Approvals

Video Approval Software for Modern Creative Teams Approval workflows · Lock approvals · Real-time status tracking Trusted by creative teams at studios, agencies, and post-production houses worldwide.

Manage Approvals and Review Status in One Place

Give Every Video a Clear Approval Workflow

Requesting approvals

When a new version is ready for review, send a structured approval request directly from PlayPause, via the platform, email, or Slack. Reviewers know exactly what they're being asked to approve, which version it is, and when you need a decision.

Approvals delegation

No more chasing. Assign a primary approver, a backup approver, and define what happens when someone doesn't respond within your deadline window. Approval tasks route to the right person automatically, keeping the project moving without manual follow-up.

Transparent approval status

Everyone on the project, your internal team and your client, can see the current status of any version at a glance: In Review, Changes Requested, Approved, or Locked. No one has to ask where things stand.

All approver details in one place

Attach a version note, a brief for the reviewer, or a specific question you need answered before sign-off. Approvers have all the context they need without a separate email thread to reference.

See Approval Status Across Every Project at a Glance

All versions in one dashboard

See every video project and its current approval state in a single view. Spot which versions are waiting on a client, which are blocked at internal QC, and which are fully approved and locked, all without opening individual files.

Per-project approval tracking

Within any project, every version has its own approval status card. Jump from assembly cut to final delivery and see exactly where each revision stands in the sign-off chain.

Approval notifications

Reviewers get an instant alert when a version is submitted for their approval, via email, Slack, or in-app notification. Your team gets notified the moment an approval or rejection comes in. Nothing waits silently in an inbox.

Centralised Approvals for Distributed Creative Teams

Custom approval flows per project type

A 30-second social ad has a different sign-off chain than a broadcast documentary. Build different approval flows for different project types, internal QC first, then director, then client, then legal, so each workflow matches the real process.

Multi-step and sequential approvals

Create approval chains with as many steps as your project requires. Define the order: a version must pass internal review before the client link is even activated. Gate access to later stages until earlier stages are complete.

Approval history and full audit trail

Access a complete log of every approval action, who reviewed it, what decision they made, what timestamp it carries, and any comments they attached. Filter by project, reviewer, or date. Export as PDF for your records or for a client deliverable package.

Approve or Reject From Any Device, Anywhere

Browser-based approvals, no account needed for clients

Your clients don't need to create a PlayPause account. Send them a secure review link. They watch the video, leave any final comments, and click Approve or Request Changes, from any browser, on any device.

Approve from your phone

Team members can approve or reject a version straight from the PlayPause mobile interface. Whether you're in a client meeting, on location, or between sessions, approvals don't wait for you to be at a desk.

Notifications and alerts

Never miss an approval action. Set up alerts so you're notified the moment a client clicks approve, requests a change, or lets a deadline pass without responding. Escalation options keep things moving even when reviewers go quiet.

Build Structured Approval Processes

Be Clear About Who Approves What

Custom approver assignment

Assign a specific approver, or a group of approvers, to each step in the workflow. Direct the QC pass to your senior editor, the creative sign-off to the director, and the final approval to the executive producer or brand client. Each person sees only their step until it's their turn.

Required vs. optional approvers

Mark certain approvers as required, the version cannot advance without their sign-off. Mark others as optional reviewers who can comment but whose response doesn't block progression. You control the gates.

Approval roles and permissions

Define who can submit a version for approval, who can approve, and who can only comment. Producers manage the workflow. Editors stay in their lane. Clients see a clean, focused review experience without access to internal project notes.

Automate Your Approval Process

Automatic progression

Once all required approvers in a step have signed off, the version automatically advances to the next stage. No manual handoff, no chasing, the workflow runs itself.

Automatic reminders

Set a deadline for each approval step. If a reviewer hasn't responded by then, PlayPause sends them an automatic reminder. Set a second escalation threshold and it notifies their backup or your producer automatically.

Auto-lock on full approval

When every required approver in the final step has signed off, PlayPause locks the version. No further changes can be made to the comments, annotations, or the file, the approved state is preserved exactly as it was at the moment of sign-off.

Lock Approvals and Protect Final Deliverables

Locked approvals

Once a version reaches full approval, it's locked. The approved cut cannot be quietly replaced or altered. The approval record stays attached to that exact file, that exact version, forever.

Approval certificates and export

Generate a PDF approval certificate for any locked version. It lists every approver, their decision, the timestamp, and the version number. Attach it to your client deliverable package or keep it on file for compliance and broadcast submission.

Revision protection after lock

After a version is locked, the only way to make further changes is to upload a new version, which starts a fresh review cycle. Locked approvals can never be retroactively changed or undone, giving clients and legal teams confidence in the record.

Get Clear Approval Reports

Comprehensive Insights Into Your Approval Process

Approval status report

Get a full overview of where every project stands in its approval workflow right now. Filter by client, project type, approver, or deadline. See what's blocked, what's overdue, and what's fully signed off, all in one exportable view.

Approver activity report

Track how quickly individual approvers are responding, how many rounds of changes they typically request, and where approval bottlenecks most commonly appear in your pipeline. Use the data to have informed conversations with clients about realistic review timelines.

Version history report

For any project, pull a complete version timeline: every cut uploaded, every approval request sent, every decision made, and the time elapsed between each step. A clear record of your entire production and revision process.

