diff --git a/scripts/cinematics/make_stub.sh b/scripts/cinematics/make_stub.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..33d2947
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/cinematics/make_stub.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Title card 1280x720 24fps 6s — original, no rips.
+set -euo pipefail
+ROOT="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")/../.." && pwd)"
+OUT="$ROOT/assets/cinematics/first-contact/out"
+mkdir -p "$OUT"
+command -v ffmpeg >/dev/null || { echo "ffmpeg missing"; exit 1; }
+# Homebrew ffmpeg often has no libfreetype drawtext — smptebars is enough for pipeline smoke.
+ffmpeg -y -f lavfi -i "smptebars=s=1280x720:r=24:d=6" \
+  -pix_fmt yuv420p -c:v libx264 -t 6 "$OUT/first-contact-stub.mp4"
+cat >"$ROOT/assets/cinematics/first-contact/META.json" <<'EOF'
+{"id":"first-contact","width":1280,"height":720,"fps":24,"seconds":6,"license":"original","pipeline":"ffmpeg-stub"}
+EOF
+echo "OK $OUT/first-contact-stub.mp4"