Also known as page lock · locked pages
A shooting draft whose page and scene numbers are frozen so every department shares one numbering scheme. After lock, changes become marked revisions instead of silently reshuffling the whole script.
Locking is a production decision, not a creative flex. You lock when sides, schedules, and call sheets already depend on "page 27" meaning the same thing for everyone. Before that, prefer clean continuous drafts so you are not inventing revision logistics while Act Two is still moving under notes.
After lock, rewrites still happen -- they publish as marked revisions, coloured pages, and A-pages instead of silently reshuffling every later number. That is how the crew swaps paper overnight without reprinting an entire new continuum for a two-page dialogue fix on a locked book.
Writers entering prep should ask who owns the lock and the revision run. Issuing your own "locked" draft with unofficial numbers can collide with the production office's scheme. Align early; then use revision discipline so every department cites one shared map of the shooting script.
When production numbering must stay stable -- typically as you enter prep or shoot, not while you are still heavily rewriting Act Two for a buyer or room notes.
No -- it changes how rewrites are published. New material becomes coloured revisions and A-pages so the crew can swap pages without reprinting an entire new continuum every night.
Usually production leadership with the writer or showrunner -- not a solitary formatting toggle. Lock when boards and sides need a frozen numbering scheme.
Sometimes production reissues a new continuum, but that is expensive in paper and confusion. Prefer revision mechanisms first; full renumber is a deliberate reset, not a casual undo.
