Storyboard Day Rate vs Project Fee — Which One to Ask For (2026)

Updated: May 2026 · Written by Seb Antoniou

TL;DR

Day rate explained

A day rate is the simplest pricing model in UK storyboarding. The producer books the artist for a number of days; the artist delivers what fits inside those days at a stated frame-output rate.

The UK standard, as documented by working artists like Jamie Rae, is 15–25 black-and-white frames per day with one complete round of amends included. That output assumes a working brief (script, shot list, or director’s call), reference material, and standard agency-hours communication. It drops to 6–12 frames per day for tonal or colour work, and to 8–15 frames per day for animatic deliverables that need timing and an MP4 export.

Day rates in 2026 cluster as follows (YunoJuno creative freelance benchmark, cross-referenced with practitioner rate cards):

• Junior: £200–£350/day
• Mid: £350–£550/day
• Senior commercial: £500–£900/day
• Top-tier (global brand): £700–£1,800/day

What the day rate normally includes: the artist’s time, standard software costs, one round of amends, and 30–60 minutes of kick-off briefing per day booked. What it normally excludes: pre-pro meeting attendance beyond the booked days, usage rights outside the original campaign, weekend or out-of-hours work, and second/third revision rounds.

Project fee explained

A project fee is a single fixed number quoted against a defined deliverable. The artist absorbs the risk of the work taking longer than estimated; the producer gets budget certainty.

In UK commercial storyboarding, project fees are quoted against a frame count, a finish level, a turnaround window, and a stated number of revision rounds. Fiverr’s 2026 cost guide and the Storyboard Artists Guide commentary on project pricing both note that project fees tend to be 5–15% higher than the day-rate-equivalent because the artist is pricing in scope risk.

Typical project-fee bands in 2026 for commercial work:

• Single 30s TVC storyboard, B&W, 15–25 frames, 1 round of amends: £1,500–£3,500
• 60s TVC, B&W, 25–40 frames, 1 round: £2,500–£6,500
• Music video, B&W, 40–80 frames: £2,500–£8,000
• Pitch visual deck, colour, 6–12 frames: £800–£3,500

What the project fee normally includes: all frames at the stated count, scene/shot numbering, one round of amends, delivery in producer-preferred format (JPEG, PDF, layered PSD). What it normally excludes: additional rounds (charged at a per-frame or half-day rate), rush turnaround (+40–50%), and usage outside the original brief.

When day rate beats project fee

Open-ended briefs. The script is in flux, the director hasn’t been booked, the agency is iterating the concept. Day rate is the only sane model — a project fee at this stage either over-quotes (and the producer overpays) or under-quotes (and the artist absorbs the iteration cost).

Multiple variants. A master TVC plus 6s, 15s and 60s cutdowns from the same shoot. Each variant might add 0.5–1 day; quoting four separate project fees is more friction than just booking five days.

Repeated work over a quarter or a season. Sports broadcasters running a season of trailers, brands running monthly social content, agencies pitching weekly. A booked day-per-week rhythm beats individually quoting each piece.

Pre-pro lead. When the boarder is expected to lead the pre-pro meeting, the meeting time itself is hard to bundle into a project quote. Day rate captures it cleanly.

Director collaboration. Shooting boards developed iteratively with a director are almost always day rate — the deliverable is unstable by design.

When project fee beats day rate

Locked deliverable. Frame count, finish level, turnaround and revision rounds all agreed before kick-off. Project fee removes ambiguity for both sides.

Tight budget. Producer has a fixed allocation and needs to commit to it. A project fee gives that commitment in writing.

Short, urgent turnaround. Counter-intuitive but consistent: when there’s no time to negotiate scope mid-job, a single fixed number is cleaner than tracking days.

Pitch visuals for an agency. Decks are bought as a finished asset, not as time. Quote them as a project.

Fixed-output deliverables. A 30s TVC at 18 frames, B&W, two days, one round of amends — that’s a project. Booking it as a day rate adds unnecessary admin.

Hybrid models

The two models aren’t binary. UK commercial work in 2026 increasingly uses hybrids that combine the predictability of project fees with the flexibility of day rates.

Day rate + per-frame add-on. Producer books N days at day rate; any additional frames beyond the day’s expected output are billed per frame (£25–£60/frame B&W at mid-tier rates). Useful when scope might creep within an otherwise locked brief.

