LIVEPRE-PRODUCTION // SAN FRANCISCO
Pre-Production Services in San Francisco
Argus HD handles the pre-production work that decides whether your San Francisco event, broadcast, or film shoot actually lands. Site surveys, run of show, technical design, permits, crew, and budget, all locked before anyone touches a camera.
- Scripts, storyboards and shot lists
- Permits, locations and casting
- Live production since 2008
- Budgets locked before the shoot
TRUSTED BY
Leading brands trust us for pre-production planning, scripts and permits
LOCAL SF ADVANTAGE
Built for San Francisco Production Realities
San Francisco punishes teams that plan from a spreadsheet. Load-in windows at Moscone are measured in hours, Fort Mason has its own power story, hotel ballrooms hide their rigging points, and fog rolls through a Presidio exterior at eleven in the morning. Pre-production is where those problems get solved cheaply.
We have been surveying Bay Area venues, pulling permits, and writing run of show documents since 2008. That local memory means your plan reflects the room you are actually walking into, not a generic template, and your production day starts with a crew that already knows the building.
Our crew already knows Moscone Center, Fort Mason, Yerba Buena, the Presidio and Pier 27, so load-in windows, power and permits are planned before your shoot day.
- Creative brief and scripting
- Storyboards and shot lists
- Locations, permits and casting
- Schedules and line-item budgets
LOCKED BEFORE SHOOT DAY // EVERY PROJECT
- Site surveys
- Run of show
- Technical design
- Crew and kit booked
PRODUCTION OFFICE // SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO
432 North Canal St, Suite #12
South San Francisco, CA 94080
Get directions →
12K
Cinema
4K
Broadcast
16
Stops
15K
Lumens
K2
PA System
2X
Stream Paths
7+
Platforms
3X
Cam Podcasts
50+
Crew
8+
Core Team
1/2
Day Setup
24H
Turnaround
PRE-PRODUCTION // WHAT WE PREP
Creative briefScriptsStoryboardsShot listsLocation scoutsPermits and COIs
Argus HD at a glance: pre-production in San Francisco
FOUNDED
2014 by Tim Kay
STUDIO
South San Francisco, CA
GOOGLE RATING
5.0 ★ on Google
LIVE SINCE
2008, YouTube’s first live event
CLIENTS
Google, Salesforce, Microsoft, OpenAI
AREAS SERVED
San Francisco, Bay Area
PLANNING SUITE
Pre Production Services in San Francisco
Hire the full planning package or just the piece you are missing. Either way you get senior producers who stay accountable for the plan on showday.
Site Surveys and Venue Recces
We walk the venue, measure the room, photograph rigging points, test power and network, and flag every constraint before it becomes a change order.
Run of Show and Scripting
Minute-by-minute show flow, cue sheets, speaker scripts, teleprompter copy, and graphics lists your presenters, stage manager, and control room all work from.
Technical Design and Signal Flow
Camera plots, audio plans, switching and encoding architecture, redundancy paths, and bandwidth requirements documented so nothing gets improvised on the day.
Storyboards and Shot Lists
For filmed work we deliver concepts, scripts, mood boards, shot-for-shot boards, and interview question sets, so the edit is half assembled before you roll.
Permits, Insurance, and Compliance
Filming permits with the San Francisco Film Commission, Presidio Trust, and Rec and Park, plus certificates of insurance and venue vendor paperwork.
Crew, Casting, and Vendor Booking
Named crew assignments, casting and talent contracts, staging, power, rigging, and rental vendors booked and confirmed against your budget and schedule.
WHY CHOOSE ARGUS HD
Pre Production That Removes Risk From Showday
Planners Who Have Run the Show
Your plan is written by the people who will be in your control room. Founder Tim Kay was on crew for YouTube’s first live event in 2008, and that operator’s instinct is what turns a tidy plan into one that survives contact with a live audience.
Real Site Surveys, Not Assumptions
We do not plan a San Francisco production off a floor plan PDF. We walk the room, meet the venue engineer, and pressure-test power, rigging, and internet ourselves, because the expensive surprises are always the ones nobody checked.
One Owner From Brief to Showday
A single senior producer owns your plan from the first call through delivery. In-house crew, no handoff to a freelancer who never read the brief, and fixed pricing agreed in pre-production so the budget you approve is the budget you pay.
OUR SF FOOTPRINT
Pre Production Coverage Across the Bay Area
Our base is South San Francisco, ten minutes from SFO and inside the city’s event corridor. We survey, permit, and prep productions at Moscone Center, Fort Mason, Yerba Buena, the Presidio, Pier 27, downtown hotel ballrooms, and corporate campuses across the Peninsula.
- Downtown & FiDi
- SoMa & Moscone
- Mission Bay & Chase Center
- Fort Mason & The Presidio
- South San Francisco & SFO
- Peninsula & Silicon Valley
Studio and On Location Planning
When your production needs a controlled environment, pre-production includes our South San Francisco green screen studio: lighting plots, backdrop and set design, talent scheduling, and a technical rehearsal booked before your shoot date. When it has to happen in your building or at a public San Francisco location, we scout it, photograph it, sun-map it, and build a contingency into the schedule.
We also handle the unglamorous half: certificates of insurance for venue and building management, union and labor calls where required, load-in and dock scheduling, parking and street permits, and the vendor paperwork most teams discover two days too late.
- Lighting plots
- Set and backdrop design
- Talent scheduling
- Location scouting
- Permits and COIs
- Load-in and dock calls
Pricing
How Much Does Pre-Production Cost in San Francisco?