Exportable for deliverables and compliance

Export any approval report, or a full project approval history, to PDF or CSV. Include it in your client handover package, your broadcaster submission, or your internal post-production archive.

Customise Reports to Your Needs

Advanced filters

Filter approval data by date range, project, client, approver, version number, approval status, or step in the workflow. Group results by project, by client, or by approver. Your filter preferences are saved for next time.

Preview before export

See the data you're about to export before you download it. Confirm it covers the right projects, the right date range, and the right approvers, no unnecessary back-and-forth with a client over an incomplete report.

Easy export

Export any view to PDF or CSV in one click. Pull reports for any time period, any client, or any specific project. Approval PDFs are formatted for professional delivery, no clean-up required before sending.

Privacy and Security for Your Approval Data

Role-based permissions

Define precisely who can see approval data and at what level. A client sees their own approval flow. A producer sees all projects. An executive sees the full pipeline dashboard. No one sees more than they need to.

Encrypted data and secure review links

All approval activity and file access is protected by HTTPS encryption. Review links can be password-protected, restricted by expiry date, and revoked instantly. Your approval records are as secure as the content they relate to.

Data retention and compliance

PlayPause maintains approval records for your full retention period. Locked approval certificates are stored permanently and are retrievable at any time. We're GDPR-ready, with data stored on servers in your region.

Keep Your Approval Workflow Synced With Your Tools

PlayPause connects to the tools your team and clients already use, so approvals move without anyone having to switch context. Slack · Email · Google Drive · Dropbox · Frame.io import · Adobe Premiere Pro · Webhooks / API · Zapier

How To Start

• Trial and Demo. Try PlayPause free for 14 days. Book a walkthrough and we'll set up your first approval workflow together, whether it's a simple single-approver sign-off or a multi-step chain with gates.
• Set Up Your Workflow. Configure your approval steps, assign approvers, set deadlines, and define what a locked approval means for your team. Our Customer Success team guides you through the setup.
• Invite Your Team and Clients. Share your first review link. Your team logs in with their PlayPause account. Your clients need nothing, just the link. Approvals can start flowing on day one.

Approvals Feature Highlights

PlayPause Approvals vs. The Old Way

See why post-production teams are replacing ad-hoc email sign-offs with a purpose-built approval platform.

FAQ, More About PlayPause Approvals

Why should I use PlayPause instead of collecting approvals over email? Email gives you a reply, not a record. PlayPause gives you a timestamped, version-specific, audit-trailed approval that is permanently attached to the exact file that was approved. When a client says "we never signed off on that cut," you have an irrefutable answer, not a thread to go hunting through. Can I require multiple people to approve a version before it advances? Yes. You can define as many required approvers as your workflow needs, organise them into sequential steps, and gate progression between steps. A version won't advance to the director until internal QC is complete. A version won't go to the client until the director has signed off. What happens if a reviewer doesn't respond by the deadline? PlayPause automatically sends them a reminder at the deadline you set. You can configure a second escalation threshold that notifies their backup approver or sends an alert to your producer. You decide how aggressively the system follows up. Can a client approve a video without creating a PlayPause account? Yes. Clients receive a secure review link. They open it in any browser, no login, no download, no friction. They review the video, leave any final notes, and click Approve or Request Changes. Their decision is logged with their email address and a timestamp. What does 'locked approval' mean exactly? When a version reaches full approval, every required approver at every step has signed off, PlayPause locks it. The comments, annotations, and file record are frozen at that exact state. No one can edit them, reassign them, or quietly replace the file underneath. The lock is permanent. Can I generate an approval certificate to include in a client deliverable? Yes. For any locked version, you can generate a PDF approval certificate listing every approver, their decision, the timestamp, and the version details. It's formatted for professional delivery and ready to include in broadcast submission packages, compliance records, or client handover documentation. How does PlayPause handle projects with multiple rounds of revisions before final approval? Each version uploaded has its own approval cycle. Version 1 might go through two rounds of changes before reaching approval. Version 2 starts fresh. The full history of every version's approval journey is logged and accessible, so you can see exactly how many rounds a project took and where the time was spent. Is approval data stored securely and for how long? All approval records are encrypted, stored on secure servers in your region, and retained for your full data retention period. Locked approval certificates are stored permanently and are retrievable at any time. PlayPause is fully GDPR-compliant.

Need More From PlayPause?

Version Control

Upload every revision of a cut into a single organised project. Compare versions side-by-side, track which notes were addressed in each revision, and never lose track of which file is the right one.

Frame-Accurate Comments

Reviewers click to pause and comment at any exact frame. Editors jump straight to the flagged timecode. No vague descriptions. No guesswork. Every note is precise, contextual, and actionable. "Before PlayPause our client sign-off process was a nightmare, email threads, conflicting replies, no clear record. Now every version has a status, every approval has a timestamp, and no one can say they didn't sign off on something." , Head of Post, independent production studio

Ready to Replace Email Sign-Offs With a Real Approval Process?

Stop chasing approvals. Stop losing sign-off records. Try PlayPause free for 14 days and give every video a proper approval workflow. No card required. Trial ends automatically. Support from day one · Easy setup · Mobile-friendly · No client account required