Project fee + per-round revisions. Project fee covers scope and one round of amends. Each additional round is quoted as a half-day or a per-frame rework fee. The cleanest model for agency-side work where revision rounds are unpredictable.

Weekly retainer. For ongoing client relationships — broadcasters, in-house studios, agencies with a constant pipeline. Typical UK retainer math: 4 days/week × day rate × 4 weeks, billed monthly, with a stated minimum frame output and rollover of unused days. Discount of 5–15% on the day-rate-equivalent in exchange for the booking certainty.

Hourly within a capped day. Rare in UK commercial work but used for half-day briefs and quick turnarounds (single-frame revisions, single-scene reworks). Quoted at 1/6 to 1/8 of the day rate per hour, capped at the day rate.

What to put in the contract either way

The same contract terms protect both sides regardless of pricing model. UK industry guidance — AOI for the illustration craft, APA for advertising production, BECTU for the broader freelance workforce — converges on the following clauses:

1. Scope. Number of frames, finish level (B&W / tonal / colour), delivery format (PDF, JPEG, layered PSD, MP4 for animatics), and what the boards are for (TVC, music video, pitch deck, internal pre-vis).
2. Revisions. Number of rounds included. Definition of “a round” (typically: all amends collected in one document, returned in one delivery). Per-frame or per-round rate for additional rounds.
3. Turnaround. Number of working days from kick-off to first delivery; turnaround for revision rounds; rush thresholds (UK norm: anything inside 48hr triggers a +40–50% rush fee — see the rush-fee guide).
4. Usage. Default is work-for-hire to the commissioning party on payment. State explicitly if usage extends to repurposed content (sizzle reels, internal training, social cutdowns from animatics).
5. IP and ownership. Default UK position: copyright transfers on payment. Artist retains the right to show the work in portfolio after the campaign launch unless explicitly NDA’d.
6. Payment terms. 30-day net is the UK commercial norm. Higher-risk briefs (new client, large project, freelance-to-agency direct) often take 50% upfront and 50% on delivery.
7. Kill fee. What’s owed if the project is cancelled mid-board. UK convention is 50% if cancelled after work has started, 100% if cancelled inside 48 hours of delivery — borrowed from AOP commissioning guidance.

How my rates compare

For context, I sit in the senior commercial-to-top-tier band of the day-rate table above, and quote project fees inside the equivalent £1,500–£3,500 bracket for typical 30-second TVCs. Pricing model depends on the brief — open scope gets day rate, locked deliverable gets a project number. Get a project quote: /contact.

What to ask before signing a quote

1. Which model is the artist defaulting to, and why? A good answer references the scope clarity of the brief, not just personal preference.
2. What’s the per-frame implied rate at this price? Useful sanity check — divide the project fee by the frame count, or divide the day rate by the day’s expected output.
3. What counts as “a round” of amends? Get it defined in writing.
4. What’s the per-frame or per-round rate for additional work? Avoid the awkward mid-project renegotiation.
5. Is pre-pro meeting time included? If yes, how many hours. If no, how is it charged.
6. What’s the rush threshold and rush uplift? UK norm is 48hr / +40–50%.
7. What’s the kill fee? UK convention is 50% if cancelled after work has started.

Sources

1. YunoJuno — Storyboard Artist Freelance Rates — UK day-rate benchmark, accessed May 2026
2. YunoJuno — Creative Freelance Rates Report (2026) — 2026 average £397/day, top 10% £712/day
3. Jamie Rae — How storyboard artists should charge — UK day-rate output benchmark and one-round-amend norm
4. Storyboard Artists Guide — How to Negotiate a Project Rate — Project-rate vs day-rate trade-offs
5. Fiverr — Hire a Storyboard Artist: Costs Explained for 2026 — Fixed-price commercial project ranges
6. Association of Illustrators (AOI) — UK illustration pricing and usage-rights guidance
7. Advertising Producers Association (APA) — UK commercial production trade body
8. BECTU — Rate Cards — UK union rate-card framework, 2025–2026

About the author

Seb Antoniou is a London-based storyboard artist with 10+ years across Premier League, Bentley, Coca-Cola, Nike and BBC Sport campaigns. Get in touch: /contact.

Related

• Storyboard Artist Rates UK — full 2026 guide
• Premier League 30-year anniversary — case study
• Seb’s rates page

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