diff --git a/build/release/pre_gen_release_notes.py b/build/release/pre_gen_release_notes.py
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..ec2fcee4b54
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build/release/pre_gen_release_notes.py
@@ -0,0 +1,262 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+
+#
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+# contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+# this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+# The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+# (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+# the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+#
+
+# This script is inspired by Apache Spark
+
+# This script simplifies the process of creating release notes, it
+# - folds the original and the revert commits
+# - filters out unrelated commits
+# - generates the contributor list
+# - canonicalizes the contributors' name with the known_translations
+
+# TODO
+# - canonicalizes the commits' title
+
+# Usage:
+#   set environment variables: RELEASE_TAG and PREVIOUS_RELEASE_TAG, then perform
+#   ./pre_gen_release_notes.py
+# Example:
+#   RELEASE_TAG=v1.8.1 PREVIOUS_RELEASE_TAG=v1.8.0 ./pre_gen_release_notes.py
+
+# It outputs
+# - commits-${RELEASE_TAG}.txt:      the canonical commit list
+# - contributors-${RELEASE_TAG}.txt: the canonical contributor list
+
+import os
+import re
+import sys
+
+from release_utils import (
+    tag_exists,
+    get_commits,
+    yes_or_no_prompt,
+    get_date,
+    is_valid_author,
+    capitalize_author,
+    print_indented
+)
+
+RELEASE_TAG = os.environ.get("RELEASE_TAG")
+if RELEASE_TAG is None:
+    sys.exit("RELEASE_TAG is required")
+if not tag_exists(RELEASE_TAG):
+    sys.exit("RELEASE_TAG: %s does not exist!" % RELEASE_TAG)
+
+PREVIOUS_RELEASE_TAG = os.environ.get("PREVIOUS_RELEASE_TAG")
+if PREVIOUS_RELEASE_TAG is None:
+    sys.exit("PREVIOUS_RELEASE_TAG is required")
+if not tag_exists(PREVIOUS_RELEASE_TAG):
+    sys.exit("PREVIOUS_RELEASE_TAG: %s does not exist!" % PREVIOUS_RELEASE_TAG)
+
+release_dir = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))
+commits_file_name = "commits-%s.txt" % RELEASE_TAG
+contributors_file_name = "contributors-%s.txt" % RELEASE_TAG
+
+# Gather commits found in the new tag but not in the old tag.
+# This filters commits based on both the git hash and the PR number.
+# If either is present in the old tag, then we ignore the commit.
+print("Gathering new commits between tags %s and %s" % (PREVIOUS_RELEASE_TAG, RELEASE_TAG))
+release_commits = get_commits(RELEASE_TAG)
+previous_release_commits = get_commits(PREVIOUS_RELEASE_TAG)
+previous_release_hashes = set()
+previous_release_prs = set()
+for old_commit in previous_release_commits:
+    previous_release_hashes.add(old_commit.get_hash())
+    if old_commit.get_pr_number():
+        previous_release_prs.add(old_commit.get_pr_number())
+new_commits = []
+for this_commit in release_commits:
+    this_hash = this_commit.get_hash()
+    this_pr_number = this_commit.get_pr_number()
+    if this_hash in previous_release_hashes:
+        continue
+    if this_pr_number and this_pr_number in previous_release_prs:
+        continue
+    new_commits.append(this_commit)
+if not new_commits:
+    sys.exit("There are no new commits between %s and %s!" % (PREVIOUS_RELEASE_TAG, RELEASE_TAG))
+
+# Prompt the user for confirmation that the commit range is correct
+print("\n==================================================================================")
+print("Release tag: %s" % RELEASE_TAG)
+print("Previous release tag: %s" % PREVIOUS_RELEASE_TAG)
+print("Number of commits in this range: %s" % len(new_commits))
+print("")
+
+if yes_or_no_prompt("Show all commits?"):
+    print_indented(new_commits)
+print("==================================================================================\n")
+if not yes_or_no_prompt("Does this look correct?"):
+    sys.exit("Ok, exiting")
+
+# Filter out special commits
+releases = []
+reverts = []
+no_tickets = []
+effective_commits = []
+
+def is_release(commit_title):
+    return "[release]" in commit_title.lower()
+
+
+def has_no_ticket(commit_title):
+    return not re.findall("\\[KYUUBI\\s\\#[0-9]+\\]", commit_title.upper())
+
+
+def is_revert(commit_title):
+    return "revert" in commit_title.lower()
+
+
+for c in new_commits:
+    t = c.get_title()
+    if not t:
+        continue
+    elif is_release(t):
+        releases.append(c)
+    elif is_revert(t):
+        reverts.append(c)
+    elif has_no_ticket(t):
+        no_tickets.append(c)
+    else:
+        effective_commits.append(c)
+
+
+# Warn against ignored commits
+if releases or reverts or no_tickets:
+    print("\n==================================================================================")
+    if releases:
+        print("Found %d release commits" % len(releases))
+    if reverts:
+        print("Found %d revert commits" % len(reverts))
+    if no_tickets:
+        print("Found %d commits with no Ticket" % len(no_tickets))
+    print("==================== Warning: these commits will be ignored ======================\n")
+    if releases:
+        print("Release (%d)" % len(releases))
+        print_indented(releases)
+    if reverts:
+        print("Revert (%d)" % len(reverts))
+        print_indented(reverts)
+    if no_tickets:
+        print("No Ticket (%d)" % len(no_tickets))
+        print_indented(no_tickets)
+    print("==================== Warning: the above commits will be ignored ==================\n")
+prompt_msg = "%d effective commits left to process after filtering. OK to proceed?" % len(effective_commits)
+if not yes_or_no_prompt(prompt_msg):
+    sys.exit("OK, exiting.")
