A small talent management office in a Los Angeles bungalow, two managers on headset calls, a wall of framed posters and headshots

Every submission answered within the hour. Every offer, deal memo, and payment chased by morning.

A small crew of AI agents takes the office work off your company: the reply to every unsolicited submission, casting request, and client question, the follow-up on every offer that's gone quiet, every deal memo that hasn't come back, and every payment that's late, and the option dates, holds, and commission statements nobody should have to carry in their head. All of it in your company's voice, none of it sent until you say so, and you get back to the calls that build a career.

Built for talent, literary, and music management companies of one to ten managers, in Los Angeles first. Runs alongside the tools you already use.

Book a free 45-minute assessment

Why this exists

Most management companies run on two or three managers and one assistant, if that. The manager reads, pitches, negotiates, and answers the inbox. The assistant rolls calls, tracks submissions, and chases payments on the side. Every week the general inbox fills with unsolicited submissions, casting breakdowns, a client asking about an audition, a producer who went quiet after an offer, a business-affairs email about a deal memo that's three weeks late, and a payroll company asking for a W-9. All of it waits for whoever gets off the phone first. Very few companies have the help the job needs: someone on the submissions, someone chasing the offers and the paper, someone watching the money. The reason is the math, almost never effort. That kind of help is a salary, and the commission on a small roster doesn't carry one.

A producer makes an offer on Monday and goes quiet, and nobody follows up until the role is cast. A deal memo sits at business affairs for four weeks because nobody chased it, and the client doesn't get paid until it closes. A commission check is two months late and nobody noticed. A writer who sent a sample in March, exactly the kind of voice you're looking for, never hears back and signs with the company that replied. An option on a client's book expires without a conversation. None of it is hard. There's just too much of it, and all of it waits for the manager.

At some point we stopped thinking the answer was “find the overhead for one more assistant” and started thinking there had to be a better way for a small company to support its roster. That's what Second Unit is.

It isn't for every company. If you have a full desk of assistants, a business-affairs person, and a bookkeeper, you don't need this. If you don't, and the same two people are building careers and running the office, we built this for you.

The producer who made the offer on Monday cast someone else on Friday. Your client was the first choice. Nobody had the hour to follow up on Wednesday.

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 CardSubmissions Desk
One Job
Job
Draft a reply to every submission, casting, and client email within the hour, in the company’s voice, log it, and route the ones a manager must see.
Reads
The general inbox, the submissions form, your roster and each client’s availability, your rules on what gets a read, a pass, or a meeting.
Writes
A draft reply, a submission log entry, a task for the right manager.
Never
Sends. Accepts or passes on a submission. Quotes a rate, a quote, or a client’s availability. Says anything about a client’s deal or a project under NDA.
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 company works: your voice, your roster, your rules, your deal terms. A submissions desk that drafts a reply to every unsolicited submission, casting request, and client question within the hour, logs it, and routes the ones a manager must see. An offer and deal follow-up agent that chases every offer that's gone quiet, every deal memo at business affairs, and every contract out for signature, on a schedule, until each one closes or dies. A commission and payment tracker that holds every client's payment terms, commission due, option date, and hold in one record and drafts the note before it's late. The crew works alongside Breakdown Services, Casting Networks, your deal tracker, and 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, because in this business the relationships are the business. These agents stay on the office side of the company. They answer the email, chase the paper, and remind you of the date. They never pitch a client, never negotiate, never quote a rate or an availability, never pass on or accept a submission, and never say a word about a deal or a project under NDA. The calls, the pitches, and the negotiations stay with the managers. Every draft is read by a person at the company before it leaves.

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 clients, the calls, and the careers.

A manager and a young client at an outdoor cafe table in Los Angeles reviewing pages on a tablet
Monday morning, every open offer and every deal memo out. Each one has a row: when it went out, who's sitting on it, what's owed, and a drafted nudge in your voice. You read, edit, and send from the car.

Three jobs, one company

Draft · not sent
ToJenna OkoyeSubjectRe: Submission, pilot script "Night Market"

Hi Jenna, thanks for sending Night Market and for the note about your background. We read everything that comes in, and we'll get to yours in the next three to four weeks.

Two things while you wait: we take on writers who have at least two finished samples, so if there's a second script, send it along, and let us know if the pilot is out with other companies so we don't step on anything.

If we think there's a fit, you'll hear from Marcus directly. If not, I'll let you know rather than leave you wondering.

Best,
Sam, for Marcus Hale Management

Submissions Desk

Every email from a writer, an actor, a casting office, a producer, a client, or a payroll company gets a drafted reply within the hour, in your voice, from your rules: what gets a read, what gets a pass, what gets a meeting, what a client's availability may be described as, what nobody outside the company may hear. It logs every submission and every casting request so nothing is lost, and routes offers, deals, client questions about money, and anything under NDA to the right manager the same hour.

Reads: the inbox, the form, your roster, your rules. Writes: a draft, a log entry, a task. Never: sends, accepts or passes, quotes a rate or an availability, mentions a deal.

