The Macneil Studio

Art licensing, managed in one place

A bespoke Claris FileMaker system built by Smart Wolf for The Macneil Studio — replacing the mix of spreadsheets and emails that used to track which pieces of artwork were licensed to which clients, where, for how long, and on what terms.

Art Licensing • Administration

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Artwork records — every piece, with imagery, description and licensing status

Screenshots are illustrative — data may be hidden or redacted.

At A Glance

Client: The Macneil Studio
Sector: Art licensing
Platform: Claris FileMaker (Pro, Server)
Primary access: FileMaker Pro on desktop for the studio team
Used for: Artwork cataloguing; client management; licence tracking; renewal alerts
Reach: The Macneil Studio team

Inside the system

The Macneil Studio runs on a single Claris FileMaker database. The team logs pieces of artwork, records client details, and ties them together through the Licences section — with every licence carrying its own product type, territory, term, fees and status.

Because it all lives in one system, the team can pull up any artwork, any client or any licence in seconds — and let FileMaker handle the renewal and action alerts that used to sit in someone's inbox.

The challenge

The Macneil Studio licenses its artwork to manufacturers and publishers — each licence carrying its own product type (greeting cards, puzzles, home decor), territory, term, fees and renewal position. As the catalogue of artwork and the list of clients grew, that complexity was being tracked across a growing pile of Excel spreadsheets, shared files and email threads.

The studio needed one system the team could actually use day to day — a single source of truth for every piece, every client and every licence, with alerts for renewals and actions rather than calendar reminders and memory.

Pain points

Artwork, clients and licences tracked across separate spreadsheets
Licence terms and renewals buried in email threads
No reliable alerts for upcoming actions or expiries
Hard to see at a glance which artwork was licensed where, to whom and for how long

Smart Wolf's solution

Smart Wolf designed and built the studio's back-office system on Claris FileMaker — one database covering artwork, clients, licences and the alerts that keep everything moving.

Artwork catalogue

Every piece of artwork captured in one record — reference, imagery, description, dimensions and licensing status — with motifs and classification attached for quick search.

Reference, imagery and description
Motif and classification tags
Licensing status at a glance

Client records

Clients captured once with their trading details, territory and account status — plus the contacts and attached documents the team needs when a conversation picks up again.

Company and trading details
Territory and account status
Contacts and attached documents

Licence tracking

Every licence ties an artwork to a client with its own product type, territory, term, fees and status — so the team always knows what's live, what's open and what's heading for renewal.

Artwork, client and product linked
Territory, term and fees recorded
Live / open / expired status

Renewal & action alerts

Licences approaching renewal, sell-off periods and outstanding actions surface automatically — so the renewal conversations happen on time instead of after the fact.

Upcoming renewals surfaced automatically
Sell-off periods tracked per licence
Outstanding actions visible to the team

Transformational outcomes

With everything in one FileMaker database, The Macneil Studio has moved from a patchwork of spreadsheets and email threads to a single system the whole team uses daily. Artwork, clients and licences are all connected — and the renewal and action alerts that used to rely on memory now come out of the system automatically.

Artwork catalogue

Before

Spreadsheets scattered across staff

After

One searchable record per piece of art

Single source of truth

Client records

Before

Details split across files and mailboxes

After

One record with contacts and documents

No more hunting

Licence tracking

Before

Terms buried in email threads

After

Structured licences linking artwork to client

Clarity at a glance

Renewals

Before

Calendar reminders and memory

After

Automatic renewal and action alerts

Nothing slips

Built with

The Macneil Studio system is a 100% Claris FileMaker build — a desktop admin platform used daily by the studio team.

Claris FileMaker Pro
Claris FileMaker Server
Scheduled Scripts
Artwork Cataloguing
Licence Management
Renewal Alerts
Role-Based Access
Attached Documents

Thinking about moving off spreadsheets?

If your business relies on tracking relationships, licences or records that currently live across spreadsheets, shared files and email, a Claris FileMaker system from Smart Wolf can bring it all into one place — with alerts and reporting built in.

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