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Tools / Video Script Template

Free Video Script Template
(Two-Column AV Format)

Write a video script in the two-column AV format agencies and brand teams use for commercials, explainers, and social. Audio on one side, visuals on the other, and the runtime counted as you type. Free, no signup, and it exports a clean PDF. When the script needs client sign-off, save it to Boords.See a worked example of the AV format
Write & export your script below.
Video Script Editor
Total RT:
0:00
Words:
0
130 WPM
Scene 1
0 words
0:00 RT
Scene 2
0 words
0:00 RT
Scene 3
0 words
0:00 RT
Scene 4
0 words
0:00 RT
Scene 5
0 words
0:00 RT
Scene 6
0 words
0:00 RT
How to use this template

Three steps from blank page to a script you can send

01

Pick a template, or start blank.

Commercial, explainer, corporate, YouTube, documentary, or short-form. Each one opens with the beats already laid out as prompts in the two-column AV grid. Replace them with your script.

02

Write the audio, then the visuals.

One scene per row. Voiceover and dialogue on the audio side, exactly as they will be recorded. What the viewer sees on the visual side. The runtime counts up as you type at your chosen reading speed.

03

Export the PDF, or save it to Boords.

Download a typeset PDF for the client, or save the script to Boords to collect comments on the line, keep a version per round, and turn the approved script into a storyboard. No signup until then.

The two-column AV format

What a two-column AV script looks like: a 30-second commercial

AV stands for audio visual. The format is a table: one row per scene, the sound on one side, the picture on the other, and a running time under it. It is how commercials, explainers, and brand films are written because a producer, a client, a voice artist, and an editor can all work from the same page. Below is a complete :30 spot in the format, then the conventions that make it work. Check the read time of any script with the script timer.
Example: 30-second commercial, two-column AV

Northwind Coffee, "Same Kettle" (:30)

Total RT:
0:30
Words:
66
130 WPM
  1. Scene 1Hook7 words, 0:03 RT
    Audio / Voiceover

    Six forty. The kettle is on. Again.

    Visual

    Dark kitchen, blue dawn light. Close on a kettle switch clicking on. Steam starts to rise.

  2. Scene 2Problem11 words, 0:05 RT
    Audio / Voiceover

    You have had the same coffee every morning for three years.

    Visual

    Same kitchen, three quick cuts across the seasons. Same mug, same jar, same tired hand reaching for it.

  3. Scene 3Product18 words, 0:08 RT
    Audio / Voiceover

    Northwind sends a new single-origin roast every two weeks, ground for your machine, roasted the day it ships.

    Visual

    A Northwind box lands on the counter. Hands tear the seal. The bag label reads ROASTED YESTERDAY. Grounds pour into a filter.

  4. Scene 4Proof13 words, 0:06 RT
    Audio / Voiceover

    Forty thousand kitchens. Four point eight stars. No mornings that taste like Tuesday.

    Visual

    Fast montage of kitchens across the country in morning light, people mid first sip. Review stars animate over the last shot.

  5. Scene 5Payoff8 words, 0:04 RT
    Audio / Voiceover

    Same kettle. Same mug. Nothing else the same.

    Visual

    Back to the first kitchen. Same mug, but the person pauses, looks at the cup, and smiles.

  6. Scene 6Call to action9 words, 0:04 RT
    Audio / Voiceover

    Northwind Coffee. First bag free at northwind dot coffee.

    Visual

    Product on white. Logo, URL, and offer lock up. Steam curls off the mug.

Writing an ad? Start from the commercial script template.

One row per scene

Each row is a moment the viewer sees and hears together. It becomes one storyboard frame and, usually, one shot on the day.

Audio column: word for word

Voiceover and dialogue exactly as they will be recorded, plus music and sound cues in brackets. This is the column the runtime is counted from.

Visual column: literal

What the camera sees, what text is on screen, how it cuts. Written for the director and the editor, so leave the adjectives out.

Time: a budget, not a report

Words in the audio column divided by reading speed. Here it is 130 words per minute. If a row runs long, cut words before you cut pictures.