+
+
+# Load known author translations that are cached locally
+known_translations = {}
+known_translations_file_name = "known_translations"
+known_translations_file = open(os.path.join(release_dir, known_translations_file_name), "r")
+for line in known_translations_file:
+    if line.startswith("#") or not line.strip():
+        continue
+    [old_name, new_name] = line.strip("\n").split(" - ")
+    known_translations[old_name] = new_name
+known_translations_file.close()
+
+# Keep track of warnings to tell the user at the end
+warnings = []
+
+# Mapping from the invalid author name to its associated tickets
+# E.g. pan3793 -> set("[KYUUBI #1234]", "[KYUUBI #1235]")
+invalid_authors = {}
+
+# Populate a map that groups issues and components by author
+# It takes the form: Author Name -> set()
+# For instance,
+# {
+#   'Cheng Pan' -> set('[KYUUBI #1234]', '[KYUUBI #1235]'),
+#   'Fu Chen' -> set('[KYUUBI #2345]')
+# }
+#
+author_info = {}
+print("\n=========================== Compiling contributor list ===========================")
+for commit in effective_commits:
+    _hash = commit.get_hash()
+    title = commit.get_title()
+    issues = re.findall("\\[KYUUBI\\s\\#[0-9]+\\]", title.upper())
+    author = commit.get_author()
+    date = get_date(_hash)
+    # Translate the known author name
+    if author in known_translations:
+        author = known_translations[author]
+    elif is_valid_author(author):
+        # If the author name is invalid, keep track of it along
+        # with all associated issues so we can translate it later
+        author = capitalize_author(author)
+    else:
+        if author not in invalid_authors:
+            invalid_authors[author] = set()
+        for issue in issues:
+            invalid_authors[author].add(issue)
+    # Populate or merge an issue into author_info[author]
+    def populate(issues):
+        if author not in author_info:
+            author_info[author] = set()
+        for issue in issues:
+            author_info[author].add(issue)
+    # Find issues associated with this commit
+    try:
+        populate(issues)
+    except Exception as e:
+        print("Unexpected error:", e)
+    print("  Processed commit %s authored by %s on %s" % (_hash, author, date))
+print("==================================================================================\n")
+
+commits_file = open(os.path.join(release_dir, commits_file_name), "w")
+for commit in effective_commits:
+    if commit.get_hash() not in map(lambda revert: revert.get_revert_hash(), reverts):
+        commits_file.write(commit.title + "\n")
+for commit in no_tickets:
+    commits_file.write(commit.title + "\n")
+commits_file.close()
+print("Commits list is successfully written to %s!" % commits_file_name)
+
+# Write to contributors file ordered by author names
+# Each line takes the format " * Author Name -- tickets"
+# e.g. * Cheng Pan -- [KYUUBI #1234][KYUUBI #1235]
+# e.g. * Fu Chen   -- [KYUUBI #2345]
+contributors_file = open(os.path.join(release_dir, contributors_file_name), "w")
+authors = list(author_info.keys())
+authors.sort(key=lambda author: author.split(" ")[-1])
+author_max_len = max(len(author) for author in authors)
+for author in authors:
+    contribution = "".join(author_info[author])
+    line = ("* {:<%s}" % author_max_len).format(author) + " -- " + contribution
+    contributors_file.write(line + "\n")
+contributors_file.close()
+print("Contributors list is successfully written to %s!" % contributors_file_name)
+
+# Prompt the user to translate author names if necessary
+if invalid_authors:
+    warnings.append("Found the following invalid authors:")
+    for a in invalid_authors:
+        warnings.append("\t%s" % a)
+    warnings.append("Please update 'known_translations'.")
+
+# Log any warnings encountered in the process
+if warnings:
+    print("\n============ Warnings encountered while creating the contributor list ============")
+    for w in warnings:
+        print(w)
+    print("Please correct these in the final contributors list at %s." % contributors_file_name)
+    print("==================================================================================\n")
diff --git a/build/release/release_utils.py b/build/release/release_utils.py
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..d34f74d3662
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build/release/release_utils.py
@@ -0,0 +1,159 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+
+#
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+# contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+# this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+# The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+# (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+# the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+#
+
+# This script is inspired by Apache Spark
+
+# This file contains helper methods used in creating a release.
