Spool – Movie Studios and Filmmakers WordPress Theme

An unreleased cut should not be one click away from anyone

You finish the first edit of a commercial and the agency wants to see it today. A short film is still unreleased and a programmer asks to review it. If you publish it like any other project, it stays open to everyone who visits your site. If you send it as a loose link, your best work arrives outside the site that represents you.

Your film site has two audiences: those discovering your work and those reviewing it before anyone else. Spool, by ypromo, is a WordPress theme for movie studios and filmmakers that serves both from the portfolio: each project can stay open or be password-protected. Anyone entering a protected one sees a form, and its message is changed in Theme Options, under General, with the Protected Page Message option.

The password covers the project on your site. If the video is hosted on YouTube or Vimeo, also review its privacy on that platform.

Projects with their own gallery, text and video

Spool's portfolio separates two pieces, and it pays to choose the right one for each case:

• Portfolio item: creates a project with its own gallery, description and videos, which opens on a project page or in a lightbox.
• Gallery shortcode: displays media library images only in a lightbox, with no project page.
• Project styles: Default, Grid, Slider, Masonry and Horizontal.
• Listings with WPBakery: Grid, Masonry, Packery or Carousel, with Ajax filtering.
• Video: supports YouTube, Vimeo and MP4, with a player that starts or stops the picture and the sound.

Home pages for director, wedding, drone or studio

Its home pages include Filmmaker, Interactive Links, Wedding Films, Drone Shooting, Movie Studio and One Screen. That range covers different kinds of work: someone filming weddings, someone selling aerial shots and someone presenting a production company start from different storefronts.

Galleries add up to four grid styles, four masonry styles and three full-screen types. The theme includes team, clients, services, about me, about us, coming soon and 404 pages, plus two contact layouts and a blog in grid, sidebar or horizontal form.

For selling, it is compatible with WooCommerce, with product, account, cart and checkout pages in the demo. WPML is available for multilingual sites.

A showcase for your work, with no box office

Spool shows work. Its features do not include subscriptions or pay-per-view, so a catalog of paid films needs another base.

It is also not optimized for Gutenberg: its builder is WPBakery Page Builder, and Unyson is its framework. Also, the package does not include all the demo images, so part of what you see will need replacing with your own material.

PHP limits and first installation

The recommended limits are max_execution_time of 600, memory_limit of 256M, post_max_size of 256M, upload_max_filesize of 256M and max_input_time of 60. Low values can cause a white screen or failed demo imports. To set it up, follow this order:

1. Install the theme and follow the wizard that appears the first time.
2. Go to Spool Theme, open Import Demo Content and choose the page you want to import.
3. Assign the main menu under Appearance, Menus, with the Primary Navigation location.
4. Set the home page and posts page under Settings, Reading.
5. Create a test project with a password and open it logged out to see what your client will see.

Frames, Noxe and Dronza at GPL Club

Frames organizes content into two custom types, Videos and People, and builds headers and footers with Elementor. It fits if your filmography and cast need their own entries, or if you prefer that builder.

The catalog also has Noxe, for movie studios and filmmakers, and Dronza, for drone aerial photography.

Passwords, video and shop in Spool

Can I protect a single project and leave the rest open?

Yes. The password applies per project, and the others stay visible.

Which video sources does it support?

YouTube, Vimeo and MP4 files.

Does it work for wedding filmmakers?

Yes. Its home pages include one called Wedding Films.

Can a project open without leaving the listing?

Yes. A portfolio item opens on a project page or in a lightbox.

Can I sell from the site?

Yes, with WooCommerce. The demo includes products, account, cart and checkout.

Which builder does it use?

WPBakery Page Builder.