What actually happens to make a piece, stage by stage, before any AI analysis. Draft, 2026-10-20, for Rufus to correct. The AI fit ratings will be redone on top of this once the map is right; the earlier first guess stays until then.
Scope. Mostly video and audio, with some written pieces. Content starts from a topic or theme as well as from a guest: an interview, a solo talk or explainer, a dialogue between hosts, a series on a theme. The detailed rows follow a guest interview, the most common and most involved case; topic-led pieces skip the guest steps (marked guest). Other variants are at the end.
Sources for each activity:
R: Rufus, 2026-10-20
A: the Asana episode and social templates (inventory)
Tech check · Recording · Wrap-up and debrief · Ingest
4
Post-production
Assessment and triage · Slot · Edit plan · Edit · Intro, outro and bumpers · Graphics and B-roll · Transcript, chapters, subtitles · Sign-off and export
5
Packaging
Written metadata · Visuals · Short-form · Written derivatives · Guest kit
Tracking · Backlog and overview · Templates and SOPs · Tools and accounts · Assets and archive
The moment map. Strong moments are found once, in 4.1, from the flow of the whole piece, and tagged by use: cold open, chapter, clip, quote, cut. The intro (4.5), chapters (4.7), clips (5.3) and quotes (5.4) all draw from it. Markers from recording (3.2) and the debrief (3.3) feed into it.
1. Development
Substage
Activities
Source
1.1 Ideas
Capture ideas for topics, themes, series and guests, including referrals from past guests; keep one ideas list
A, R
1.2 Selection
Choose what next: fit with strategy and series, timeliness, effort; for guests, likely availability; set priority
R, D
1.3 Research
Topic: sources, existing thinking, what we've already said about it. Guest: their recent work and past interviews, positions, what's been asked before
R, G
1.4 Angle, lead and format
The brief: why this topic or guest, the angle and arc, who leads (Rufus, Sylvie, both), format (interview, solo talk, dialogue; remote or in person; video or audio). For a theme series: the arc and episode list. For guests, feeds the invitation
R, G
1.5 Intended track
Provisional episode or fast release; the real decision is at 4.1
D
2. Pre-production
Substage
Activities
Source
2.1 Outreach (guest)
Find the contact route (direct, via their team, via a mutual); draft the invitation; the host sends; follow up on no reply; keep an outreach status ("contacted", "agreed", "declined")
R, A
2.2 Session setup
Create the Riverside studio; create the Drive folder
A
2.3 Scheduling
Find a slot (across time zones for guests); put it in the host's calendar; send the calendar invite with the Riverside link; day-before reminder; handle reschedules, cancellations and no-shows; if a guest drops out, back to 1.2
R, G
2.4 Guest onboarding (guest)
Collect bio, headshot, handles and links; send tech guidance (headphones, mic, browser); agree permissions and release; note sensitivities
A (proposed), G
2.5 Prep
Guest: questions, run-of-show, audience questions, optional pre-call. Topic-led: outline or script, slides or visuals, rehearsal. Final brief to whoever is leading
R, G
3. Production
Substage
Activities
Source
3.1 Tech check
Sound, camera, lighting and connection before recording
G
3.2 Recording
The conversation (guest), or the solo, dialogue or to-camera take with retakes; mark strong moments as they happen (not done today). Multi-session series (e.g. Wilber, 3–4 episodes) repeat 2.3–3.4
A, R, G
3.3 Wrap-up and debrief
Guest: thank them, note cuts they ask for, explain next steps and timing. Everyone: the lead's verdict and first notes straight after
A, G
3.4 Ingest
Files land in Riverside or Drive; back up; for events, log in the catalogue
A
4. Post-production
Substage
Activities
Source
4.1 Assessment and triage
Listen through or read the whole transcript; judge whether it's good and what it should become (episode, series, cut-down, fast release, hold, abandon) using the publication-track tests; build the moment map; mark weak stretches
R, D
4.2 Slot
Hold or park, or give it a publish date (every two weeks, Wednesdays 9am) and an episode number; dates for later steps count back from it
A, D
4.3 Edit plan
Decide cuts and structure: trims, reordering, cuts the guest asked for, series split, what to do with extra material
R, A
4.4 Edit
Remove fluff, fillers and pauses (light touch); fix speaker switching and layout; audio levelling and boost
A
4.5 Intro, outro and bumpers
Script the cold open and Sylvie's "in this episode…" intro from the moment map; Sylvie records it; add the jingle, mid-roll subscribe reminder and 8-second end screen (fixed template assets)
A, R
4.6 Graphics and B-roll
Lower thirds (names, titles); slides or visuals overlaid for talks and explainers; B-roll and music where used
G
4.7 Transcript, chapters, subtitles
Generate and proofread the transcript (thinkers' names); chapter timings and titles; subtitles and their approval
A
