What Live Show Workflow Planning Costs and What Moves the Price

Why the price depends on the show, not the hour

Producers often ask for a flat figure for workflow planning before we have seen the show. I understand why, but the honest answer is that a ten-minute regional bulletin and a ninety-minute live evening programme share a name and little else. What we are really pricing is the amount of decision-making that has to be written down: who cues whom, what happens when an item overruns, and how the gallery recovers when a guest drops out.

So the starting point is always a short conversation about the programme itself. We ask how often it airs, how many people sit in the gallery, and whether the routines already exist in someone's head or on paper. The quotation that follows is written, itemised and specific to that show, and it is never a guess made from a headline description.

This article sets out the factors that move that quotation up or down, so you can arrive at the first conversation prepared.

The size of the gallery and the cast of the programme

The first driver is the number of people who have to act on a cue. A small gallery with a director, a vision mixer and one audio operator needs a clear run-sheet and a handful of agreed phrases. A larger one adds a producer, a graphics operator, a floor manager and perhaps a robotic camera controller, and every added role multiplies the handoffs that need to be defined.

The cast matters in the same way. A single presenter reading from an autocue is a different planning exercise from a desk of three with remote contributors and a separate reporter in the field.

None of this is a reason to trim the crew to save money. It simply explains why two shows of the same length can be quoted differently, and why we would rather count the roles than guess at them.

• Number of gallery positions with cueing responsibilities
• Presenters, guests and remote contributors per programme
• Whether floor and gallery work from the same run-sheet

Run-sheets and cue systems: where the hours go

Most of the work sits in the run-sheet. A useful one is not a list of items with timings; it records the cue for each shot, the source it comes from, the backup if that source fails, and who is responsible for the next move. Writing that for a show with many short segments takes far longer than for a show built around two long interviews.

Cue systems add another layer. If the team already uses a rundown tool, we map the routine onto it and leave the software alone. If the cues are spoken, we agree a vocabulary and test it on the talkback so nobody hears an ambiguous instruction at the wrong moment.

The more segments, the more transitions, and the more transitions, the more time we spend checking that each one can be read aloud in a few words.

• Segment count and how quickly items change
• Existing rundown tools versus spoken cues
• Backup sources and fallback routines to document

Rehearsal time and how many runs we attend

Planning on paper only goes so far. A workflow earns its keep when the crew runs it against the clock, and that means rehearsal. We can build attendance at one or several rehearsals into the quotation, and the number is one of the clearer levers on price. A single dress rehearsal catches the obvious clashes; two or three let the team adjust and try again.

We would rather say plainly that a workflow tested once is a draft. Where budgets are tight, a sensible compromise is a full run-through followed by a short review session, with a simplified second pass focusing only on the transitions that went wrong.

Rehearsal also tells us where the real timings differ from the planned ones, which is information no document can supply in advance.

What is included and what changes the quotation

A standard workflow planning engagement covers a review of how the show currently runs, a written run-sheet template, a cue and talkback routine for the gallery, and a short handover so the team can maintain it themselves. Documents are delivered in editable form, so changes after we leave do not require us to return.

Several things alter the figure. A change of venue or gallery layout part-way through adds redrafting. A late increase in the number of segments or contributors does the same. Travel outside Brighton is quoted separately, and so is any attendance beyond the rehearsals agreed in writing.

Equipment, hire and crew fees for the show itself are not part of our fee. We plan how the show runs; we do not supply the people or hardware that run it.

• Included: review, run-sheet template, cue routine, handover
• Adds cost: layout changes, extra segments, further rehearsals
• Separate: travel beyond Brighton and show crew fees

How to keep the scope sensible before you ask

A little preparation makes the first quotation more accurate and often lower. Send us a recent run-sheet, even a rough one, and tell us which parts of the show cause the most stress in the gallery. Those are the places worth spending hours on; the segments that always run cleanly rarely need more than a light touch.

It also helps to decide who in your team will own the finished routine. A workflow that has a named person looking after it survives staff changes; one that belongs to everybody tends to drift.

Ordering is straightforward: you enquire through the contact page, we send a written quotation, and once you confirm it we issue an invoice payable by bank transfer. Cancellations follow the payment and refund policy.