Managing production budgets

Don't let an anchor lie to you

Early in a project, I put forward an initial budget to a client's CEO. The spreadsheet broke costs into separate line items: technical and staging on one line, crewing on another, transport on another. Reasonable, on paper.

The problem was the CEO anchored on the technical and staging figure alone, without registering it as one piece of a bigger number. Later, when the production quote changed, I consolidated the supplier costs onto a single line so the full picture was clearer. The total had actually come down. But because it now sat against that first, narrower figure, it looked like the cost had gone up significantly.

That single anchor caused more friction than the actual number ever did. I sent a clear summary of every change and the reasoning behind it, but once an anchor is set, explaining it away is harder than getting the structure right from the start.

The lesson: don't let a single early figure sit unchallenged in someone's head. Show the full cost, consistently, from the first version of the budget.

Contingency is a feeling as much as a formula

I don't work off a fixed contingency percentage, and I'd be wary of anyone who claims they always do. It's a round number relative to the total budget: enough that an unexpected cost doesn't rattle anyone, without inflating the number so much it looks padded. How much depends on the risk level of the event. A straightforward brand activation needs less room than a live production with more moving parts and a hard deadline.

What matters more than the number is having contingency at all, and being honest about what it's for.

What to actually say when something changes

When a cost moves, I keep the update to four things: what changed, why it changed, what it means commercially, and what it means for the event or the guest experience. Sent as a clear email, or walked through face to face with a printed summary everyone can see at once. People can handle a number moving. What they can't handle is feeling like it moved without an explanation.

Underneath all of it, keep a live tracker of supplier invoices and payments. Not a memory of who's been paid. A tracker.

Know where not to cut

Events run on people: long hours and real craft. I won't negotiate down on labour unless I genuinely think there are more people on a job than the work needs. If the headcount is right, that cost is not the place to save money.

Be deliberate about where you do look for savings instead. Quality production is worth what it costs, and clients are better served trusting the people who do this for a living than second-guessing every line.