A small animation studio, artists at pen displays with character sketches, a wall of storyboard panels and color keys

Every inquiry answered within the hour. Every client approval and invoice chased by morning.

A small crew of AI agents takes the office work off your studio: the reply to every client, agency, recruiter, and vendor who writes in, the follow-up on every bid that hasn't closed and every client approval that's holding up the pipeline, and the milestone payments, contract dates, and festival deadlines nobody should have to carry in their head. All of it in your studio's voice, none of it sent until you say so, and your producers get back to producing.

Built for independent animation studios: commercial, series, shorts, and service work. Runs alongside ShotGrid, ftrack, Frame.io, and the tools you already use.

Book a free 45-minute assessment

Why this exists

Most independent animation studios run on a founder, a producer, and a pipeline of artists who are either on a show or waiting for the next one. The founder directs, pitches, and answers the inbox. The producer schedules, bids, and chases approvals. Between shows, the general inbox fills with agencies asking for a bid by Friday, studios asking about capacity, artists asking about work, vendors chasing a PO, and a client who hasn't approved the animatic that's holding up thirty people. During a show, all of it waits for the next review. Very few studios have the help the job needs: someone on the inbox, someone chasing the approvals and the bids, someone watching the milestone invoices and the contract dates. The reason is margins, almost never effort. That kind of help is a salary, and the money goes into the artists, the software seats, and the render farm, in that order.

A bid goes out and nobody follows up, and the job goes to the studio that did. A client sits on an animatic approval for nine days and the schedule slips a week with the team on the clock. A milestone invoice goes out late because the producer was in a review, and it gets paid late because it went out late. A recruiter's email about a show that would have filled the summer sits unanswered until the show is staffed. The short that was finished in April misses the festival deadline in May. None of it is hard. There's just too much of it, and all of it waits for the same two people.

At some point we stopped thinking the answer was “find the overhead for one more production coordinator” and started thinking there had to be a better way for a studio this size to support itself between shows. That's what Second Unit is.

It isn't for every studio. If you have a head of production, a line producer, and a studio manager, you don't need this. If you don't, and the same two people are running the show and the office, we built this for you.

The client who sat on the animatic for nine days cost you a week with thirty artists on the clock. A note on day three would have done it. Nobody had the hour.

The same crew we run our own business on

Second Unit is built and run by Noettic Labs, a Los Angeles studio that builds with AI to solve real business problems. We build products that do real work, and we install crews that do it inside your business: the quotes, the follow-ups, the renewals, the records, the reports, the paperwork that keeps a company moving and keeps its best people from doing any of it.

The crew on this page is the system we use to run our own business. We sat down with the people doing the best work with agents, kept what held up under a real week, and wrote it into the job cards and rules every crew ships with. An install is that system, set up on your business, by hand, on a call.

Second Unit is one of several products from Noettic Labs. See what else we've built.

What we built for you

Job CardInquiry Desk
One Job
Job
Draft a reply to every client, agency, studio, recruiter, artist, and vendor email within the hour, in the studio’s voice, and route the ones a producer must see.
Reads
The general inbox, the website form, your rate card and capacity calendar, your rules on what gets a bid and what gets a meeting.
Writes
A draft reply, a row in your contact list, a task for the right person.
Never
Sends. Quotes a rate that isn’t on your card. Commits capacity, a date, or an artist. Shares anything from a project under NDA, including a frame.
Reports to
Your Second Unit Lead, in the daily status.
Checked by
You, before anything goes out.

Second Unit is a service. There's no software for you to learn. We install a small crew of AI agents in your own accounts, one job each, and train each one on how your studio works: your voice, your rate card, your capacity, your rules. An inquiry desk that drafts a reply to every client, agency, recruiter, artist, and vendor email within the hour and routes new business and anything under NDA to a producer. A bid and approvals follow-up agent that chases every open bid until it closes or dies, and nudges every client approval that's holding up the pipeline, with the review link and the date the schedule needs it by. A contract and milestone tracker that holds every milestone payment, contract date, software renewal, and festival deadline in one record and drafts the note before it's late. The crew works alongside ShotGrid, ftrack, Frame.io, Harvest, or whatever you already run; that stays your system of record. Between them they take hours of office work off every week, and you approve every one before it goes out.