Monday morning, in your drafts

Checking in on the Reyes offer · one line, availability holds through Friday
Nair deal memo, day 23 · which points are open
Lam contract, signature · the link again, one line
Ortiz option, 40 days out · extension or revert, the ask
Wen invoice, 48 days · statement attached, net 30
1 offer marked passed, closed out
Five rows read, five drafts, one closed out, nothing lost.
Offer and Deal Follow-up

Every offer, deal memo, contract, and invoice that's out gets a follow-up on your schedule, in your voice, until it closes, dies, or someone says no: the offer on day 2 and day 5, the deal memo every 7 days at business affairs, the contract out for signature on day 3 and day 7, the invoice at 30, 45, and 60. It tells you every Monday which deals are at risk and which paper is holding up a payment. Slow paper is where a roster's money leaks, and the fix is a note that gets sent.

Reads: your deal tracker, the inbox, the calendar. Writes: follow-up drafts, a status per deal. Never: changes a term, negotiates, sends.
Draft · quarter end
ToDani ReyesSubjectYour Q3 statement and what’s still owed

Hi Dani,

Your Q3 statement is attached: three payments in, commission taken, and the balance paid to you on the dates listed. Two things are still open on the production side: the final episode payment on the series, which we're chasing, and the travel reimbursement from the June shoot.

Nothing you need to do. I'll let you know when each one lands. If anything on the statement looks off, reply and we'll look at it together.

Best,
Marcus

Commission and Payment Tracker

Every client's deal terms, payment schedule, commission due, option date, hold, and reimbursement goes into one record. The agent watches the dates and drafts the note before it's late: the reminder to you when a payment is due to arrive, the chase when it hasn't, the quarterly statement to each client in plain English, the option and hold reminders 45 days out. You stop finding out from the client, the bookkeeper, or the lawyer.

Reads: the deal tracker, the bank feed if you connect it, the calendar. Writes: the record, a reminder, a draft. Never: changes a term, moves money, sends.

Want a different agent first, or the whole crew at once? Client Updates, Casting Desk, Pitch Research, 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 assistant on day one: the instructions for that job, the rules it works inside, the skills it needs, and nothing else. Your submissions desk knows your roster and your rules. Your follow-up agent knows every open offer and every piece of paper that's out. Your tracker knows every date and every dollar owed.

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 Jenna Okoye about her pilot submission
ApproveNot now
Done today17 tasks · 4 agents
Daily status sent, one thing waiting on youSecond Unit Lead
Drafted 12 replies to submissions and casting requestsSubmissions Desk
Followed up on 4 open offers, 2 deal memos at business affairsOffer and Deal Follow-up
Ortiz option is 40 days out, extension ask draftedCommission and Payment 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. Submissions DeskLaunch agent

    Drafts a reply to every submission, casting request, and client email within the hour, from your rules, logs it, and routes offers and anything under NDA to a manager.

  3. Offer and Deal Follow-upLaunch agent

    Chases every open offer, deal memo, contract, and invoice on your schedule until it closes or dies, and reports every Monday which paper is holding up a payment.

  4. Commission and Payment TrackerLaunch agent

    Keeps every client’s payment terms, commission due, option date, and hold in one record, drafts the quarterly statement, and drafts the note before anything is late.

  5. Client UpdatesOn the menu

    The weekly note to each client on what went out, what came back, and what’s next, so they stop texting to ask.

  6. Casting DeskOn the menu

    The breakdown read against your roster each morning, the submission list for a manager to approve, and the audition confirmation and prep note to the client.

  7. Pitch ResearchOn the menu

    The one-page brief on a producer, a showrunner, or a buyer before a meeting: credits, what they’re developing, who they work with, and what they’ve said they want.

  8. MarketingOn the menu

    The client-roster update to buyers twice a year, the announcement when a client books, and the company page copy, 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 Submissions Desk are set up on your own accounts, interviewed on your voice, your roster, and your rules, and one real submission is answered before we end the call.

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

    Every new email has a drafted reply within about an hour, with the right rule and nothing it shouldn’t say. Your assistant 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 you on the phone with buyers instead of in the inbox.

Pilot season in week one? Your Submissions Desk drafts every reply the hour it comes in, and your follow-up agent chases every open offer while you're on the phone.

How it works

  1. Assessment.

    A free 45-minute call. We find the tasks that are eating your company'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 roster, your rules, and your deal terms. 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 companies 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 AgentsSubmissions Desk, Offer and Deal Follow-up, Commission and Payment 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 company, and settled on the assessment call, not before. A solo manager sits at the low end of each range. A company of ten managers 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
Submissions Desk, Offer and Deal Follow-up, Commission and Payment 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 company 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
  • Assistant to a manager$48,000 to $62,000 / yr
  • Submissions and casting coordinator$45,000 to $58,000 / yr
  • Business-affairs coordinator$60,000 to $80,000 / yr
  • Part-time bookkeeper for commissions$1,500 to $3,000 / mo
  • Office manager$50,000 to $65,000 / 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, pilot season and awards season included
  • Trained on your voice, your roster, your deal terms
  • 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 writer who sent a sample on Monday has a reply in your drafts within the hour, and she doesn't sign somewhere else while she waits. The offer that went quiet gets a nudge on day two, not after the role is cast. The deal memo at business affairs gets chased every week until the client gets paid, and the quarterly statement goes out without you building it at midnight.

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.
A talent manager in a linen blazer at the office doorway talking with a young client
Every open offer is a career someone has to push forward this week.