Rec · CutToAi · London

We do not sell AI. We test it, teach it, and tell the truth about it.

Tools, research and training for filmmaking in the age of AI, built from real productions and real cohorts rather than demos.

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Film · Education · AI Practice London / Global

The work

Evidence, not claims

A running record of what has been built and tested, with the failures published alongside the results.

Pre-production Blueprint Studio Prompt architecture built for filmmaking specifically, where ethical constraints differ and reality matters. Open →

Filmmaking in the Age of AI: A Practical Guide, first edition book cover

The book Filmmaking in the Age of AI A practical guide from story development to distribution, with the filmmaker's judgement at the centre. View on Apple Books → The platform CutToAi Experiments Nine working instruments built from real production problems, each with what it does not do stated on the card. See the instruments →

Thirty years inside the work, before any of it was pointed at AI

The studio is built on three decades of international broadcast and documentary production and eight years teaching it at Levels 4 to 7. That is why the tools here are judged against a working pipeline and a real cohort rather than a demo reel.

The practice behind it

30 years

Broadcast and documentary production

Best Film

UK Competition, Sheffield Doc/Fest

What we do

One practice, worked from three sides

Filmmaking, film education and critical AI practice are not three separate businesses here. They are one practice, and the speaking is where most of it reaches people.

The specialty Speaking A practitioner’s account of what generative tools actually do, and do not do, in a real production workflow. Conference talks, keynotes, workshops and panels for film schools, screen agencies and production teams. The judgement comes first. Always. Training Workshops and masterclasses built for a cohort rather than a product launch. Advisory Programme review and AI-adoption strategy for institutions and production companies. Tools Nine instruments built from real production problems, prototypes labelled as prototypes. Research Doctoral work on AI literacy in screen education, published as it goes. Testing notes What was tested, what broke, and what it means for people who make films or teach them. No predictions, no tool of the week. Read the writing →

How it works

From enquiry to the room

The enquiry

Tell us the audience, the date, the format you have in mind, and what you want people to leave with.

The call

A short call so the session is pitched at your people rather than a generic audience. If we are not the right fit, we say so.

The session

Tested examples, the failures included, and enough hands-on time for people to try things themselves.

The follow-up

Slides and examples shared afterwards, with any AI used in preparing them disclosed.

The method

What if the question were not what the tool can do, but what you can hand over?

Viewer · shot 04 · generated take 03

Four tests, one task

Delegate What can be handed over without loss?
Describe Can you specify what you want?
Discern Can you tell whether it is any good?
Diligence What must be checked regardless?

Four tests run against a specific task, and any one of them failing is a reason to keep the task. Read the framework. The 4Ds were developed by Rick Dakan and Joseph Feller in partnership with Anthropic, and are used here under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.

Talks

Three rooms we work in

Sessions are built to a brief. Fees depend on format, preparation and travel, so they are given on enquiry.

Conference talk AI in filmmaking practice A practitioner’s account of what generative tools actually do, and do not do, across visual development, pre-production and editorial review, with the ethical positions filmmakers need to form. For production teams, festivals and student cohorts. See the talk → KeynoteMost asked for The future of film education The structural gap between what film schools produce and what the industry requires: why it exists, what it costs students, and what a seriously reformed curriculum could look like. Draws on doctoral research and curriculum design practice. For programme leaders, curriculum teams and sector conferences. See the talk → Panel or workshop Documentary ethics and authorship The decisions documentary filmmakers make about representation, access and power, and how those decisions should be taught. Drawn from a career producing documentary work across international contexts. For film schools, festivals and industry forums. See the talk →

Six subjects are listed in full on the speaking page, and sessions are also built to a brief.

Recent writing

No predictions. No tool of the week.

Findings from the lab and the classroom, written up as they happen.

Framework The 4Ds: deciding what to hand to a tool Case study 40 Years of Silence, taken apart Writing What AI cannot do in filmmaking

In the founder's words

Why this exists

“I started CutToAi because the industry's response to artificial intelligence is fracturing into blind enthusiasm and defensive panic. Neither serves the craft. Drawing on many years in UK higher education and active post-production workflows, I build solutions and frameworks that test these tools against reality. This is where I do that work in public, holding AI accountable to the discipline of filmmaking.”

Mostafa Nagy. Thirty years in broadcast, eight teaching it

Read the full statement

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Tell us who is in the room

Programme review, AI-adoption strategy, workshops, or a production that needs a second pair of eyes on where AI actually belongs. We take on a small number of engagements at a time, and say no to the ones we cannot do properly.

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