A word about AI, since in animation it's a loaded one. These agents stay on the business side of the studio. They answer the email, chase the approval, and draft the invoice reminder. They don't touch the work: no frames, no designs, no boards, no renders, nothing in the pipeline. Whether and how your studio uses AI in production is your call and your artists' call, and these agents never see it. The creative, and the client relationship, stays with you.

The name is one you know. On a set, the second unit shoots everything that doesn't need the director: the establishing shots, the inserts, the driving scenes. The director keeps the scenes that need them. Same deal here. The agents take the replies, the chasing, and the dates. You keep the pitch, the review, and the work.

An animation studio review room, a small team on a sofa watching a wall screen while the director points with a stylus
Monday morning, three shows in production. Every client approval that's open has a row: what was sent, when, who's sitting on it, and a drafted nudge with the review link and the date the schedule needs it by, in your voice.

Three jobs, one studio

Draft · not sent
ToJordan Ellis, Pinecone AgencySubjectRe: 60-second 2D spot, bid request

Jordan, thanks for the brief, and for thinking of us for this. We'd love to bid. Two things so the number is right the first time: is the 60 the only deliverable, or are there 15s and socials, and is the look locked to the boards you sent or open to a style frame from us?

We can have a bid and a style frame to you by Wednesday. Our next full-team window opens the week of the 14th, which fits the air date you mentioned.

Looking forward to it.

Best,
Maya, Lanternfish Animation

Inquiry Desk

Every email from a client, an agency, a bigger studio, a recruiter, an artist, a vendor, or a festival gets a drafted reply within the hour, in your voice, from your rules: what gets a bid, what gets a meeting, what gets a polite no, what your capacity looks like next month. It knows what may be answered from the rate card and the calendar and what needs a producer, and it routes new business, anything under NDA, and anything about money to the right person the same hour.

Reads: the inbox, the form, your rate card, your capacity calendar. Writes: a draft, a contact, a task. Never: sends, quotes a rate off the card, commits capacity or an artist.

Monday morning, in your drafts

Jordan, checking in on the bid · one question, window still open
Birchwood, the animatic · review link, date the schedule needs
Meridian, capacity in March · two weeks offered
Kestrel, the color keys · a yes by Thursday keeps the date
Orbit, milestone 2 · invoice attached, net 30
1 bid marked dead, closed out
Five rows read, five drafts, one closed out, nothing lost.
Bid and Approvals Follow-up

Every bid that goes out gets a follow-up on your schedule, day 3, day 8, day 15, in your voice, until it books or dies. Every client approval that's open, boards, animatic, style frames, color keys, final, gets a nudge on day 2 and day 4 with the review link and the date the schedule needs it by. It tells you every Monday which approvals are at risk of moving the schedule. Slow approvals are where a studio loses weeks, and the fix is a note that gets sent on day two, not day nine.

Reads: your bids, your review platform, your schedule. Writes: follow-up drafts, a status per bid and per approval. Never: changes a number, approves anything on the client’s behalf, sends.
Draft · 7 days past due
ToPriya Natarajan, Orbit LearningSubjectMilestone 2 invoice for episode 4

Hi Priya,

A quick one: the milestone 2 invoice for episode 4 was due on the 3rd and I don't see it on our side yet. I've attached it again in case it went astray.

Episode 5 boards are on track for the 20th. Let me know if the invoice needs anything from us to move through.

Thanks,
Maya

Contract and Milestone Tracker

Every client contract, milestone schedule, vendor deal, software renewal, and festival submission goes into one record: the payment terms, the milestone dates, the renewal dates, the deadlines. The agent watches the dates and drafts the note before it's late: the milestone invoice the day it's earned, the reminder at 7 and 21 days past due, the renewal 30 days out, the festival deliverable. You stop finding out from the bookkeeper, the vendor, or the festival.

Reads: the contracts, the calendar, your invoices. Writes: the record, a reminder, a draft. Never: changes a term, a rate, or a date, sends.

