Introducing: Open Bid Projects

“Open Bid” is a new type of project on Tongal, and you may have seen quite a few of them by now. While they will not replace the fixed budget projects, they do present new and interesting opportunities for you on Tongal. You’ll gain valuable experience with the more traditional competitive bidding process used amongst the top creative agencies.

Rather than being limited by a Tongal-dictated budget, Open Bid projects allow you to determine the scope and scale of your Pitch based on the project Brief. This gives you room to make some important creative decisions up front. You can aim high with a larger budget for a big production  or think of creative ways to execute your production at a lower cost. Both have benefits and drawbacks, so be thoughtful in the way you craft your pitches. 

When Pitching on Open Bid projects, you’ll be asked to submit a budget as well as a full breakdown. It’s important for the client to be able to understand the correlation between your budget proposal and what the final video will look like. For example, if the main aspect of your pitch involves heavy computer graphics, make sure that is conveyed in your budget. That way, if the client is unsure about the cost, we can clearly illustrate what would be sacrificed “on screen” in the final version of the video. A clear budget proposal will help you get the $$ you need to execute your pitch to it’s fullest potential.   

The goal of your bid should be to maximize your budget, while meeting the Sponsor’s creative needs. We want to stress that the creative still comes first above all. Here are a few things to keep in mind when determining your budgets:

• Be competitive… but don’t forget about you! Your budget should include production costs and your producer/director fee.
• There are no “additional awards” on Open Bid projects; will we be awarding prizing based on mutually agreed-upon budgets. Your presented budget should cover the entire scope of work. That being said, if the scope of the project changes over time, budgets can be re-evaluated. 
• Some Open Bid projects consist of multiple deliverables or episodes. That means more filmmakers have an opportunity to participate or you can make a good payday producing all of the episodes/deliverables.
• Be sure to look out for a budget range in the Project Brief, whether it be overall or per deliverable/video. Try not to undercut or exceed this range without very good reason. 
• Payments will typically be issued like they are on fixed budget projects: about half up-front and half upon delivery. 
• Be sure to use our budget template when pitching on Open Bid projects so brands can easily compare different bids! 

If you find you have more questions on Open Bid projects feel free to comment below or reach out to us at info@tongal.com.