4.8 Sign-off and export
Full listen-through QC; sign-off on sensitive cuts (the lead, and the guest where agreed); export with a dated version name
A
5. Packaging
Substage
Activities
Source
5.1 Written metadata
Title options in the #N · Guest: Topic format, or #N · Series: Topic for topic-led pieces, within YouTube's length; summary, tagline, description and show notes, guest bio (guest), links, tags
A, D
5.2 Visuals
YouTube thumbnail (16:9), square cover, 4:5 image, reel covers; series artwork for a new series
A
5.3 Short-form
Choose clips from the moment map; write hooks; cut 2–3 reels or shorts and the teaser; captions; export
A, R
5.4 Written derivatives
Draft all social copy (quote-led captions, carousel and quote-card text); newsletter blurb; Substack note; published transcript
A, G
5.5 Guest kit (guest)
Links, clips, images and suggested captions for the guest and their team
A, G
6. Review and release
Substage
Activities
Source
6.1 Pre-publish checks
Links work, title length and format, right brand version, crops per platform, quotes accurate, factual claims and sources checked (topic-led)
A (proposed), D, G
6.2 Approvals
Sylvie: titles (per series where relevant) and Substack stage; guest or their team (guest): Substack stage; Rufus (and co-authors): pull quotes. If rejected, back to 4 or 5
A
6.3 Staging
Substack and YouTube posts: copy, cover, category, playlist, end screen, feed episode type (full or bonus), notify-subscribers setting
A, D
6.4 Publish
Confirm the slot date; publish or schedule on YouTube, the audio feed (Riverside RSS), Substack and the website episode page; check it reached each place
A, D
6.5 Hand-off to promotion
Create the social calendar tasks ("PASS TO SOCIAL MEDIA COMS"; ticked on 5 of 23 episodes in Asana)
A
7. Promotion
Substage
Activities
Source
7.1 Social
Adapt the drafted copy per platform; Uriel approves each post; schedule on Meta and YouTube Shorts; keep extra reels off the grid; collab posts with guests
A
7.2 Newsletter
Slot the piece into the next monthly issue (the newsletter is its own piece; see variants)
A
7.3 Guest and partners (guest)
Send the guest their links and kit; ask them to share
A
7.4 Community
Share in WhatsApp; answer comments and messages
A
7.5 Links and playlists
Update Linktree; topic and series playlists
A
8. Follow-up and learning (monthly, across pieces)
Substage
Activities
Source
8.1 Performance review
Views, watch time, listens, subscribers, newsletter clicks per piece
D, G; missing today
8.2 Promote decision
Pick fast releases that did well; give them fuller packaging (back to 5)
D; missing today
8.3 Back-catalogue reuse
Find past moments by theme; compilations; evergreen posts; essays from transcripts
G; missing today
8.4 Process learning
What went wrong or slowly; update SOPs, templates and AI skills (to 0.3); note guest referrals (to 1.1)
R; missing today
0. Operations (across every stage)
Substage
Activities
Source
0.1 Tracking
Create the piece's Asana task from the template; assign steps; create follow-on tasks
A, R
0.2 Backlog and overview
Know every piece and where it stands, across Asana, GitHub project #38 and elsewhere
Raw files, catalogue (events only today; no DAM), brand assets, rights
A, D
Variants
Fast release (talk, discussion): light 1 and 2; 4 is mainly 4.1 and 4.4; packaging is cover plus concise description; no episode number; promotion only if strong.
Event and course video (2RCon, Praxis): no outreach per piece; 3.4 is bulk download and cataloguing; 4 is mainly trimming; release may be unlisted.
Newsletter (monthly): gather inputs from the team, draft, Sylvie reviews, copyedit, test send, schedule, share in WhatsApp.
Written (white paper, essay): drafting replaces production; Docs → Markdown → PDF → site; pull-quote carousel and announcement.
Critique log
Two subagent critiques, 2026-10-20.
First pass, all 15 points taken:
One moment map
Triage gate at 4.1
Session setup before scheduling
A queue and slot step
Approvals split into gates
Loops drawn
Host debrief added
Outreach churn added
Website page moved to release
The hand-off to social made explicit
Teaser moved to packaging
Subtitles and published transcript added
Title format added
Brief and prep separated
Source tags fixed
Second pass, after topics were added:
Taken:
Slotting moved up to 4.2
Title format for topic-led pieces
Guest marked through stages 3–7
Graphics and B-roll added
Claim checks added
Social copy drafted in 5.4, adapted in 7.1
Series plan and artwork added
Live markers folded into recording
Bumpers folded into the intro
Not taken: folding the hand-off to promotion into publish. It stays separate because it is the step that leaks in Asana.
Questions for Rufus
Does outreach belong in pre-production, as here, or in development?
Is "Review and release" right as its own stage, with approvals in it, and social approval in promotion?
What's missing in development and pre-production? Those rows rely most on today's conversation and general practice.
