How A Commercial Gets Made

A commercial gets made because a corporation or business wants to advertise a product or service. In the world of commercials, this corporation or business is known as the client. And because the client is paying the bills, the client had the final word about what goes into a commercial, how it looks, and who performs in it.

Here's the typical process that a company or organization goes through to get a commercial on the air.

1.    The company contacts an advertising agency which helps the client decide what they want their commercial to promote.

2.    The advertising agency comes up with several possible ideas for the client to choose from.

3.    After the client chooses one of the ideas proposed by the advertising agency, the advertising agency hires a production company to produce the commercial.

4.    This production company hires a casting director, who, in turn, contacts different agents to search for actors to play specific roles.

5.    During a commercial audition, a representative from the advertising agency and the client may be present to choose the actors they want to callback and ultimately hire for the role.

6.    After the client and the advertising agency agree on the actors to hire, the production company begins filming the commercial, which can take a day or more to complete.

7.    When the commercial is done filming, the client and advertising agency representatives may be in the editing room along with the director to decide which scenes to keep and which to throw out.

8.    When the commercial is completed, the client takes one last look at the finished product and often releases the commercial to test audiences to gauge their reaction.

At any time, the client can decide to kill the commercial. Even after a commercial has been finished, the client may decide never to air the commercial for various reasons. As an actor, you still get paid whether or not the commercial ever airs, but if it doesn't air, you'll miss out on a potential source of income known as residuals (or royalties), which is an additional payment each time the commercial appears on television.