diff --git a/scripts/release.py b/scripts/release.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..30951c6b76
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/release.py
@@ -0,0 +1,161 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+"""
+a release-master multitool
+"""
+from path import path
+from git import Repo
+import argparse
+from datetime import date, timedelta
+from dateutil.parser import parse as parse_datestring
+import re
+from collections import OrderedDict
+import textwrap
+
+JIRA_RE = re.compile(r"\b[A-Z]{2,}-\d+\b")
+PROJECT_ROOT = path(__file__).abspath().dirname()
+repo = Repo(PROJECT_ROOT)
+git = repo.git
+
+
+def make_parser():
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="release master multitool")
+    parser.add_argument(
+        '--previous', '--prev', '-p', metavar="GITREV", default="origin/release",
+        help="previous release [origin/release]")
+    parser.add_argument(
+        '--current', '--curr', '-c', metavar="GITREV", default="HEAD",
+        help="current release candidate [HEAD]")
+    parser.add_argument(
+        '--date', '-d',
+        help="expected release date: defaults to "
+        "next Tuesday [{}]".format(default_release_date()))
+    parser.add_argument(
+        '--merge', '-m', action="store_true", default=False,
+        help="include merge commits")
+    parser.add_argument(
+        '--table', '-t', action="store_true", default=False,
+        help="only print table")
+    return parser
+
+
+def default_release_date():
+    """
+    Returns a date object corresponding to the expected date of the next release:
+    normally, this Tuesday.
+    """
+    today = date.today()
+    TUESDAY = 2
+    days_until_tuesday = (TUESDAY - today.isoweekday()) % 7
+    return today + timedelta(days=days_until_tuesday)
+
+
+def parse_ticket_references(text):
+    """
+    Given a commit message, return a list of all JIRA ticket references in that
+    message. If there are no ticket references, return an empty list.
+    """
+    return JIRA_RE.findall(text)
+
+
+def emails(from_commit, to_commit):
+    """
+    Returns a set of all email addresses responsible for the commits between
+    the two commit references.
+    """
+    # %ae prints the authored_by email for the commit
+    # %n prints a newline
+    # %ce prints the committed_by email for the commit
+    return set(git.log(from_commit, to_commit, format='%ae%n%ce').splitlines())
+
+
+def commits_by_email(from_commit, to_commit, include_merge=False):
+    """
+    Return a ordered dictionary of {email: commit_list}
+    The dictionary is alphabetically ordered by email address
+    The commit list is ordered by commit author date
+    """
+    kwargs = {}
+    if not include_merge:
+        kwargs["no-merges"] = True
+    commit_range = "{0}..{1}".format(from_commit, to_commit)
+
+    data = OrderedDict()
+    for email in sorted(emails(from_commit, to_commit)):
+        authored_commits = set(repo.iter_commits(
+            commit_range, author=email, **kwargs
+        ))
+        committed_commits = set(repo.iter_commits(
+            commit_range, committer=email, **kwargs
+        ))
+        commits = authored_commits | committed_commits
+        data[email] = sorted(commits, key=lambda c: c.authored_date)
+    return data
+
+
+def generate_table(from_commit, to_commit, include_merge=False):
+    """
+    Return a string corresponding to a commit table to embed in Confluence
+    """
+    header = "||Author||Summary||Commit||JIRA||Verified?||"
+    commit_link = "[commit|https://github.com/edx/edx-platform/commit/{sha}]"
+    rows = [header]
+    cbe = commits_by_email(from_commit, to_commit, include_merge)
+    for email, commits in cbe.items():
+        for i, commit in enumerate(commits):
+            rows.append("| {author} | {summary} | {commit} | {jira} | {verified} |".format(
+                author=email if i == 0 else "",
+                summary=commit.summary.replace("|", "\|"),
+                commit=commit_link.format(sha=commit.hexsha),
+                jira=", ".join(parse_ticket_references(commit.message)),
+                verified="",
+            ))
+    return "\n".join(rows)
+
+
+def generate_email(from_commit, to_commit, release_date=None):
+    """
+    Returns a string roughly approximating an email.
+    """
+    if release_date is None:
+        release_date = default_release_date()
+
+    email = """
+        To: {emails}
+
+        You've made changes that are about to be released. All of the commits
+        that you either authored or committed are listed below. Please verify them on
+        stage.edx.org and stage-edge.edx.org.
+
+        Please record your notes on https://edx-wiki.atlassian.net/wiki/display/ENG/Release+Page%3A+{date}
+        and add any bugs found to the Release Candidate Bugs section.
+    """.format(
+        emails=", ".join(sorted(emails(from_commit, to_commit))),
+        date=release_date.isoformat(),
+    )
+    return textwrap.dedent(email).strip()
+
+
+def main():
+    parser = make_parser()
+    args = parser.parse_args()
+    if isinstance(args.date, basestring):
+        # user passed in a custom date, so we need to parse it
+        args.date = parse_datestring(args.date).date()
+
+    if args.table:
+        print(generate_table(args.previous, args.current, include_merge=args.merge))
+        return
+
+    print("EMAIL:")
+    print(generate_email(args.previous, args.current, release_date=args.date))
+    print("\n")
+    print("Wiki Table:")
+    print(
+        "Type Ctrl+Shift+D on Confluence to embed the following table "
+        "in your release wiki page"
+    )
+    print("\n")
+    print(generate_table(args.previous, args.current, include_merge=args.merge))
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()