The human judgment behind every cut.

CUTLINE Studio is being built to preserve human judgment as a production changes.

What we’re building

CUTLINE Studio is being built as a human-decision infrastructure layer for post-production: preserving expert decisions, connecting them to each version, and identifying when a person needs to review them again.

PreserveEvery expert decision, with who made it and why.

ConnectEach decision tied to the version of the cut it applies to.

ReviewWhen the cut changes, the right person sees it again.

The people

Built for the people who make the calls

A documentary rests on hundreds of human decisions. They’re made by a few people, under deadline, with a lot at stake. CUTLINE Studio is built around them.

Clearance leads

Track every archive clip, music cue and release across every new cut.

Their callPay for more, trim or replace

Production counsel

Weigh fair use, restricted passages in releases, and every factual claim in the script.

Their callWhat’s safe to air, and why

Post supervisors

Hold the schedule, the deliverables and everyone who still owes a decision.

Their callReady to deliver, or not yet

Producers and executives

Balance story against budget, across one show or a whole slate.

Their callWhat the story is worth paying for

The calls behind archive

Who decides

The clearance lead, with the archival producer.

What they weigh

The clip ran from 8 to 18 seconds on a 10-second license. Pay for more, trim it back, or find another shot?

What CUTLINE keeps

The call, the cost, the reason, the version it applies to, and whether it held up at delivery.

What it does

From the first budget to years after delivery

One decision record per production, and everything built on it. Here’s what CUTLINE Studio does at each stage, in the order a show uses it.

Before the first shot

Start with a realistic number

Clearance budget estimatePrice the archive, photos and music a show plans to use, from your own past licenses and each licensor’s real rates.

Rights libraryEverything your company has already licensed or released, searchable, and checked against every cut before anyone pays twice.

Clearance policiesYour team’s playbook, written down: “when this comes up, we do this.” Every exception is kept with its reason.

The decision recordEach clip, license, release and approval in one place. Import the clearance log you already keep, any columns.

Every new cut

See what changed, and what it touches

Cut comparisonUpload the timeline export the editor already makes (EDL, XML, AAF). Clip by clip: added, extended, trimmed, replaced or only moved. Masters never leave the edit.

License and release checksSeconds over a license, terms narrower than the buyer needs, licenses that end before delivery, and edits inside a restricted part of a release.

Approvals that reopenEach sign-off is tied to a cut and a timecode range. Changed material goes back to its owner. Unchanged approvals carry forward.

Music and soundEvery cue on the audio tracks, checked against its license and carried into the cue sheet.

Picture and sound scanFinds what nobody logged: logos, artwork, recognizable people, private details on screen, and songs that aren’t on the cue sheet.

Annotated scriptEvery factual claim about real people and companies, with its source, settled by production counsel. The other half of E&O.

Every decision

The right person, in time, with the evidence

Routed to the ownerEach item goes to the role that decides it: clearance lead, counsel, producer. Inbox, reminders and Slack alerts, so nothing waits unnoticed.

Decide, with a reasonEvery call is kept with who made it, why, and whether it covers this cut or every later one. Fair use keeps counsel’s reasoning.

Outside reviewSend one item to outside counsel, standards or a licensor by link. They review; your team still decides.

Captured where work happensDecisions in email and Slack threads, signed paperwork and quotes are picked up and proposed. The owner confirms before anything counts.

Suggestions from your historyFor routine calls, what your team usually does and roughly what it costs. Fair use is never suggested.

Plain-language answersWhat changed and why it matters, for every item. Ask “what’s blocking delivery?” and get an answer from the record, with sources.

Know where you stand

Every clip, every dollar, every show

Cleared, at risk or not clearedOne answer for every clip in the latest cut, with the reason in plain words.

Exposure and forecastWhat isn’t cleared yet could cost, and when the show is likely to be clear, against picture lock.

Quotes, invoices and countersTrack every quote, check each invoice against the final cut and the license rate, and get a suggested counter before you reply.

Licensors and portfolioHow each archive and label really behaves, and for executives, every show’s readiness and where decisions are stuck.

Delivery and sale

Nothing retyped at the end

Delivery packageThe E&O clearance report, clearance log, music cue sheet, annotated script, required credits and every signed document, in one click, laid out the way your buyer wants.

A report anyone can verifyEvery decision with who and why, and a fingerprint an insurer or distributor can check.

Can we sell this?Describe a new sale (a streamer, another territory, an airline) and every clip is checked against it, with one request per licensor.

After delivery

Did the decisions hold?

Delivery outcomesQC results and check-ins at 6, 12 and 24 months show which calls held and which came back.

Rights expiryWarnings before any license in a show ends while it’s still airing or streaming, with a renewal request ready.

Decision log and judgment signalsEvery call your team has made, searchable, and what it says about how each kind of issue usually ends and costs.

Industry benchmarks, opt-inHow your costs and outcomes compare with other companies, only if you choose to take part. No show, person or company is ever named.

In their words

“The scene doesn’t land at 10 seconds. The director agrees. Worth the $2,400.”

MOMaya OrtizClearance lead · paid for 8 more secondsFine cut v05 · held up at delivery

Sample decisions from an illustrative production. Every real call in CUTLINE is kept like this: in the decider’s own words.

How it works

AI handles the coordination. People retain the authority.

CUTLINE Studio connects each version of the cut to the decisions, approvals and supporting evidence behind it, so teams can see what changed, what needs another review, and who remains responsible.

1 · SPOT

What appears in the cut?

Every clip, cue, logo, face and on-screen word, on every version.

2 · SUPPORT

What supports its use?

The license, release or opinion behind it, with the terms that apply.

3 · DECIDE

Who approved it, and why?

A named person makes the call, under stated conditions, for a stated reason.

4 · RECHECK

Does it still hold?

When the cut changes, decisions that no longer fit go back to their owner.

Spotting an asset is never clearing it. Only evidence and a person’s decision do that.

AI never makes the call

It reads and explains. People decide, and it never changes the cut.

Your judgment stays yours

Each company is isolated. Nothing is pooled without written permission.

Paperwork, not masters

Your footage stays where it is.

A record that holds up

Every call kept with a name, a reason and a date, ready for the insurer.

Get in touch

Keep the judgment. Every show.

We’re working with a small group of documentary and unscripted teams. Tell us how you track decisions between cuts today.