Screening
An ad that goes through the Ad Standards Council is screened twice: once as a storyboard before anything is shot, and once as a finished film before it airs. Plan for both and screening is a few days in the calendar. Miss either and it can mean a reshoot. Here is how the two steps work, and what sends you back to the start.
What are S1 and S2?
The ASC Manual calls it “a two-step process”. Step 1, S1 Screening, “is for securing of Approval for Production”. Step 2, S2 Clearing, “is for issuance of Clearance for Airing/Publication/ Display/ Posting”. Applications go through the ASC’s online portal, which accepts them around the clock but processes them “from 7AM to 11AM during business days”.
| Step | When in production | What goes in | Turnaround in the Manual |
| S1 screening | After the script, before the shoot | The storyboard or script, and support for every claim | A decision within 48 hours of receipt |
| S2 clearing | After the final edit, before airing | The finished material, as a hi-res MP4 for video | Released within 36 hours of receipt |
| Special screening or clearing | When the date cannot wait | Filed by 11am, proof of payment by 3pm | Same day; S1 on weekdays, S2 on weekdays and Saturdays |
The storyboard has its own format rules, covered in our explainer on storyboards and animatics.
What can happen at S1?
The storyboard is screened together with its evidence: support for “the claims, copy, audio, special effects, visuals, or any part or content of the material”. If a line carries a number-one, comparative or superiority claim, the proof decides the outcome; what each claim needs sets that out. The screener returns one of these:
→ Approved for Production. The claims are substantiated. You may shoot.
→ Approved with Caution. Substantiated, but a visual, line or tone is “considered sensitive and potentially controversial”. You may shoot, with a reminder to handle it with care.
→ Incomplete. The claims are fine but a required document is missing, such as a “DOLE permit, notarized endorser’s affidavit, BSP approval, NHCP clearance”. It must arrive by 11am on the 30th calendar day, or the application is automatically disapproved.
→ Disapproved. A clear violation, with the provision named. An application missing the documents needed to sell or promote at all, such as product registration, a licence to operate or a promo permit, gets an outright disapproval.
→ Refer to Panel. Sensitive themes, or evidence open to another reading, go to a screening panel.
A child on screen is a common cause of an Incomplete: the DOLE permit for child talent belongs in the S1 pack, not after it.
What can change after S1?
Very little, which is why the storyboard has to describe the film you will actually make. A revision can only be filed “PRIOR to the submission of S2 material”, is approved only if it is minor and supported, and is allowed “only twice”. Minor means a change of music or sound effects, or copy and visuals, including non-celebrity talent, “that do not radically affect claims”. Changing the entire storyline “even if the claims remain the same”, deleting qualifiers the claims need, adding music the S1 did not show without a music certification, or switching to a celebrity all need a new S1 and new fees.
At S2, an Ad Specialist checks the finished material against the approved storyboard. If it is not faithful, it is disapproved. And then: “No revision shall be allowed once a Clearance is issued. Any change will require an s1 re-application.”
The edit-suite rule
Generate, shoot and cut to the approved storyboard. AI makes it easy to try one more idea late in the edit, but after S1 a new idea is a new application.
Do cutdowns and versions need their own clearance?
Usually, yes. Edit-ups and edit-downs “need to be applied separately”, and broadcast lengths follow the KBP standards. A version with new footage is a derivative and is “treated as a new material”. An approved broadcast ad can run in digital “if it is the same, exact material”, but adding a caption makes it a separate application, and the digital version must carry the ASC Reference Number.
Language versions need a certified translation, side by side with the script and signed by the translator. Our guide to video localisation covers the dub-or-subtitle decision itself.
How long does a clearance last?
A cleared ad can be renewed if it is “exactly the same material”, with the stamped storyboard, the S1 decision and the clearance attached. Claims that are time-bound, or that need third-party proof, must be re-supported to get “a new one-year validity period”. A campaign planned to run past a year should have that refresh in its calendar.
General information, based on the ASC Code of Ethics and Standard Manual of Procedures effective 29 April 2024. Check the current Manual and the ASC portal guidelines before you file.
How do you build screening into the schedule?
PUNX produces video in Makati as an AI video agency: 50-plus people, founded 2023, working for P&G, San Miguel, Petron, GCash and Sun Life. Whoever makes yours, the calendar that holds up has the same order: claims proved before the storyboard is written; S1 approved before money goes into crew and locations; permits and affidavits filed with the S1, not after; every cutdown, caption and language version listed up front; and enough time between the final edit and the air date for S2 and one round of fixes.
FAQ
What is the difference between ASC S1 and S2?
S1 is screening for Approval for Production: the storyboard or script is reviewed with support for its claims before the ad is made. S2 is Clearing for airing, publication, display or posting: the finished material is checked against the approved storyboard before it runs.
How long does ASC screening take?
The ASC Manual says an S1 decision is received within 48 hours of the application and an S2 clearance is released within 36 hours. Same-day special screening and clearing are available for applications filed by 11am with proof of payment by 3pm.
Can you change an ad after ASC approval?
Before S2, only minor revisions that do not radically affect the claims, and only twice. Major changes, such as a new storyline or a switch to a celebrity, need a new S1. Once an S2 clearance is issued, no revision is allowed and any change needs a new S1 application.
Do cutdowns need separate ASC clearance?
Yes. The Manual says edit-ups and edit-downs need to be applied separately, versions with new footage are treated as new material, and a broadcast ad posted in digital with a new caption is a separate application.
Related
AI video production — from brief to delivery
What is an animatic? — testing the storyboard before you submit it
Production house contracts — the clauses to settle before the shoot
Working back from an air date?
Send us the date and the storyboard. We will work back to the day the S1 application has to go in.
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