Playbill PDF Parser & Theater Database (Phase 1 – Core System) -- 2

⚠️ IMPORTANT – READ BEFORE APPLYING

This is NOT a typical website or WordPress project.

This project is about accurately parsing inconsistent PDF documents and extracting structured data.
If you have not built a PDF parser where text position, columns, or layout matters, do not apply.

Project Overview

We are building a foundational system that:

Parses Playbill PDF files

Extracts structured theatrical data

Stores it in a MySQL database

Allows admin review and correction

This system will later power a public platform (IMDb-style for theater), but Phase 1 is strictly backend + admin tools.

Phase 1 Scope (Must Be Completed Fully)
1️⃣ PDF Upload & Parsing

Upload Playbill PDFs

Parse without using AI / ChatGPT / OCR

Use deterministic logic (regex + layout analysis)

2️⃣ Required Data Extraction

From each PDF, extract:

Show name

Theater name

Cast list → Actor → Character mapping

Crew credits (director, writer, designers, etc.)

Handle:

Two-column layouts

Sectioned layouts (Cast, Ensemble, Production Team)

Inline credits and inconsistent formatting

Duo credits (e.g. “Book by A & B” → stored individually but marked as shared)

3️⃣ Parsing Rules

Must support:

Regex rules

Visual position parsing (x/y coordinates)

Fallback logic when a line cannot be confidently parsed

Flag uncertain lines as “Needs Review”

Suggested tools (not mandatory):

pdfplumber

pdfminer

PyMuPDF

Similar layout-aware PDF tools

4️⃣ Admin Dashboard

Review parsed data

Edit any field manually

Approve or correct flagged lines

Manually add YouTube video links

5️⃣ Database

MySQL schema with proper relationships

Video table:

video_url

show_id (required)

theater_id (optional)

year (optional)

❌ What This Project Is NOT

❌ Not WordPress

❌ Not UI-heavy

❌ Not AI-based parsing

❌ Not OCR

❌ Not a “quick script”

This is a precision engineering task.

Required Experience (Strict)

You must have:

Proven experience parsing PDFs with layout awareness

Experience handling messy, inconsistent document structures

Backend experience (Python, PHP, or Node.js)

MySQL database design experience

Screening Question (Mandatory)

Your proposal must answer this clearly:

Describe a PDF parsing project you built where text position or layout mattered.
What tools did you use (e.g., pdfplumber, pdfminer, PyMuPDF)?
What kind of PDF was it?

Proposals without this answer will be rejected immediately.

Deliverables

Working PDF parser

MySQL database with extracted data

Admin review interface

Clean, documented code

Future Phases (Not Included Now)

Public actor/show/theater pages

Joomla integration

AI-assisted parsing improvements

Analytics & engagement tracking

Budget & Timeline

Fixed price or hourly (open to discussion)

Quality and correctness matter more than speed

Final Note

If you enjoy hard parsing problems and building systems that must be correct, this project is for you.

If you are a generalist web developer, this project is not a fit.