Pre-Award Production Intelligence

From creative brief to client-ready bid in hours, not days.

BidFrame parses the brief and builds a bid you can defend.

  • Parses briefs from PDF, Word, PowerPoint, or pasted text
  • Tags every rate with its source
  • Automated risk review runs on every draft and grades flags by severity: critical, recommended, info
  • Flags budget gaps against the client's budget with cost-reduction options
  • Exports to AICP HTML, AICP XLSX, Client HTML, CSV, Excel, or a 1-page client bid letter
Book a Demo See Sample Bid
Brief Parsing
Format detectedPDF / 12 pages
Deliverables3 × :30 spots
Schedule2 prep / 3 shoot / 1 wrap
Locations1 studio + 1 practical, NYC
UsageBroadcast + Digital / 1 yr
Budget range$350K – $500K
Bid Builder: AICP Sections
A. Pre-production & wrap$48,200
B. Shooting crew$86,450
D. Location expenses$31,700
E. Props, wardrobe, animals$12,300
I. Equipment rental$18,600
L. Director's fees$22,000
M. Talent$42,800
T. Finishing$41,500
X. VFX & animation$14,800
9 of 23 sections in use · spans A–X
82
Confidence
3
Risk Flags
67
Line Items
Risk Review
2 recommended · 1 info
Contingency at 6%, below 10% threshold REC
Music sync license without master use rights REC
4 deliverables, no versioning budget INFO
Export Status
AICP HTML Client HTML CSV XLSX AICP XLSX Bid Letter
40+
Risk Checks
15-Factor
Confidence Score
130+
Rate-Sourced Roles
A–X
AICP Sections
Up to 120
Drafted Line Items
13
State Tax Incentives

Production bidding is still trapped in spreadsheets, PDFs, and gut feel.

The Old Workflow
Open Excel or legacy budgeting software and stare at a blank template
Guess if rates are market-accurate
Forget contingency, music gaps, or versioning costs
Argue scope changes from memory
Send a static PDF and hope nothing's missing
With BidFrame
First-pass bid drafted in minutes
Every rate tagged with its source
Risk audit catches the expensive misses
Every scope change tracked vs. approved baseline
Export in AICP, CSV, Excel, or client-ready HTML

Every producer has drafted a bid on a Sunday night. BidFrame is built to give that time back. The producer still reviews every number. Still owns every assumption. Just faster.

Process

How it works

01
Upload the Brief
Parse any brief format into structured production data. PDF, Word, deck, or pasted text.
02
Verify the Scope
Review what BidFrame extracted. Deliverables, talent, locations, timeline, usage, assumptions. All editable before the bid drafts.
03
Generate the Bid
A complete first-pass bid drafts in minutes. Every rate sourced. Every line item editable.
04
Review & Export
Check the confidence score, work through the risk audit, and export in whatever format your client expects.

What it catches

The misses that cost real money.

Every bid you send is the one you can't unsend. BidFrame flags the omissions that blow budgets before the client sees them, and models the financial exposure most tools leave you to discover at wrap.

No contingency on long days
14-hour shoot day, 30-person crew, no OT buffer budgeted. $10K-$50K over on a single day. The risk audit flags it before export.[IATSE-AICP CPA 2025]
Missing P&H on talent
SAG session fees alone don't cover compensation. P&H at 23.5% applies to every dollar. On $150K of talent, that's $35K missing. BidFrame catches it before the bid ships.[SAG-AFTRA 2025 Commercials Contract]
Versioning underbudgeted
10+ deliverables in multiple aspect ratios without reformat editor days. Post margin commonly bleeds $30K-$60K per bid. The deliverables matrix forces the math at bid time.[Industry observation]
Music licensing gaps
Sync license without master use rights means the final deliverable is unusable. Stock music $2-5K, known artist $10K-$250K+. Flagged at the music line, before delivery.[Music Supervision Industry Norms]
Cash flow exposure
Production companies front payroll, vendors, and deposits weeks before the agency's net-60 check clears. BidFrame models peak cash exposure at bid time. A $2M bid with net-60 and no advance can require $400K-$700K of working capital. Know before you sign.[BidFrame Cash Flow Model]
Tax credit left on the table
Shooting in Georgia, New Mexico, Louisiana, or 10 other incentive states. BidFrame flags eligibility with specific credit percentages and payout timelines so the savings don't slip through.[State Film Commissions]

Risk Review

Know what is missing before the client sees it.

Every bid runs through 40+ checks before it leaves your hands. Contingency, music rights, crew completeness, travel, insurance, post budget, all audited against industry norms. Unresolved critical flags hold the export until the producer resolves or overrides them.

