gorilla's is deeper on professional mechanics — globals, fringes, sub-groups, tax credits, deferments and fourth-level budgeting. Ours is broader in reach: 110 currencies, regional rate bands, and a budget that derives from the breakdown and schedule automatically. Depth against integration, and which matters more depends on the production.
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