Film Budget Template for Commercials, Branded Content and Corporate Shoots

1. How a commercial budget is structured

Commercial, branded and corporate budgets follow the same shape whether you build them in the APA template, the AICP bid form, a Google Sheet or Production Deck: pre-production, shoot, post, and other costs. On top of the direct costs sit fringes, a production company mark-up, the director's fee and a contingency.

The line items below are the ones agencies, brand teams and in-house producers actually read. Drama and HETV budgets carry the same spine but get broken down into above-the-line and below-the-line; on short-form, the bid form is the document everyone signs off.

2. Pre-production

Pre-production is usually 1-3 weeks on a commercial, longer on a branded series. Cost the people, not just the days.

• Producer, production manager, production coordinator, production assistant.
• Director prep days, treatment, shot list, boards.
• Casting director, casting studio, self-tape costs, recall sessions.
• Location scouting, recces, location manager prep days, mileage.
• Production designer prep, art director, props research, sample buys.
• Costume designer prep, fittings, sample buys.
• Hair and make-up tests.
• Production office: desk space, IT, couriers, mobile phones.
• Pre-production meetings (PPM): venue, lunch, deck production.
• Permits, council fees, parking suspensions, location agreements.

3. Shoot

The largest block. Itemise crew by department with their day rate and number of days (prep + shoot + wrap), then kit separately so the agency can see crew and equipment lines.

Production staff on the day

• 1st AD (booked on most commercials and music videos), 2nd AD if needed.
• Floor runners, production assistants, client liaison.
• Production accountant for larger jobs.

Camera

• DP, camera operator (if separate from DP), 1st AC (focus puller), 2nd AC, DIT.
• Camera package: body, lenses, matte box, filters, monitors, wireless follow focus, video village.
• Specialist kit: Steadicam op + rig, gimbal, drone op + drone, technocrane, probe lens, phantom for slow-mo inserts.
• Media cards and on-set backup drives.

Lighting and grip

• Gaffer, best boy, electricians, rigging sparks.
• Key grip, dolly grip, grip trainee.
• Lighting package, distro, dimmers, cable.
• Grip package: dolly, track, slider, low loader, cherry picker.
• Generators and fuel, sparks van.

Sound

• Production sound mixer, boom op.
• Sound package: recorder, radio mics, boom, comms.

Art, costume, HMU

• Production designer, art director, set decorator, prop master, standby props, graphic designer.
• Set construction, dressing, prop hire and purchase, breakdown / SFX consumables.
• Costume designer, costume supervisor, standby costume. Buy, hire, manufacture, cleaning, alterations.
• Hair and make-up designer, key artists, daily artists, prosthetics.

Locations and studio

• Location manager, unit manager, location assistants, security, marshals.
• Location fees, permits, parking suspensions, power, cleaning, dilapidations.
• Studio / stage hire, dressing rooms, green room, kitchen.
• Facility vehicles: HMU bus, costume bus, honey wagons, generators, three-tonners.

Transport, travel, catering

• Transport captain, drivers, minibuses, cars, fuel, congestion / ULEZ.
• Flights, trains, hotels, per diems.
• Crew catering, hot lunch, craft service, water and hot drinks.

Specialists

• Stunt coordinator, stunt performers, rigs, safety officer.
• Armourer, animal handler, child chaperone, intimacy coordinator, medic.
• SFX technician, water safety, drone supervisor.

4. Talent and usage

On commercials and branded content, talent fees split into a session fee (the shoot day) and a usage fee (where, for how long and in which territories the spot runs). Get the usage brief locked before the bid goes out, because usage often outweighs session fees on bigger campaigns.

• Principal cast: session fee + usage by territory, media and term.
• Supporting cast and walk-ons.
• Hand models, voice over, presenters, contributors.
• Supporting artists: SA agency fees, wardrobe, catering.
• Agent commissions (typically 10-15%).
• Buyout vs residuals, depending on territory and contract.

5. Post-production

• Editorial: offline editor, assistant editor, edit suite, drive storage.
• Sound post: dialogue edit, ADR if needed, sound design, mix, deliverables.
• Music: composer or library licence, sync clearances, music supervisor on bigger jobs.
• VFX: VFX supervisor, on-set data wrangler, shot count multiplied by tier rate, conform.
• Grade and online: colourist, online editor, grade suite, conform, titles and graphics.
• Deliverables: broadcast masters (Clearcast / commercial clock specs), social cutdowns (9:16, 1:1, 4:5), captions, audio descriptions, QC.

6. Mark-up, fringes, contingency

• Director's fee: usually a flat fee plus prep days, separate from the production company mark-up.
• Production company mark-up: 17.5-25% on direct costs covers overhead and profit. Standard on APA / AICP bids.
• Insurance: production package, employers' liability, public liability, cast cover.
• Legal and accounting: contract review, music clearance, payroll, audit.
• Fringes: UK employer NI (~13.8% over threshold), pension auto-enrolment, holiday pay accrual where applicable. US payroll taxes, FICA, union pension and health.
• Contingency: 10% standard. 12-15% for stunts, VFX, water, children, animals, international or weather-dependent shoots.

7. Where to find current crew rates

Rates move every year and vary by department, experience tier and territory. Pull from published sources and benchmark against recent quotes from the freelancers and houses you actually book.

United Kingdom

• APA (Advertising Producers Association) . The reference body for UK commercials. Members get access to APA crew rate guidance and the APA bid template that agencies expect to receive.
• BECTU rate cards . Unionised crew rate cards. Useful as a floor for crew rates on bigger commercials and branded jobs.
• Equity . Performer rates and session fee guidance for commercials, including the Equity/IPA Commercials Agreement that governs UK commercial usage.
• ScreenSkills . Job role descriptions and indicative day-rate ranges by department. Useful sanity check on a freelance quote.
• Production Base . Crew database where many HODs publish their day rate. Practical real-world benchmarking for short-form crew.

United States

• AICP . US commercials trade body. Publishes the AICP bid form, the standard commercial budget template, plus production guidelines agencies expect.
• IATSE (locals 600, 700, 728, 80, 871) . Below-the-line union minimums by local. Camera (600), editors (700), lighting (728), grips (80), script supervisors and coordinators (871).
• DGA . Minimums for directors, UPMs, 1st and 2nd ADs across commercials, TV and film.
• SAG-AFTRA . Performer minimums and the SAG-AFTRA Commercials Contract that governs session and usage fees in the US.

8. Quick checklist before you send the bid

• Every department has a head of department line and a separate kit line.
• Prep, shoot and wrap days are itemised separately, not bundled.
• Overtime, sixth-day and turnaround penalties are estimated, not ignored.
• Fringes are applied to labour lines, not flat-rate kit hires.
• Travel days, holds and weather cover are accounted for.
• Talent usage is priced against the agency's confirmed usage brief.
• Post deliverables match the broadcaster, agency and social tech specs.
• Insurance, legal and accounting are in. They always get forgotten.
• Director's fee and production company mark-up are visible as their own lines.
• Contingency is at least 10% of direct costs plus post.