# Film Director > The Film Director skill has Claude direct a film in 10 approved stages, from script to final cut, and builds an editable workflow on your canvas as you talk. Source: https://nodaro.ai/docs/mcp/film-director The **Film Director** is a skill that turns Claude into a film director working in your Nodaro account. You describe a film, and Claude drives a 10-stage workflow: script, shot list, characters, locations, storyboard, animation, audio and final cut, with your approval at every stage. As you talk, it builds a complete, editable Nodaro workflow on your canvas, so you end with both the finished video and every node that made it. ## What you need - **A Nodaro account with credits** for the images, clips and audio of your film. The skill states the price of each generation before it runs it. - **Claude connected to Nodaro.** See [Connect Claude](https://nodaro.ai/docs/mcp/connect/claude). The skill works in any client connected to Nodaro, and was tested in Claude on the web and in Claude Code. - **The Nodaro editor open in another browser tab**, so you can watch the workflow fill up. ## Start a film ### Open the editor Open [app.nodaro.ai](https://app.nodaro.ai) in a browser tab and keep it visible next to your chat. ### Describe your film In Claude, describe the film, for example: "Make a 30-second action trailer about a fighter pilot's last mission over the Pacific." Claude loads the Film Director skill from Nodaro with the [`start_film_director`](https://nodaro.ai/docs/mcp/tools/utility#start_film_director) tool. ### Open the workflow Claude creates a workflow on your canvas and shares its link. Open it: the workflow is in your **MCP Workflows** list. ### Direct each stage Claude walks you through the stages and pauses at each one. Approve it, ask Claude to refine it, or describe exactly what to change. In Claude Code, you can also install the skill as a local file: copy `.claude/skills/nodaro-film-director/SKILL.md` from the [Nodaro repository](https://github.com/nodaroai/app.nodaro.ai) into your project's `.claude/skills/nodaro-film-director/` folder. The skill then activates by itself when you describe a video, short film, trailer, music video, reel or commercial. ## The 10 stages | Stage | What happens | Typical time | | --- | --- | --- | | 0. Initialize | Claude creates the workflow on your canvas | Under 5 seconds | | 1. Script | Claude drafts a screenplay | 1 to 2 minutes | | 2. Shot list | A table of shots with duration, camera and continuity | 1 to 2 minutes | | 3. Characters | A main image, angle and emotion variants, and a voice | 2 to 5 minutes per character | | 4. Locations | A main image, and time of day or weather variants | 1 to 3 minutes per location | | 5. Storyboard | One scene image per shot, using the character and location references | About 30 seconds per shot | | 6. Animation | One video per shot, one after the other, with continuity between shots | 1 to 3 minutes per shot | | 7. Audio | Narration, dialogue, lip sync, music, sound effects and the cut plan | 2 to 5 minutes | | 8. Final cut | Trims, transitions and the audio merge | 1 to 2 minutes | | 9. Wrap-up | Claude checks the workflow and delivers the final video | Under 30 seconds | A 30-second short film usually takes 20 to 40 minutes from the prompt to the finished video. ## What makes it different - **It is built live on your canvas.** Nodes appear as Claude works. After each approved stage, Claude adds that stage's nodes to the workflow, and every step stays editable. - **You approve every stage.** You are the director and Claude is the assistant. Nothing becomes final without your approval. - **Shots connect.** Where the shot list calls for it, Claude takes the last frame of one shot and uses it as the first frame of the next, so the action continues across the cut. Otherwise it keeps continuity through the motion description of each shot. - **You keep the workflow.** Regenerate any scene, swap any model, or branch from any stage, without calling Claude again. ## After the film is finished - **Edit any node on the canvas.** Click a scene image, an animation or an audio node to change its model or prompt, or to run it again. - **Publish it as an app.** Turn the workflow into an app that others can run with their own inputs. See [Apps](https://nodaro.ai/docs/concepts/apps). - **Export it.** [`export_workflow`](https://nodaro.ai/docs/mcp/tools/projects-and-workflows#export_workflow) returns a portable JSON bundle. - **Call Claude back.** In a new chat, share the workflow's URL and ask for changes, such as "add a scene", "swap the music" or "regenerate shot 3". ## Which clients it works in | Client | Status | Notes | | --- | --- | --- | | Claude Code | Tested | The best local skill loading, and full canvas integration | | Claude on the web | Tested | Image and video previews appear in the chat | | Other MCP clients, such as Cursor, Cline, Continue and Goose | Not tested with this skill | The Nodaro tools work; the skill is written for Claude | The skill uses no private interface. Every action Claude takes is a normal [MCP tool](https://nodaro.ai/docs/mcp/tools) call that you could make yourself, or do in the editor or with the SDK. ## If something goes wrong - **The canvas stays empty after you approve a stage.** Claude adds a stage's nodes in one step after your approval. Wait until Claude says it added them to your canvas, then refresh. - **The editor link Claude shared does not open.** The link has the form `https://app.nodaro.ai/editor/` on Nodaro Cloud. On another deployment, tell Claude your editor's address at the start. - **You run out of credits in the middle.** Buy more on the [pricing page](https://nodaro.ai/pricing). The skill states each price before it generates, but it does not check the budget of the whole session in advance. - **A shot's animation is rejected three times.** The skill stops retrying that shot and asks whether to continue and fix it later on the canvas, or to stop. The shot stays in the workflow as an editable node. More fixes are in [Troubleshooting](https://nodaro.ai/docs/mcp/troubleshooting). For a film you keep editing scene by scene in the studio editor instead of on the canvas, see [Studio productions](https://nodaro.ai/docs/mcp/studio-productions). ## Frequently asked questions ### What is the Nodaro Film Director? A skill that makes Claude act as a film director. It writes the script, plans the shots, creates the characters and locations, storyboards, animates, adds audio and cuts the film, and it asks for your approval at every stage. ### How long does a 30-second short take? Usually 20 to 40 minutes from the first prompt to the finished video, most of it spent generating characters, storyboard frames and animated shots. ### Do I need to install anything? No. When you ask a connected assistant for a trailer, a short film, a music video, a reel or an ad, it loads the skill from Nodaro with the start_film_director tool. In Claude Code you can also install the skill file locally. ### What do I keep at the end? The finished video and the whole editable workflow that made it, with every stage as real nodes on your canvas. You can regenerate any shot, swap a model or publish the workflow as an app. ### What happens if a shot keeps coming out wrong? The skill retries a shot at most three times. Then it pauses and asks whether to continue and fix the shot later on the canvas, or to stop there.