Want a different agent first, or the whole crew at once? Artist and Vendor Desk, Recruiting Desk, Festival Desk, and Marketing are all on the menu. Ask on the call.

Meet the crew

Each agent is set up for one job, the way you'd brief a new production coordinator on day one: the instructions for that job, the rules it works inside, the skills it needs, and nothing else. Your inquiry desk knows your rate card and your capacity. Your follow-up agent knows every open bid and every open approval. Your tracker knows every date.

Start with one. Add the next when you're ready. The Second Unit Lead comes with any setup and ties them together.

Needs youThe reply to Pinecone Agency about the 60-second spot bid
ApproveNot now
Done today17 tasks · 4 agents
Daily status sent, one thing waiting on youSecond Unit Lead
Drafted 9 replies to client, recruiter, and vendor emailsInquiry Desk
Followed up on 3 open bids, 2 approvals at riskBid and Approvals Follow-up
Orbit milestone 2 is 7 days past due, reminder draftedContract and Milestone Tracker
  1. Second Unit LeadIncluded with any setup

    Your first agent. Runs the daily status, keeps your queue to one request at a time, and walks you through changes to the other agents so you never need us for a small tweak.

  2. Inquiry DeskLaunch agent

    Drafts a reply to every client, agency, studio, recruiter, artist, and vendor email within the hour, from your rate card and your capacity, and routes new business and anything under NDA to a producer.

  3. Bid and Approvals Follow-upLaunch agent

    Chases every open bid until it closes or dies, and nudges every client approval that’s holding up the pipeline, with the review link and the date the schedule needs it by.

  4. Contract and Milestone TrackerLaunch agent

    Keeps every milestone payment, contract date, software renewal, and festival deadline in one record and drafts the note before it’s late.

  5. Artist and Vendor DeskOn the menu

    The availability check, the contractor agreement draft from your template, the onboarding note with the pipeline docs, and the thank-you at wrap.

  6. Recruiting DeskOn the menu

    The acknowledgment to every artist who applies, the portfolio log, the polite pass in your voice, and the flag when a reel fits a show you’re staffing.

  7. Festival DeskOn the menu

    The submission calendar for each finished short, the deliverables each festival wants, and the follow-up when a festival goes quiet.

  8. MarketingOn the menu

    The case study for each finished show, the quarterly note to past clients, and the reel-update announcement, from your own words.

Once you say yes: what you get in the first week

Nothing is left for you to figure out. This is what we set up, and when.

  1. Day 1Installed and Running.

    Your Second Unit Lead and your Inquiry Desk are set up on your own accounts, interviewed on your voice, your rate card, and your rules, and one real inquiry is answered before we end the call.

  2. Day 2The Inbox Stops Waiting on the Review.

    Every new email has a drafted reply within about an hour, with the right rate and the right window. Your producer reads, edits if they like, and sends.

  3. Day 3First Check-in.

    We read the week's drafts together, note what you changed, and tighten the rules so the next ones need less of your hand.

  4. Day 7Your First Number.

    How many drafts went out untouched. It's the one figure we track from here, and it tells you whether this is keeping your producer in the review instead of the inbox.

Three shows in production in week one? Your Inquiry Desk drafts every reply the hour it comes in, and your follow-up agent nudges every open approval on day two while your producer runs the dailies.

How it works

  1. Assessment.

    A free 45-minute call. We find the tasks that are eating your studio's week and match them to the agent that can take them over.

  2. Install.

    Everything works from day one, and you don't set up a thing alone. We help you sign up for Grok Bot, and for Notion if you don't have it yet, both on your own accounts. Then, in one screen share, we install the agents, connect your email and calendar from your side, and run the interview that teaches them your voice, your rate card, your capacity, and your rules. We walk you through the whole thing and check every piece before we hand them off to you.

    Runs on
  3. Two Weeks of Tuning.

    We read the drafts with you every few days and tighten the agent until most go out with no edits. Then a monthly check-in, and the next agent setup when you want it.

  4. Most studios are running within a week of the assessment.

Everything that comes with a crew

One price, once. Beside each piece is what the same work costs when you buy it as a person's time. Rough US figures, so you can see what you're getting.

