Start with the production
Shape budgets and cost controls around how production work is actually planned, approved, and delivered.
About Actual
Built from production experience. Engineered for control.
Actual connects the financial work that happens before, during, and after a production—so the approved budget keeps working through commitments, invoices, actual costs, and wrap.
Why Actual exists
The budget is only useful if it stays connected to the work.
Before founding Actual, Doug Smith supervised production bidding within Harbor Picture Company, Publicis Groupe’s North American production studio. That work gave him a firsthand understanding of the financial challenges facing production units in advertising and entertainment.
That production experience informs Actual’s focus: one workflow to plan the job, record decisions, control commitments, track costs, and hand accounting organized detail at wrap.
Keep decisions attached
Carry versions, approvals, purchase orders, invoices, and backup with the financial record they affect.
Build toward a cleaner wrap
Give production and accounting the same organized trail from the first estimate through final actuals.
The team
Production insight meets technical execution.
Actual is led by people who understand both the financial realities of production and the systems required to make complex work feel clear.
Founder & Managing Director
Doug Smith
Before founding Actual, Doug was Senior Producer, Commercial Production at Harbor Picture Company, the North American production studio for Publicis Groupe. He supervised production bidding within the North American studio group and developed strategic relationships with service partners around the world.
That experience shaped his understanding of the financial challenges facing production units in advertising and entertainment.
Chief Technical Officer
Jason Lewicki
Jason brings more than 15 years of entrepreneurial experience in technology. Previously, he was Co-Founder and CTO at BehaviorFlip, an education technology company focused on classroom behavior.
At Actual, he focuses on the direction and scale of the platform through mentorship, software development, infrastructure design, user experience, and data.
See the workflow
Give the next production one connected financial trail.
Start with five new budgets each month at no cost, or explore the workflow built for your production type.