From brief to air, six to eight weeks is comfortable for most TV ads. Here’s where the time goes, and where it usually slips.
A typical timeline
- Week 1: brief and idea. What the ad has to do, where it runs, the budget. We come back with a route and a script.
- Weeks 2–3: script and pre-clearance. The script goes to Clearcast. Meanwhile we cast, find locations and book crew.
- Week 3–4: shoot. Usually one or two days.
- Weeks 4–6: edit and finishing. Edit, voiceover, music, grade and graphics, with your feedback at each stage.
- Week 6–7: clearance and delivery. Final clearance usually takes two or three working days, then clock numbers and delivery to the stations.
Simpler ads, like a library ad built from your own footage, can be done in two or three weeks.
Yes, you need a shooting schedule
The shooting schedule is the plan for the day: which scenes, in what order, where, with whom, and how long each one gets. On a TV shoot every hour costs money, and actors, locations and crew all have hard finishes.
A good schedule groups scenes by location and set-up, so the crew isn’t relighting the same room three times. It builds in time for the shots you’ll need for cutdowns and social. And it puts the hardest scene early, while everyone’s fresh.
On the day, it’s the producer’s job to keep to it, and to know which shot to drop if things run over.
Where it usually slips
- Feedback rounds. Every extra round of comments adds days. One person collating feedback from your side saves a lot of time.
- Claims and evidence. If Clearcast want proof for a claim and it isn’t ready, the ad waits.
- Actors’ usage. If the media plan changes late, usage has to be renegotiated.
- Late changes to the offer. Prices, dates and terms change the end frame, and each change needs clearing.
Build a week of slack in, and the air date stays safe.