cinascend

Save hours on scripts, schedules, budgets and admin, without putting your production at risk.

AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Copilot are already changing how productions work. Used well, they draft the crew notice, tidy the rooming list, break down the scene and write the spreadsheet formula in seconds. Used badly, they invent hotels that don’t exist, explain overspends with reasons nobody gave them, and leak crew data into tools nobody approved.

This course shows you how to get the time savings without the risks. It’s practical, built around real production roles, and grounded in UK law and practice.

Who it’s for

Anyone on the business and organisational side of a UK production, including:

Runners, production secretaries and coordinators

Production managers, line producers and producers

1st, 2nd and 3rd ADs

Location managers and their teams

Production accountants, assistant accountants and payroll

Script supervisors, casting, art department, costume and post-production

Health and safety advisers and unit publicists

No technical knowledge is needed. If you can write an email, you can do this course.

What you’ll learn

What generative AI actually does, where it’s strong, and why it “hallucinates”

A simple five-part method for writing prompts that get usable results first time

How to use AI in your own role, with real examples for 19 production jobs

Faster office admin: crew notices, minutes, rooming lists and movement orders

First-pass script breakdowns, and how to catch what the AI misses

Cost report commentary, formulas and reconciliations, with every number checked

How to protect crew data and scripts under UK GDPR, and what to do if something slips

UK copyright, performers’ rights, and where Equity, Bectu and the WGGB stand on AI

How to write a one-page AI policy for your department

Course contents

What AI Is (and Isn’t): how it works, where it goes wrong, and the traffic light rule

Prompting for Production: the ROLE-CONTEXT-TASK-FORMAT-CHECK method, plus Exercise 1

AI in the Production Office: emails, minutes, lists, travel and safety drafts

Scripts, Breakdowns and Scheduling: breakdowns, department lists, scheduling checks and child performers

Budgets, Cost Reports and Accounting: commentary, formulas, coding and anomalies, plus Exercise 2

Confidentiality, Data and Security: UK GDPR, the “never paste” list and what to do after a slip

Copyright, Likeness and the Unions: ownership, consent, disclosure and union positions

Your AI Policy and the Road Ahead: policies, changing roles and next steps, plus Exercise 3

What’s included

8 video modules (about 50 minutes in total)

3 hands-on exercises using a fictional drama, so you never need real production data

A knowledge review at the end of every module

A final scenario test and a certificate of completion

12 downloads, including:

40 tested production prompts

AI Uses by Role guide

Script Breakdown Checklist

Cost Report Commentary Template

“Never Paste” pocket card

Department AI Policy Template

A one-page summary for every module

Lifetime access, so you can learn at your own pace