Python for Production
Learn the coding language of AI... discover Python in six modules and build tools that check invoices, calculate overtime and analyse cost reports in seconds. Made for film and TV production, accounts and admin teams.
Learn to code from zero, and automate the paperwork you do every week.
Every week on a production, someone checks invoices for missing POs, works out overtime from timesheets, chases variances on the cost report and tidies up a crew list that ten people have edited. It’s important work, and it’s the same work every week.
Python is a free programming language that’s brilliant at exactly this kind of job. You write the steps once, and next week you just run them again: seconds instead of hours, and the same result every time.
This course is built for people who have never written a line of code. Every example comes from real production paperwork, so you learn by doing the jobs you already know.
Who it’s for
Production coordinators, secretaries and runners
Production accountants, assistant accountants and payroll
Production managers and line producers
Assistant directors
Anyone in film and TV who lives in spreadsheets
No experience is needed, and nothing needs installing. If you can use Excel, you can do this course.
What you’ll learn
What Python is, and when to use it instead of Excel
How to store and work with numbers, text, lists and crew details
How to make Python take decisions and repeat tasks for you
How to load, filter, sort and summarise spreadsheets with pandas, Python’s spreadsheet toolkit
How to automate four real jobs: invoice checks, overtime, cost report variances and cleaning contact lists
How to save your results to Excel and make charts
How to use Python inside Excel, and how to get AI tools to help you write code safely
Course contents
Why Python, and Your First Code: what Python is, and three ways to run it
Storing Information: variables, text, lists and dictionaries
Making Decisions and Repeating Tasks: if statements, loops and functions, including an overtime calculator
Working with Spreadsheets: loading, filtering and summarising tables with pandas
Automating Production Paperwork: invoice checks, overtime, cost reports and clean contact lists
Python in Excel, AI and Your Final Project: build your own Weekly Wrap Pack
What’s included
6 video modules
A practice notebook for every module, which runs in your web browser, with full solutions
Practice files from a fictional production: crew list, timesheets, invoices, cost report and schedule
A knowledge check after every module, a final test and a certificate
A final project: the Weekly Wrap Pack, an automated workbook you can reuse every week
Downloads:
Course Guide and Setup sheet
Python and pandas cheat sheet
Six worksheets with answers
A one-page summary for every module
Course curriculum
Course curriculum in progress
-
Chapter name
Chapter name
Chapter name
About this course
- £99.00
- 0 lessons
- 0 hours of video content
FAQ
-
I’ve never coded. Is this really for me?
Yes. The course starts from the very first line and assumes no experience at all.
-
Do I need to install anything?
No. Everything runs in Google Colab, a free tool that works in your web browser. You just need a free Google account.
-
What is Python in Excel, and do I need it?
It lets you write Python inside an Excel cell. Module 6 shows you how, but you don’t need it to complete the course. It requires a paid Microsoft 365 plan.
-
Can I use my own production’s data?
You’ll practise on fictional data. To use real crew, pay or financial data later, check that your production has approved the tool first. The course explains how to work safely.