In Boords Scripts

When the script needs sign-off, save it to Boords

The template on this page is for writing. Approval is where the week goes. Save the script to Boords and it becomes a document your client can comment on line by line through one link, with no login. Each round is a version, the approval is recorded against it, and the approved script turns into storyboard frames in one click, so the board is built from the words that were signed off. More about Scripts and client review in Boords.
app.boords.com
The process

Three things to settle before the script is sent

The order matters more than the prose. Agree the runtime, the audience, and the beats first, then write the words, then the pictures, then cut to time. The full method, with a worked example, is in our guide to how to write a video script.
  1. 1

    Agree the runtime, the audience, and the one action

    A 15 for paid social, a 30 for TV, a 90 for the website. Who is watching, and what should be different when it ends. Write all three at the top of the script so nobody has to guess, and outline the beats as single lines before anyone writes a sentence.

  2. 2

    Write the audio column first, then the visuals against it

    Voiceover and dialogue as they will be spoken, one idea per row. Then, for each row, what the viewer sees while those words play. Be literal: shot, action, on-screen text.

  3. 3

    Cut to time, then send it for sign-off

    The template counts the audio words at 130 words per minute. If the 30 reads as a 38, cut words before pictures. Then export the PDF or save the script to Boords so the client can comment on the line and approve a version. The script timer does the same sum for a script you were sent.

Read the full guide: how to write a video script in eight steps
Templates by type

Video script templates for the work you actually make

Every template opens in the same two-column AV editor with a starting structure for the format. Pick the closest one, replace the prompts with your script, and the timing follows.

Commercial script template

15, 30, or 60 seconds

Hook, problem, product, proof, payoff, call to action. The two-column AV structure for TV and digital ads, with the runtime counted as you write so the 30 stays a 30.

Explainer video script template

60 to 120 seconds

Problem, how it works, benefit, next step. Built for product and service explainers where every visual has to earn its place against the voiceover.

Corporate video script template

2 to 5 minutes

Introduction, mission, what you do, proof, close. For company overviews, internal comms, and training videos that need approval from more than one stakeholder.

YouTube script template

5 to 15 minutes

Payoff in the first ten seconds, three to five points, one next step. B-roll and on-screen text planned in the visual column so the edit is decided before you record.

Documentary script template

Any length

Narration and interview structures for documentary and branded content, with room for archive, b-roll, and the questions you will actually ask.

Short-form video script template

6 to 60 seconds

For TikTok, Reels, Shorts, and UGC. Hook in the first second, one idea, one action, written to be spoken to camera and captioned.

What a video script template is for

A video script template is a fixed structure for the words and pictures of a video, so nobody has to invent the layout before they can start writing. For agency and brand work the structure is the two-column AV script: a table with one row per scene, the visual on one side, the audio on the other, and a runtime for each row. It looks plain because it is doing a plain job. A producer can budget from it, a client can approve it, a voice artist can record from it, and an editor can cut to it. When the same document does all four jobs, less gets lost between them.

The template on this page is the AV format as a working editor. Pick a starting structure for a commercial, explainer, or YouTube video, write the audio and visuals scene by scene, and watch the runtime add up as you type. When the 30 turns out to be a 40 you find out here, not at the record. There is no signup and nothing is stored: export the PDF or save the script to Boords when you want to keep it.

A few habits make AV scripts easier to approve and shoot. Write for the ear: read the audio column out loud and cut anything you stumble on. Keep one idea per scene, so each row can become one storyboard frame and one shot on the day. Keep the columns in sync, so the visual on row four is what the viewer sees while row four is being said. Front-load the hook, because the first three seconds decide whether anyone hears the rest. Use the timing column as a budget rather than a report, and trim to fit before you send it out.

If you would rather react to a draft than write from nothing, the AI script generator will produce a first pass in the same two-column format. For the method, from brief to beats to sign-off, see how to write a video script and the guide to writing a TV commercial script. And when the script is approved, the next stage of preproduction is the board: start from a storyboard template, or save the script to Boords and turn it into storyboard frames in one click.

Frequently asked questions

Free to start

Write it here. Sign it off in Boords.

Scripts, storyboards, and client sign-off in the same project. One link for the client, no login, and every approval on record.

Try Boords Free
app.boords.com

Project Activity

Sarah

Sarah changed the status of Explainer Script v3 to Approved

8 Jul
Dev

Dev commented on Explainer Script v3

8 Jul
Tom

Tom shared Explainer Script v3 with sarah@beacon.co, dev@beacon.co

7 Jul
Tom

Tom created Explainer Script v3, a new version of Explainer Script v2

7 Jul
Sarah

Sarah changed the status of Explainer Video v2 to Approved

6 Jul
Tom

Tom created Explainer Video v2 from Explainer Script v2

6 Jul
Amara

Amara marked a comment on Explainer Script v2 as complete

5 Jul