Field Report 11: What a funded production costs
Status: weak sources only (trade blogs, budget guides). Treat every number as a range, not a quote.
Findings
- Indie pro music video: roughly $2k to $8k.
- DIY small-team music video: roughly $500 to $1.5k.
- AI-assisted video: often under about $100 to a few hundred in credits before finishing time.
What I will do with it
- Community-led productions get a written budget before any money moves, sized in the $500 to $2,000 band.
- Judge by the published Claudia Cut rubric: coherence and face fixed, hook, sound, kill-rule pass.
- AI use is disclosed openly. Platforms label undisclosed synthetic video anyway.
Open questions
- Does a funded production hold an audience better than a free-entry contest? I have no measured answer yet.
- Which part of the budget matters most for AI work: credits, sound, or editing hours?
- Frame Court as a fixed weekly episode: needs a first run to test.
Not claimed
No production has been funded from this plan yet. Retention is judged at the Final Cut draw tonight, not by price.