Breakdown and Budget a Whole Film. Solo.
For VFX supervisors and producers who have to carry the whole breakdown and budget themselves, whether that is running an independent show with no department behind you, or being handed your first show and finding out the department is just you. This is the method behind Breakdown Studio, taught end to end, live, on 3 September.
The method, end to end
- Reading a cut like a budget
Turning an edit into a shot count and a VFX subset you can defend, before a single bid goes out. Whether it is your fifth film or your first. - The pipeline that survives a re-cut
Building a breakdown that updates instead of getting rebuilt every time the picture changes, so a late note from the director does not cost you a weekend. - Judgment versus automation
Where to let a tool run unattended, and where a supervisor's eye has to stay in the loop, so handing off the mechanical work never means losing control of the numbers. - Briefing an AI pair with guardrails
Getting real leverage from an AI assistant on a live production without handing it the master file, even when you are the only one who would catch it if something went wrong.
Who it is for
Two people end up in this seat. The independent supervisor or producer who takes a film with no coordinator, no second supervisor, and a budget and a schedule that still have to be right. And the junior, on staff or newly freelance, handed a whole show for the first time and finding out the department is just them.
Different stage, same problem. The breakdown and the budget have to hold up, and there is nobody else to catch what you miss. I built this from doing that job, not from teaching around it.
What it is
Not a tutorial on one tool. It is a way to carry a whole film's breakdown and budget on your own: what to automate, what stays your call, and how to put an AI assistant on the mechanical half without losing your grip on the numbers. Breakdown Studio is the version of this I built and used on real shows, including a Swedish Netflix feature. The course is the method behind it. You can run it with the tool or without.
What you leave with
A way to turn a cut into a shot count and a VFX subset you can defend. A breakdown that updates through a re-cut instead of being rebuilt. And a clear line, yours, between where a tool can run on its own and where you have to stay in the loop.
You also take the working templates: the breakdown sheet, the bid comparison, the change-order log, and the complexity band rubric we use on the day.
You do not take Breakdown Studio itself. What you build the method in after that is up to you.
When, and what it costs
Thursday 3 September 2026, 17:00 to 20:30 Copenhagen time. That is 08:00 Pacific, 11:00 Eastern, 16:00 London. Three and a half hours, live, with two breaks. It is a workshop, so you will be working, not watching.
325 USD for this first cohort. It goes to 450 after that. This one is cheaper because it is the first time I am running it, and I want the feedback from the people in the room.
So you are early. A few parts will run long while I find where they need more time. In return you get the method I actually use on shows, and my eyes on your film while we are in it.
It runs once, live, at this time. No second date yet.
Sign up below and I will send you a payment link and the joining details.
Who should not take it
If you want a tool you install and press go, this is not it. It is a method, and it assumes you are the one making the calls, not looking to hand the job off.
If you have never broken down a cut or built a bid, it will move fast.
And if you are not running, or about to run, a breakdown and a budget on your own, most of it will not land. Come back when you are.
Sign up
It is a working session, so the size is limited by the format. Sign up below and I will send you a payment link and the joining details. No spam, no drip sequence.