Risk Audit: 3 Unresolved of 40+
1 critical / 2 recommended / 4 passed
Contingency at 5%: below 10% threshold CRITICAL
Music license incomplete: sync only, no master use RECOMMENDED
Versioning budget thin: 4 deliverables, 1 editor day Inferred RECOMMENDED
Usage terms present
Travel and per diem covered
Insurance line included
GA tax incentive: 20-30% credit eligible
Export Gate
StatusBLOCKED
Reason1 critical flag unresolved
Confidence68 / 100 · 13 of 15 factors
ActionResolve or producer override

Transparency

You own every number

Editable Assumptions
Every generated field is visible and editable. The producer owns every number.
Live Totals
Section subtotals, markups, contingency, and grand totals update as you edit. No broken formula chains.
Scenario Restore
Roll back to any saved version. Compare any two scenarios. Restore an approved baseline at any time.
Export Gates
Unresolved risk flags and low confidence scores surface before export. Ship when the bid is ready.
Audit Trail
Track who changed what, when, and why. Full edit history for internal review and client accountability.
Scope Drift Tracking
When the agency adds rounds, cuts, or shoot days mid-project, every change is tracked against the approved baseline. No more arguing from memory.

Rate Provenance

Every rate has a source. No more "trust me."

When someone asks where a number came from, you have a specific answer. Every line item shows where its rate came from: parsed from the brief, pulled from a published union scale, matched to your company's rate card, or sourced from a verified market baseline. Hover any value to see exactly where it came from and when it was last verified.

Rate Sources: Example Bid
As of 2026-05-06
Director, daily $1,850 DGA 2025-2026
1st AD, daily $1,280 DGA 2025-2026
DP NYC (Local 600 NEC), daily $1,900 IATSE-AICP 2025-28
1st AC NYC (Local 600 NEC), daily $1,060 IATSE-AICP 2025-28
Principal talent, session $855 SAG-AFTRA 2025
SAG P&H, % of session 23.5% SAG-AFTRA 2025
Editor, daily $1,200 Rate Card v2
Per diem M&IE, NYC $95 GSA FY2026
Craft service NYC, daily $500 Internal estimate
9 line items shown · 6 source documents cited
Hover any rate to see the dated contract clause or PDF page.

Bid Letter

A 1-page bid letter, not a 30-page spreadsheet.

When the agency wants the AICP bid form they get the AICP bid form. When the client decision-maker wants context they get a 1-page cover letter with letterhead, a budget summary, the assumptions behind the bid, an explicit "Not included" list, payment terms, and cancellation language. Template scaffold for structure, generated prose for the cover paragraph and the "Not included" bullets. The producer reviews and edits before it ships.

YOUR PRODUCTION CO.
May 6, 2026
To: Client decision-maker
Brand: Nike
Re: Nike Air Max launch spot
Thank you for considering Your Production Co. for Nike Air Max launch spot. Please find our preliminary bid summary below for your review.
Budget Summary
Shooting crew$145,000
Pre-production & wrap$85,000
Post-production$75,000
Location & travel$55,000
Markup, fee, contingency$127,500
GRAND TOTAL$487,500
Not Included
· Raw footage and source files
· Talent usage beyond broadcast + digital, 1 yr US
· Revisions beyond agreed rounds
Net 30 · 50% deposit on execution · Valid through June 5, 2026

Stop rebuilding bids from scratch.

Built for production teams that need faster bid turnaround, fewer pricing misses, and cleaner client delivery.

Start 14-day trial Book a Demo

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Is BidFrame replacing the producer?
No. It accelerates the producer by drafting, calculating, and surfacing risk while keeping every assumption editable. The producer reviews and approves every number before it leaves the platform.
Can I edit every line item?
Yes. Every parsed field and generated line item is editable before export. Override rates, quantities, descriptions, and section assignments at any time.
Is it only for commercials?
Commercials are the primary use case, but BidFrame also supports digital and social campaigns, branded content, music videos, documentaries, short films, and corporate video production.
Does it support union and non-union work?
Yes. BidFrame handles non-union, union, and mixed productions. Union shoots get built-in SAG-AFTRA, DGA, and IATSE rate logic automatically.
Can it export client-ready bids?
Yes. Export in AICP-format HTML, AICP multi-sheet XLSX, client-facing HTML, CSV, and internal XLSX. Bids are formatted and structured for immediate client delivery or import into your production management tools.
Does BidFrame replace my production management tool?
No. BidFrame is pre-award intelligence: it gets you from brief to defensible bid faster. Your production management, timesheets, actuals tracking, and invoicing tools stay in place. BidFrame's exports (AICP XLSX, CSV) are designed to feed into whatever system you use downstream. Think of BidFrame as the front door to your production workflow.