+
+import re
+import sys
+from subprocess import Popen, PIPE
+
+
+# Prompt the user to answer yes or no until they do so
+def yes_or_no_prompt(msg):
+    response = input("%s [y/n]: " % msg)
+    while response != "y" and response != "n":
+        return yes_or_no_prompt(msg)
+    return response == "y"
+
+
+def run_cmd(cmd):
+    return Popen(cmd, stdout=PIPE).communicate()[0].decode("utf8")
+
+
+def run_cmd_error(cmd):
+    return Popen(cmd, stdout=PIPE, stderr=PIPE).communicate()[1].decode("utf8")
+
+
+def get_date(commit_hash):
+    return run_cmd(["git", "show", "--quiet", "--pretty=format:%cd", commit_hash])
+
+
+def tag_exists(tag):
+    stderr = run_cmd_error(["git", "show", tag])
+    return "error" not in stderr and "fatal" not in stderr
+
+
+# A type-safe representation of a commit
+class Commit:
+    def __init__(self, _hash, author, title, pr_number=None, revert_hash=None):
+        self._hash = _hash
+        self.author = author
+        self.title = title
+        self.pr_number = pr_number
+        self.revert_hash = revert_hash
+
+    def get_hash(self):
+        return self._hash
+
+    def get_author(self):
+        return self.author
+
+    def get_title(self):
+        return self.title
+
+    def get_pr_number(self):
+        return self.pr_number
+
+    def get_revert_hash(self):
+        return self.revert_hash
+
+    def __str__(self):
+        closes_pr = "(Closes #%s)" % self.pr_number if self.pr_number else ""
+        revert_commit = "(Reverts %s)" % self.revert_hash if self.revert_hash else ""
+        return "%s %s %s %s %s" % (self._hash, self.author, self.title, closes_pr, revert_commit)
+
+
+# Return all commits that belong to the specified tag.
+#
+# Under the hood, this runs a `git log` on that tag and parses the fields
+# from the command output to construct a list of Commit objects. Note that
+# because certain fields reside in the commit description, we need to do
+# some intelligent regex parsing to extract those fields.
+def get_commits(tag):
+    commit_start_marker = "|=== COMMIT START MARKER ===|"
+    commit_end_marker = "|=== COMMIT END MARKER ===|"
+    field_end_marker = "|=== COMMIT FIELD END MARKER ===|"
+    log_format = (
+            commit_start_marker
+            + "%h"
+            + field_end_marker
+            + "%an"
+            + field_end_marker
+            + "%s"
+            + commit_end_marker
+            + "%b"
+    )
+    output = run_cmd(["git", "log", "--quiet", "--pretty=format:" + log_format, tag])
+    commits = []
+    raw_commits = [c for c in output.split(commit_start_marker) if c]
+    for commit in raw_commits:
+        if commit.count(commit_end_marker) != 1:
+            print("Commit end marker not found in commit: ")
+            for line in commit.split("\n"):
+                print(line)
+            sys.exit(1)
+        # Separate commit digest from the body
+        # From the digest we extract the hash, author and the title
+        # From the body, we extract the PR number and the github username
+        [commit_digest, commit_body] = commit.split(commit_end_marker)
+        if commit_digest.count(field_end_marker) != 2:
+            sys.exit("Unexpected format in commit: %s" % commit_digest)
+        [_hash, author, title] = commit_digest.split(field_end_marker)
+        # The PR number and github username is in the commit message
+        # itself and cannot be accessed through any GitHub API
+        pr_number = None
+        match = re.search("Closes #([0-9]+) from ([^/\\s]+)/", commit_body)
+        if match:
+            [pr_number, github_username] = match.groups()
+            # If the author name is not valid, use the github
+            # username so we can translate it properly later
+            if not is_valid_author(author):
+                author = github_username
+        author = author.strip()
+        revert_hash = None
+        match = re.search("This reverts commit ([0-9a-f]+)", commit_body)
+        if match:
+            [revert_hash] = match.groups()
+            revert_hash = revert_hash[:9]
+        commit = Commit(_hash, author, title, pr_number, revert_hash)
+        commits.append(commit)
+    return commits
+
+
+# Return whether the given name is in the form <First Name><space><Last Name>
+def is_valid_author(author):
+    if not author:
+        return False
+    return " " in author and not re.findall("[0-9]", author)
+
+
+# Capitalize the first letter of each word in the given author name
+def capitalize_author(author):
+    if not author:
+        return None
+    words = author.split(" ")
+    words = [w[0].capitalize() + w[1:] for w in words if w]
+    return " ".join(words)
+
+
+def print_indented(_list):
+    for x in _list:
+        print("  %s" % x)