The Universe Library

A sequel, a trilogy, several films set in one world: each one is its own project, and until now nothing carried between them. The Universe Library puts the films of one story on a timeline, in order, so that everything we write for a later film knows what happened in the earlier ones.

What a universe is

A universe is a row of films in story order. Every film in it is an ordinary project in your list, with its own script, outline and characters. The universe only links them and says which comes first.

When you write in a film that follows others, the AI surfaces in that film know the story of the films placed before it: full generation (script, act and scene), the assistant and inline writes, script coverage and character chat. A film knows only the films before it on the timeline, never the ones after.

Starting a universe

There are three ways in:

When you create a film. The New Project form has a switch, This film follows earlier films. Turn it on and the timeline opens right after the project is created, so you can line up the earlier films before you start writing. If you also asked for an outline draft and a read is still running when you close the timeline, the draft waits for it (up to ten minutes) before it starts. Films you haven't read in yet don't hold it up.
From Project Properties. Open a film's properties from the command palette or the File menu. The Universe line says whether the film is in a universe and where it sits; Add to a Universe opens the timeline.
From the Dashboard. The Universe Library section lists your universes. Start a Universe asks you to pick a film first, because a universe always holds at least one.

A film can be in one universe at a time. If you try to add a film that is already placed somewhere else, we tell you which universe it is in and offer to open that one instead.

The timeline

Films appear as cards in story order, left to right, with a connector between neighbours. Drag a card to move it, or use the Move earlier and Move later arrows. On a phone the cards are a list, and the arrows are how you reorder. Every change saves as you make it; there is nothing to confirm when you close the timeline.

Add a film offers two choices:

Pick one of your projects: a film you have already written here. Only film projects you created in the same studio are offered, because a universe holds films from one studio.
Upload a script: a Final Draft, Fountain or PDF file. We read the file and make a project for it, so you can open and edit it like any other film. The upload becomes a project in your list and counts toward your plan's projects, the same as one you create from the form.

Remove from the universe takes a film off the timeline. The film itself stays in your projects. The creator of a universe, or the owner of its studio, can delete the whole universe; the films stay in your projects then too.

Reading the earlier films

Before an earlier film can inform a later one, we read it in. Each film is read once, for a few credits, and the cost depends on the length of its script. The timeline shows what is waiting:

Not read yet: the film has not been read. Read now reads every film that needs it, after a cost confirmation.
Reading…: a read is under way. It usually takes a few minutes, longer when the studio is busy.
Up to date: the film has been read since its script last changed.
Changed since read: the script has changed since we read it. Update reads it again. A film whose words have not actually changed is not charged again.
Couldn't read: the read did not finish. Try again starts it over.

What we learn from a film stays with the universe. You never see or edit it, and it is not part of an account export.

Who sees what

Everyone who can open any film in a universe can see the titles of the other films on its timeline, even films they cannot open. A film someone cannot open shows You can't open this film and no cover, and nothing from that film reaches what we write for them. If the owner of an earlier film has AI features switched off, that film is shown with Its owner has AI features off and is left out the same way.

Only people who can edit a film, and who belong to its studio, can read it in.

Limits in this version

Films only. A TV series can't join a universe yet.
One studio per universe.
Up to 12 films in a universe, and up to 20 universes per account.

Start with the film you are writing now

Create the sequel with the switch on, then add the earlier films and read them in. From then on, every scene you generate, every question you ask the assistant and every coverage report for the new film knows the story so far.