Project ISAN creation: episodic works

This basic step by step guide outlines Project ISAN applications for episodic (or serial) works such as series, serial documentaries, recurring TV entertainment programs,... Project ISAN applications for unitary content (feature films, documentaries, telefilms...) are not covered by this article, for guidance on this topic refer to Project ISAN creation: unitary works. 

As long as the future work metadata is still subject to change, only a Project ISAN can be delivered. Because of the unstable metadata until project completion, there is a real risk of misuse of the Project ISAN. Consequently, a Project ISAN has only private information attached to it and is therefore not searchable for reuse by others until it has been activated.

A Project ISAN shall be activated once the project is finalized, and after having updated the ISAN metadata with the final information of the work.

The activation of the Project ISAN will turn it into an Active ISAN and leads to the publication of the metadata attached to it: from that point forward, the ISAN is usable by everyone.

Project ISAN are accepted by Film Funding Organizations that require an ISAN, as long as the ISAN is activated at the completion of the project.

 1.   Preliminary search

 To start, open the menu ISAN for Projects and select New Episodic Project

 A short wizard helps to confirm the registration for:

1. a work in project or in development	2. a Single or Episodic  Work

At this point, it is recommended to perform a preliminary search, to check whether the Project ISAN already exists.

2.   Fill the application form

 If the work could not be found in the ISAN registry click on New Series to open the registration form for a new Series.

If your Project is a new (set of) Episode(s) of an existing Series, open the Series and click on New Group (Project) or New Episode (Project) to open the corresponding registration form. The process is the same as for active (finished) Episodic Works registration, please refer to the guide ISAN creation: Episodic Works for more details.

Filling the application form for Episodic Work Project ISAN is also very similar as for active (finished) Episodic Work ISAN. The main difference is that for the Project ISAN you will provide information about the project + expected work information as long as the final information is not known. For example, it will be the expected year of release or an expected director. For details on Episodic Work ISAN registrations, please refer to the guide ISAN creation: Episodic Works.

Fill in the work information as defined in the ISAN registration best practices. For a proper identification of the work, provide as much information as available.

3.   Information about the project.

 Project ISAN requires also additional information about the project. This is particularly useful to prevent multiple ISAN for the same project. This could happen for example when several film fund applications help to finance the project (e.g. the authors for the script, then later the producers + co-producers in other countries, etc.)

This information also helps us to send you reminders for updating your project information and for activating the ISAN.

click Preview to submit the form for your review before ISAN allocation.

To submit the application form, click on Allocate ISAN

At this point, the Project ISAN metadata is not public, and your ISAN cannot be found by others, and until activation of your Project ISAN.

4.   Obtain the ISAN

Right after the application form is submitted, the Registration Timeline is displayed at the bottom of the Work Project form.

 From the Registration Timeline you can follow the progress of the Project ISAN allocation.

 Click on Refresh to display next steps

 Two outcomes to the application are possible

	Case 1: No similar ISAN was detected	Case 2: One or more similar ISAN exist
1	The Message Project ISAN createdindicates that the new ISAN is allocated	The Message Potential duplicate foundindicates that the application is pending and a deduplication is required.
2	Click on View Project to display the Project ISAN with the work project metadata	Click on Deduplicate to resolve the duplicate and obtain the Project ISAN.
3	See the screenshot below: application form with allocated Project ISAN	For the next step, refer to the guide Deduplication Note however that after deduplication your Project ISAN is not an Active ISAN.

5.   View the application form with allocated Project ISAN

Alternatively, once the application form has been submitted, you can retrieve your project in one of the lists of the menu ISAN for Projects/ In Progress or Deduplication or My Projects.

6.   Update a Project ISAN

Updating the metadata associated with a Project ISAN is very important for a proper identification, anytime, of you work in project.

Updating Project ISAN metadata with final works information is a requirement before activating a Project ISAN.

The update of Project ISAN is covered by the guide Update ISAN Metadata.

 7.   Activate a Project ISAN

To activate your Project ISAN, select the ISAN in the list of Projects ISAN and click on View Application.

Check that the metadata is up to date with the final information of the work!

At the bottom of the Project form, click on Update & Activate.

A new duplicate check will be performed to validate that your work is not already registered with ISAN. This should not happen if you activate your ISAN in due time i.e. before the release of the work.