The Course · The Production Lifecycle
The Course is the GHXSTSHIP production lifecycle, the nine gated phases of the XPMS 2.6 standard that take an experiential or entertainment project from the first consultation to archive handover. Every build runs the same nine phases in three acts: Plan, Build, Show, with clear deliverables, a gate to clear, and one accountable owner at each, so the budget and the schedule never go quiet on you between Discover and Close.
The Route
Discover to Close, the XPMS 2.6 standard, one way of working across festivals, tours, activations, immersive, cruise, parks, sporting, and broadcast. Nine gates in three acts: Plan runs gates 1–3, Build runs 4–6, Show runs 7–9.
Phase by Phase
Brief intake, feasibility, budget envelope, and stakeholder alignment. The consultation that figures out what we're building, how big it really is, and who has to agree before anything gets drawn.
Gate exits when the brief is taken in, feasibility is read, the budget envelope is set, and stakeholders are aligned.
Concept, development, and engineering, one phase that absorbs Concept, Develop, and Engineering. The idea gets pressure-tested: creative direction, experiential design, and storytelling on one side; the engineering that makes the look and feel buildable on the other.
Gate exits when concept, development, and engineering resolve into a design the build can be priced and made from.
Contracts, permits, insurance, the risk register, and the PO baseline. The paperwork phase that makes the build real and safe before a dollar of production money moves.
Gate exits when contracts, permits, and insurance are in place, the risk register is live, and the PO baseline is locked.
Vendor award, deposits, long-lead orders, rate-card lock, and submittals. The buying phase, who's building what, at what rate, and what has to be ordered now to arrive on time.
Gate exits when vendors are awarded, deposits and long-lead orders are placed, rate cards are locked, and submittals are in.
Fabrication plus construction, with shop QC. Scenic, staging, and technical production get pre-built and tested off-site so problems surface in the shop, not on the site.
Gate exits when fabrication and construction are complete and everything has cleared shop QC.
Logistics, install, commissioning, and punch closure. Crew on the ground, trucks scheduled, load-in run, systems up and commissioned, and the punch list worked to zero.
Gate exits when logistics and install are done, systems are commissioned, and the punch list is closed.
Run plus strike, live operations, dispatch, and incident and daily reporting. Show calling and live execution, the experience itself; we run the show and hold the standard. Strike lives inside Operate, never a phase of its own: the controlled teardown and load-out are part of the run.
Gate exits when the run is complete, strike and load-out are done, and dispatch, incident, and daily reporting are closed out.
Content capture, media and press, broadcast and livestream delivery, social amplification, and post-event campaigns. The experience gets a second life on every screen it didn't happen on, capture planning happens in earlier phases; Amplify gates the execution and delivery.
Gate exits when capture assets are delivered and archived, press and media distribution is complete, broadcast masters are delivered, and post-event campaigns are launched or formally handed off to always-on marketing.
Reconciliation and the final cost report; archive handover. The books get squared, the debrief gets written down, and the build is logged in the archives.
Gate exits when reconciliation is complete, the final cost report is delivered, and the archive is handed over.
The Chart · ATLVS Coordinate Matrix
XPMS 2.6 formalizes the ATLVS Coordinate Matrix, the task-management lens over the lifecycle. Every task and work item on a build resolves to exactly one of 90 coordinates: ten department classes (latitude) crossed with the nine gated phases (longitude), written class-by-phase, like 3000xAMP for Marketing × Amplify. Project workspaces own gates 1–4, Discover through Procure; an oversight grid runs gates 5–9, Build through Close. So there is always one cell, one owner, and one place to look.
Leadership and strategy, finance and accounting, legal and risk, insurance and permitting, people, partnerships.
Creative direction, experiential and environment design, brand and identity, content production, copy.
Booking and programming, advancing and riders, casting, talent travel and hospitality, settlement.
Campaign and brand marketing, social and community, press, sponsorship sales, audience data, media buying.
Temporary structures, scenic and set, custom fabrication, signage and environmental graphics, FF&E, install and de-install.
Audio, lighting, video and LED, rigging and motors, staging, power and distribution, show control, broadcast and capture.
Crewing and labor, logistics and transport, site and event operations, medical and safety, security, credentialing, waste.
Guest journey, activations, interactive and immersive, retail and merchandise, sensory and atmosphere, sponsorship fulfillment.
Catering and culinary, bar and beverage, VIP services, lodging, concessions, front of house and guest services.
IT and networking, connectivity, RF and communications, ticketing and access, point of sale, data and analytics, cybersecurity.
Class is the latitude, phase is the longitude. Every class, phase, and gate is defined in the glossary.
Questions
Ready When You Are
Tell us what you're building. We scope it, crew it, run the nine phases, and go live, on time and on budget.