We start four new businesses a month.By hand, on a call, so each one gets the tune-up it needs.
What's in the BoxThe Three-Agent Crew
  1. The Assessment45 minutes with us to find the tasks eating your week and the agent for each.
    $250
  2. Install DayOne screen share. Agents installed in your own accounts, email and calendar connected from your side.
    about $1,200
  3. The InterviewYour voice, your prices, your rules, written into every agent before it drafts a word.
    about $600
  4. Three Launch AgentsInquiry Desk, Bid and Approvals Follow-up, Contract and Milestone Tracker. The same three jobs as hires.
    $5,000 to $12,500 a month
  5. Your Second Unit LeadDaily status, one request at a time, and the walkthrough for every small change.
    included
  6. Two Weeks of TuningWe read the drafts with you on days 3, 7, 10, and 14, and tighten the rules each time.
    about $1,000
  7. Job Cards and Rules, Yours to KeepEvery agent's instructions on paper, in your Notion, so the crew stays with you.
    about $500
Bought as people and consultants, the first month aloneabout $8,500 to $16,000
Your crew, once$2,500 to $6,000
Then about $50 a month in software, paid to Grok Bot and Notion.
The Tune-up Guarantee.

If most of your drafts aren't going out untouched by the end of the two-week tune-up, we keep tuning at no charge until they are.

What it costs

Priced to the size of your studio, and settled on the assessment call, not before. A founder-and-producer shop sits at the low end of each range. A studio with thirty artists on a series sits at the high end.

Setup, per agentRange
One Agent, Set Up and Tuned
The assessment, the install, the interview, and two weeks of tuning.		$1,000 to $2,500
The Three Launch Agents Together
Inquiry Desk, Bid and Approvals Follow-up, Contract and Milestone Tracker.		$2,500 to $6,000
The Whole Crew
All eight agents, installed a week apart so each gets its tuning.		$6,500 to $16,000

Then Pick One of Two Paths

Ongoing Care

$100 to $750 a month per agent, scaled the same way. A monthly check-in, tuning as your studio changes, support when something's off, and the next agent when you want it. Ninety days minimum, then month to month with 30 days' notice.

Setup Only

No monthly fee. Your Second Unit Lead agent walks you through changes to the other agents yourself, and when you'd rather we did it, we're on call by the hour.

The assessment call is free, and there's nothing to decide until it's done. You pay for your own software: about $30 a month for Grok Bot and about $10 a month per seat for Notion, paid to them, not to us.

What the Same Help Costs as People

Rough US figures for hiring the equivalent, so you can see what you're getting. These are estimates.

If You Hired People$60,000 to $150,000a year
  • Production coordinator$55,000 to $72,000 / yr
  • Studio manager and bookkeeping$52,000 to $68,000 / yr
  • Freelance production accountant$2,500 to $5,000 / mo
  • Executive assistant to the founder$55,000 to $75,000 / yr
  • New-business and marketing coordinator$50,000 to $68,000 / yr

Before payroll taxes, before benefits, and before they've learned how you like things done.

Your Second Unit Crew$2,500 to $6,000once, the three launch agents$6,500 to $16,000once, the whole crew
  • Works every day, crunch week and delivery week included
  • Trained on your voice, your rate card, your capacity
  • About $50 a month in software, paid to Grok Bot and Notion
  • Ongoing care from $100 a month per agent, or setup only with support on call
  • Yours to keep. If we part ways, the crew stays with you

Three agents for about one month of one salary.

What the agents won't do

What changes

The agency that wrote Tuesday has a reply in your drafts within the hour, with the two questions that make the bid right. The animatic the client sat on gets a nudge on day two, not day nine, and the schedule holds. The milestone invoice goes out the day it's earned, with the reminder already queued.

You still write the important emails. You just stop writing all of them.

Book a free 45-minute assessment Not ready? Read what the agents won't do and see exactly what they read, write, and never touch.
An animation studio founder at a pen display talking with a producer holding a laptop
Every open approval is a week of the schedule someone has to protect.