Start from the number, not the treatment
A feature producer builds a budget and then raises the money. A music video producer is usually handed the money first. The label or the artist's team approves an all-in figure, the director writes a treatment, and the producer's job is to prove the treatment fits the figure, or show exactly what it would take to make it fit.
So the first two questions on the call with the commissioner are what "all-in" includes and what the deliverables are. All-in normally means everything through a finished video: crew, gear, stage or location, art, wardrobe, talent, the director's fee, editorial, color, the production company's fee, and insurance. If the label is paying the editor or colorist separately, or the artist's glam team is on the artist's own budget, those lines come out. Get it in writing before you price a single light.
The job being bid
The fictional video is "Glass Heart" for the artist NEON RIVER, with a $75,000 all-in budget. The treatment calls for a single built set on a stage: a mirrored room, practical neon, and a Steadicam oner through a dance section with six dancers.
- 1 tech scout and pre-light day, 1 shoot day of 12 hours
- 27 crew on the shoot day (25 in the shoot crew section plus 2 in art), plus the director
- 6 dancers with a rehearsal day
- 4 days of editorial, a color session, and cleanup
Every rate here is an example, not a quote or a union minimum.
The budget in bid sections
Commercial and music video budgets are commonly laid out in the lettered sections of the AICP Bid Form, which the AICP introduced in 1975 to standardize commercial bidding, and budgeting tools like Hot Budget ship commercial and music video templates. The sections below follow the AICP letters: A for prep crew, B for shoot crew, and so on through O for other.
| Sec. | Section | Detail | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Prep crew | Producer 3 days x $600 ($1,800); production manager 3 x $500 ($1,500); DP tech scout $1,000; gaffer and key grip pre-light ($600 + $550) | $5,450 |
| B | Shoot crew | 20 positions for 1 day (breakdown below) | $13,900 |
| C | Prep and wrap expenses | Scout van, office, prep meals | $900 |
| D | Location expenses | None, it's a stage shoot | $0 |
| E | Props, wardrobe and animals | Props $2,500; wardrobe for artist and 6 dancers $3,000 | $5,500 |
| F | Studio costs | Stage, 2 days x $2,500 (pre-light and shoot) | $5,000 |
| G | Art department labor | Production designer 4 days x $600 ($2,400); art assistant 2 x $350 ($700) | $3,100 |
| H | Art department expenses | Set build materials $4,000; set dressing rentals $1,500 | $5,500 |
| I | Equipment rental | Camera $2,500; G&E $3,500; Steadicam rig $800; playback $400; generator and truck $1,200 | $8,400 |
| J | Media | Drives for camera originals and backup | $400 |
| K | Miscellaneous production | Catering 45 x $30 ($1,350); craft $300; walkies $200; parking $300 | $2,150 |
| L | Director's fees | Creative fee | $5,000 |
| M | Talent | Dancers 6 x $400 shoot day ($2,400); 6 x $200 rehearsal ($1,200) | $3,600 |
| Payroll fringes | 18% example on A, B, G, and M wages ($26,050) | $4,689 | |
| O | Other: editorial and finishing | Editor 4 days x $600 ($2,400); color $1,500; cleanup $1,000; conform and delivery files $600 | $5,500 |
| Costs subtotal | $69,089 | ||
| Production fee | 10% of costs (example) | $6,908.90 | |
| Insurance | Short-term package (example) | $1,200 | |
| Bid total | $77,197.90 |
The shoot crew in section B is: producer $600, production manager $500, 1st AD $700, DP $1,500, 1st AC $500, 2nd AC $400, DIT $550, Steadicam operator $1,000, gaffer $600, best boy electric $500, two electrics $900, key grip $550, best boy grip $500, two grips $900, two hair and makeup artists $1,000, stylist $600, wardrobe assistant $350, three PAs $750, playback operator $500, and choreographer $1,000. That adds to $13,900. Twenty positions is 25 people once the pairs and the trio of PAs are counted.
Fringe base: $5,450 + $13,900 + $3,100 + $3,600 = $26,050, and $26,050 x 0.18 = $4,689. The 18% is a placeholder for your payroll company's quote. Rentals, purchases, and the director's fee paid to a loan-out aren't in that base.
It's $2,197.90 over. Cut elements, not rates
The first pass is $77,197.90 against $75,000. The tempting fix is to knock 3% off every rate, which leaves the crew underpaid and the treatment unchanged. Better to go back to the director with specific trades:
| Cut | Costs saved | Fringe saved | Fee saved (10%) | Total saved |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lose the Steadicam: shoot the oner on a dolly the grips already have (operator $1,000, rig $800) | $1,800 | $180 | $198 | $2,178 |
| Rent less set dressing | $500 | $50 | $550 | |
| Total | $2,728 |
New costs subtotal: $69,089 - $1,000 - $180 - $800 - $500 = $66,609. Production fee: $66,609 x 0.10 = $6,660.90. Bid total: $66,609 + $6,660.90 + $1,200 = $74,469.90, which is $530.10 under the all-in.
Each dollar of cost you cut also cuts the production fee calculated on it, and each dollar of wages cuts fringe. That's why losing one position saves more than its day rate.
The 12-hour day is a budget assumption
Section B assumes a 12-hour shoot day. Music videos run long, often because the artist's call time slips, and the overtime lands on every hourly crew member at once. Federal law requires time and a half after 40 hours in a workweek, and some states add daily overtime. California, for example, requires time and a half after 8 hours and double time after 12. If your crew deal memos pay a 10-hour day with overtime after that, two extra hours for this crew is real money: run the numbers through the overtime calculator before the call sheet goes out, and put the artist's call time on the call sheet with the same weight as crew call.
A bid can also carry a weather or overtime allowance that isn't billed unless it's used; the AICP form's summary page has a contingencies line marked not billed for that purpose.
Talent and union questions
Dancers, featured extras, and actors are the lines most likely to raise union questions. SAG-AFTRA handles music videos through its Music Department and tells performers to call the union to verify whether a video is union rather than relying on casting notices. On union videos, SAG-AFTRA says payments are due within 30 calendar days of wrap, performers should be on payroll with taxes withheld, and production is expected to tell talent or their agent the video's budget at the time of the audition or booking. If performers in the final edit are owed a use fee, the union verifies that with the label.
If the video is non-union, the dancers still need to be paid properly: through payroll if they're employees, with the rehearsal day paid. The choreographer's fee often has a separate prep component; price it from their quote.
Lines that get forgotten
- The pre-light day. A built set with practical neon needs the electric crew in the day before, and the stage charges for it.
- A second set of wardrobe for dancers when the choreography includes floor work.
- Playback: the file, the speaker system, and someone to run it. Without it, nobody can dance to time.
- Delivery files. Labels and platforms ask for specific versions (clean, explicit, vertical cutdowns). Each version is editor time.
From treatment to budget
A music video treatment isn't a script, but you can still break it down: every section of the song is effectively a scene with its own setups, wardrobe, and art. The music video script breakdown post shows how to turn a treatment into that list. From there, the music video budget template has these sections set up, and the how to budget a commercial shoot post covers the AICP form in more detail, including markup and talent use fees.