Crew booking software for film & production talent agents
Stop texting crew to check what's on Hold.
Tentacal plugs into the Google or iCloud calendar account you already use. Confirmed bookings land on the calendars you've shared with crew — no app to install, no account for them to create, no new habit to learn.
Google Calendar & iCloud · WhatsApp · Dropbox & Drive · Xero & QuickBooks · Trial included
Your crew never sign up
No account, no password, no app to install. They use whichever calendar app they already have — Tentacal talks to it on your side.
Confirmed bookings land on the calendar
When you Confirm a booking, Tentacal writes the event onto the calendar you've shared with that crew member. Holds — ranked P1, P2, P3 — stay inside Tentacal until you confirm one.
Priority Holds, firm Confirms
Stack Holds by priority so you always know which jobs are Confirmed, which are tentative, and who's actually free this week.
How it works
Set it up once. Share a calendar. That's the whole workflow.
- 01
Use the calendar account you already have
You stay the calendar primary on your own Google or iCloud account. Make a calendar per crew member there, share each one out to that crew member's email — or import a calendar a colleague has shared into your Google account.
- 02
Connect it to Tentacal
Sign in once with Google, or paste an iCloud app-specific password. You choose which of your calendars are crew, and Tentacal links each one to the crew member it belongs to.
- 03
Book in Tentacal, crew see it on their phone
When you confirm a booking, Tentacal pushes the event through Google Calendar's API or iCloud's CalDAV protocol straight onto the shared calendar. The crew member sees it in the calendar app they already check — within seconds, no refresh button required.
Integrations
Plugs into the tools your agency already runs on.
Google Calendar & iCloud
Two-way sync with the calendars you already use. Confirmed bookings land on each crew member's shared calendar.
Crew check bookings and send overtime, extra days and time off from WhatsApp. Your team approves every request before it's saved.
Dropbox & Google Drive
A folder for every job, filed client by client. Share chosen files with a crew member through a private link — no access to the rest.
Xero & QuickBooks
Send client invoices and crew bills straight to your books, with your commission worked out. Payment status comes back every day.
Pricing
14-day free trial. Then Desk at $150.
Get started free with a 14-day trial of the full product — booking sheets, deal memos, calendars, and more. AI assistant is bolt-on pay-as-you-go credit packs during the trial. After that, Desk is $150/mo (AI assistant included); team seats are $150/person. Yearly is 11× monthly. Manage billing under Settings after you sign in.
Prices in USD. Desk is $150/mo for the agency owner; team seats are $150/person. Subscriptions are governed by our Terms & Conditions and Refund & Cancellation Policy.
- Free14 days free
Get started free — 14-day trial with full product access, no card required. Then upgrade to Desk to keep going.
- Full usage for 14 days (crew, bookings, calendars, jobs, gear)
- Booking sheets & deal memos
- Google + iCloud calendar sync
- AI assistant via bolt-on pay-as-you-go credit packs
- After the trial, subscribe to Desk to continue
No card required to start the trial.
Start 14-day free trial - Desk$150.00/mo
$150/mo for your agency desk — AI assistant included. Team seats $150/person.
- Everything from the trial, ongoing
- Booking sheets & deal memos
- Unlimited Google + iCloud calendar sync
- Dropbox & Google Drive folder sync
- Xero & QuickBooks accounting push
- AI assistant included (no credit packs)
- Team seats at $150/person / month
Sign up, then subscribe to Desk at Settings → Billing. Seats are $150/person under Settings → Team.
Get Desk
Working with a team? Add seats on Desk for $150 per person / month — invite assistants and coordinators and choose exactly what each person can see and do. Seats bill separately from your Desk plan; manage them under Settings → Team.
FAQ
Holds, Confirms, and how crew calendars actually work.
- What's the difference between a Confirmed booking and a Hold?
- A Confirmed booking is a locked job. A Hold is a tentative booking that hasn't been locked in yet. Tentacal writes both onto the calendar you've shared with that crew member, so they show up in their phone calendar app.
- How do priority Holds (P1, P2, P3) work?
- Holds stack by priority on the same date and resource — P1 is the strongest Hold, P2 is second in line, P3 third, and so on. Confirming the P1 Hold turns it into a Confirmed booking and writes the event to the crew member's shared calendar. Lower-ranked Holds stay in place after a Confirm — they only fall away if you release them, the crew is blocked out, or they hit their auto-release deadline.
- What does it mean to challenge a Hold?
- When a client asks for a slot you've already given to someone else as the P1 Hold, you can challenge that P1 Hold on their behalf. The booking flips to a challenged state and a countdown starts; if the original client doesn't lock it in within the challenge window, the new request takes over. Confirmed bookings can't be challenged — by the time you Confirm, the slot is locked.
- Do crew need to install an app or create an account?
- No. Only the agent signs in to Tentacal. Crew see Confirmed bookings in whichever calendar app they already use — Apple Calendar or Google Calendar — because Tentacal writes the events onto a calendar you've shared with them at the OS level. If your agency turns on WhatsApp, crew can also check their bookings in the WhatsApp they already have.
- How does Tentacal work with WhatsApp?
- Crew link their number by replying YES to an invite from your agency. They can then check upcoming bookings and holds, and send overtime, extra days, unavailable dates and replies to holds — every request waits for you or your team to approve before anything changes. You and your team can see today's work, reply to crew and draft bookings from WhatsApp, and Tentacal always shows a summary to confirm before it saves. Anyone can reply STOP to unlink their number.
- Which file storage and accounting tools does Tentacal connect to?
- Dropbox or Google Drive for files: Tentacal creates a folder for every job, filed under the client, and lets you share chosen files with a crew member through a private link. Xero or QuickBooks Online for accounting: Tentacal sends client invoices and crew bills straight to your books and checks back each day for payment status.
- Which calendar systems does Tentacal sync with?
- Google Calendar (via Google's official API) and iCloud (via the CalDAV protocol). You stay the calendar primary on your own account; Tentacal connects with read/write access to the calendars you choose.
- Is Tentacal suitable for film and TV production agencies?
- Yes — it's built for talent agents who book film and TV crew (DOPs, focus pullers, sound recordists, gaffers, grips, hair and make-up, art department, and so on). It handles priority Holds, client challenges, multi-day jobs, and per-job billing rates.
More on the booking model: the crew booking glossary.
How we use your data
Only agents sign in. We use your Google or Apple profile to identify your account, and Google Calendar / iCloud (CalDAV) strictly to read availability and write Confirmed bookings. Dropbox, Google Drive, Xero, QuickBooks and WhatsApp are only used once you connect them, and only to file your job documents, send your invoices and bills, and message the people who have linked their number. We never sell your data and never use it for advertising. Read the privacy policy.
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