Every pre-production quote is built around your dates, the crew and gear the project needs and what you need delivered. Send your details and we come back with a fixed, line-item quote after a 15-minute call, so you see every cost before you book.
Pre-Production in San Francisco
Argus HD handles the pre-production work that decides whether your San Francisco event, broadcast, or film shoot actually lands. Site surveys, run of show, technical design, permits, crew, and budget, all locked before anyone touches a camera.
OUR PROCESS
How We Run Pre Production in 6 Steps
A structured six-step process that front-loads the decisions, so your production day is execution rather than problem solving.
Discovery and Brief
We start with the outcome: audience, message, venue, date, and what success looks like. You leave the first call with a scope, a rough budget range, and a decision on approach.
Site Survey and Scouting
A producer and a technical lead walk the venue or location. Power, rigging, sightlines, audio conditions, internet, load-in access, and backup options all get measured and photographed.
Run of Show and Script
We build the minute-by-minute run of show, speaker scripts, cue sheets, and graphics list, then circulate it so every stakeholder is planning from one document.
Technical Design and Budget
Camera plots, audio and lighting plans, streaming architecture, and redundancy paths are documented and priced. You approve a fixed quote before anything gets booked.
Crew, Vendors, and Permits
Named crew is assigned, vendors and rentals are confirmed, permits and insurance are filed, and talent or presenters are scheduled against the locked run of show.
Rehearsal and Handoff
We rehearse the show end to end. If something is going to go wrong, we find it here rather than on air, and your crew arrives on production day already briefed.
FEATURED WORK
Pre Production Case Studies from Bay Area Brands
A snapshot of San Francisco productions we surveyed, scoped, and staged before a single camera was switched on.
San Francisco Case Study
PagerDuty: High-Stakes Event Video Staging
Full pre-production for a multi-day event: venue survey, staging and camera plot, keynote run of show, rehearsal schedule, and a redundancy plan for every live segment on the main stage.
Product Launch Campaign
Skydio: Live Demos & Brand Launch Broadcast
Location scouting and flight-safety coordination for live autonomous drone demonstrations, plus shot lists, broadcast signal design, and a launch-day run of show built around unrepeatable live moments.
Internal Communications
Opendoor: Recurring Executive Broadcasts
A repeatable pre-production template — standing run of show, fixed studio setup, and a two-day prep cycle — so recurring executive broadcasts ship on schedule without being re-planned each time.
NOW BOOKING
Planning pre-production in San Francisco? Let us help.
Share your goals, date and location. Get a fixed, line-item quote after a 15-minute call with our producers.
- Scripts, storyboards and shot lists
- Locations, permits and casting
- Schedules and line-item budgets
- Crew and equipment planning
HOW BOOKING WORKS
01
Share your date and venue
Tell us the event, audience and goal in two minutes.
02
15-minute scoping call
Talk directly with a producer, not a sales rep.
03
Fixed, line-item quote
A written scope and price before anything is booked.
Client reviews
What Producers Say About Our Planning
Teams rebook our pre-production because scripts, schedules and permits are locked early, so shoot day runs to plan.
Thank you all for your hard work. We couldn’t have asked for a better A/V experience. Your team was amazing to work with.
RTRay T.
Google
Everything is looking great… Everyone here (right up to the CEO) is very pleased at the look of the video.
CSCharles Spier
Meetings & Events International
We just watched the finished video and it blew us all away! Looking forward to working with you and your crew again real soon.
MBMike B.
D&J Tile
It was a pleasure working with you. I really appreciate your patience with our system and also for tuning in on what we wanted the video to look like. You (Argus) nailed it!
SSilvina
U.S. Tennis Association, NorCal
Thank you all for your hard work. We couldn’t have asked for a better A/V experience. Your team was amazing to work with.
RTRay T.
Google
Everything is looking great… Everyone here (right up to the CEO) is very pleased at the look of the video.
CSCharles Spier
Meetings & Events International
We just watched the finished video and it blew us all away! Looking forward to working with you and your crew again real soon.
MBMike B.
D&J Tile
It was a pleasure working with you. I really appreciate your patience with our system and also for tuning in on what we wanted the video to look like. You (Argus) nailed it!
SSilvina
U.S. Tennis Association, NorCal
Trusted on productions for Google, Salesforce, Microsoft, OpenAI and the Golden State Warriors
Behind the scenes
Our Production Crew on Shoot Day
This is where planning pays off: scouted locations, booked crews and locked schedules turned into smooth shoot days. The team that plans your shoot is the team that runs it.
FAQ
Pre-Production Questions, Answered
Can I hire Argus HD for pre production only?
Yes. Plenty of clients bring us in for planning alone — site survey, run of show, technical design, permits, and budget — then execute with their own crew or agency. You own the documents either way, and we hand them over cleanly.
How much do pre production services in San Francisco cost?
It depends on scope: a single-day event plan is a very different piece of work from a multi-camera broadcast or a four-location film shoot. We quote a fixed fee after the discovery call, and if the plan becomes a full production with us, that fee is credited toward the production.
How far in advance should pre production start?
Four to six weeks is comfortable for a standard corporate event or shoot. Complex builds, permitted exterior locations, or multi-day conferences want eight to twelve. We have turned productions around in under a week, but the plan gets thinner and the contingency gets thicker.
Do you handle San Francisco filming permits and insurance?
Yes. We file with the San Francisco Film Commission, Presidio Trust, Rec and Park, or the Port depending on your location, and issue certificates of insurance for venues and building management. It is part of the standard scope, not an add-on.
Now booking
Ready to Plan Your Pre-Production?
Share your goal, date and location and our producers will build a clear plan and quote for your San Francisco project.