Dear Producers: You Can't Afford Not to Hire an Assistant Director
You already know that every minute on set is precious. You’ve felt the pressure when the day begins, when lunch hasn’t shown, when a shot’s going long, or when an actor is late or weather is shifting. What too many producers don’t pause to realize is this: not having a competent Assistant Director (AD)—especially a 1st AD—isn’t a cost you save. It’s a cost you risk paying in budget overrun, creative compromise, and even liability.
Here’s why hiring a professional AD should be a standard line item, not a negotiable cut.
1. From Board to Shoot: Translating Vision into Logistics
A terrific commercial or film starts with a great concept, storyboards, or shot list. But to shoot it, you need to break it down into realistic elements: scheduling, location logistics, equipment, transit, prep time, overlapping departments, and crew availability.
A solid 1st AD translates that “vision document” into a shooting schedule, estimating how many setups per hour, how much time for lighting, blocking, and safety. They build the day so that you can actually get through your storyboard—rather than discovering mid-morning that your plan was overly optimistic.
When that translation fails, what looks good on paper becomes chaos on set—and sudden compromises.
2. Guardrail for Time & Budget
Look: time is your biggest money leak. When sets stall, lane changes get jammed, gear arrives late, or you wait for clarifications, the clock ticks—and overages mount.
A dedicated AD controls that flow. They sequence setups, manage prep vs. shoot time, flag conflicts before they happen, and reinforce turnover discipline. The honest 1st AD is the one pushing you to say “no” to over-ambitious schedules that invite disaster.
On commercial shoots governed by union or commercial agreements (DGA, AICP), penalties for overruns, crew meal penalties, and turnaround violations can be steep. A vetted AD working within those frameworks can often keep your production inside the lines where non-union or naïvely assembled crews can’t.
3. Safety, Compliance & Insurance
Beyond logistics, an AD is your frontline in safety. They conduct safety briefings, communicate hazard bulletins, interface with union or guild safety protocols (for example, in DGA’s Safety Pass programs), and monitor tricky elements (stunts, weapons, VFX, drones).
Without this layer in place, you expose your production to risks: accidents, liability, insurance claims, or shut-downs. A seasoned AD helps mitigate those exposures proactively.
4. Protecting the Creative Core
Your director (or directors) should care about shot composition, performance, pacing, visual storytelling—not every phone call, logistics conflict, or rotating department query.
A top 1st AD is the set operator—managing background, coordinating hair/makeup/wardrobe moves, communicating with grip/electric, and sequencing support so the creative flow stays intact (rather than the director getting dragged into “where is grip,” “when is lunch,” or “did we move the props?”.
That protection means more of your board gets into camera, more creative risk gets actualized, and you reduce the back-and-forth in the edit suite over cutting out wasted setups.
5. Communication & Flow: The AD as Hub
When there is one voice on comms, confusion dissolves faster. The AD is the central router: they carry the director’s decisions to departments, anticipate conflicts, moderate timing overlap, and keep things rolling.
In the chaos of a shoot, that kind of clarity matters more than you think: delays waiting on someone’s confirmation, bumped start times, overlapping demands, or trampling other departments’ plans can spiral if not actively managed.
6. Agency & Client Peace of Mind (Especially for Commercials)
When you're making commercials for agencies or clients, expectations run higher: tight delivery, cost control, disciplined days, professional call sheets, and accountable teams. Clients don’t want a shoot that spins out at midday.
Hiring a qualified AD—particularly one who’s recognized on DGA/AICP commercial qualification lists—signals discipline, professionalism, and foreseeability. It reduces anxiety on the client side and gives you credibility
7. ROI: Why It’s Worth It (And Why You’ll See the Numbers)
Reduced overtime / meal penalties. A smart AD keeps your day lean so you don’t bleed money in hidden categories.
Fewer schedule overruns. With a well-planned, rigid turnaround discipline, you stay inside your delivery window.
Higher yield per day. More setups, less downtime—even in challenging locations or weather conditions.
Risk mitigation. You buffer for safety, permit delays, crew constraints—less exposure to loss.
Creative integrity. You capture more of the story you intended instead of cutting shots because time got away.
Client confidence + repeat business. When your shoots run tight and your invoices don’t surprise, that’s credibility.
Final Word
If you're budgeting a shoot and you skip the AD—or treat them as a negotiable “extra resource”—you’re betting that nothing will go wrong: that weather, permits, crew behavior, delays, technical glitches, and on-set chaos will all cooperate. That’s not producing — that’s gambling.
You can’t afford not to hire a solid Assistant Director. They’re not a cost center—they’re your control center.