# Year One Budget — Personnel People costs for Augmented Traveler's first year (studio setup + the Maria Mitchell production), M0–M11, in **two scenarios**. Rates are US remote market rates researched on 19 September 2026. Hardware and software are in [[Year One Budget — Draft]]; everything is combined in [[Year One Budget — Combined Summary]]. ## The two scenarios | | **Scenario A — Full-time studio** | **Scenario B — Lean core + task contracts** | |---|---|---| | Idea | Build an in-house team that carries from one character to the next | Keep a small permanent core; contract specialists for the hours each task needs | | Full-time hires | 11: AI Conversation Engineer, Unreal Engineer, DevOps Engineer, Conversation Designer, Character Artist, Technical Animator, Environment Artist, Character Technical Artist (Groom and Cloth), XR Engineer, Mobile AR Engineer, QA Tester | 3: AI Conversation Engineer, Unreal Engineer, DevOps Engineer | | Full-time people incl. founders | 13 | 5 | | Contracted | Research, costume, performance, installation, accessibility | Everything else: modeling, grooms, Marvelous Designer, writing, animation, environments, XR, mobile AR, QA, performance, installation | | **Year-one personnel cost** | **$978,364–$1,619,004** | **$567,806–$1,104,792** | ## Assumptions - **Founders:** CEO (executive producer) and CTO (technical director), in different cities. **Founder pay is not included** in either scenario. - **Employees** cost base × months ÷ 12 × (1 + **25–35% employer load**). BLS puts private-industry benefits at 30% of total compensation (June 2026); a lean startup package is lower. - **Contractors** are paid hourly for the hours the task needs, with no load; their hourly rates are higher than employee equivalents. - **Year-one decision:** every person bills as their own LLC or sole proprietorship. Employer taxes, benefits and misclassification risk are covered in [[Self-Employment — Contractors vs Employees]]. - **Performers** use SAG-AFTRA Interactive Media scale (effective 1 November 2026) in both scenarios. - Stage and studio rentals are in the hardware budget and not repeated. Rights counsel is a professional service, listed separately. - The optional visionOS developer is excluded from totals in both scenarios. ## Roll-out and cost by role | Role | Group | A: engagement | A: window | A: cost | B: engagement | B: window | B: cost | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | [[Position — CEO (Founder)]] | Founders | Founder (in place) | M0–M11 | not included | Founder (in place) | M0–M11 | not included | | [[Position — CTO (Founder)]] | Founders | Founder (in place) | M0–M11 | not included | Founder (in place) | M0–M11 | not included | | [[Position — AI Conversation Engineer]] | Engineering | Full-time remote employee | M1–M11 | $126,042–$198,000 | Full-time remote employee | M1–M11 | $126,042–$198,000 | | [[Position — Historian of Record]] | Research | Contract, 480–620 hours | M1–M11 | $24,000–$62,000 | Contract, 480–620 hours | M1–M11 | $24,000–$62,000 | | [[Position — Corpus Editor]] | Research | Contract, 300–450 hours | M1–M3 | $9,000–$22,500 | Contract, 300–450 hours | M1–M3 | $9,000–$22,500 | | [[Position — Conversation Designer]] | Writing | Full-time remote employee | M1–M11 | $80,208–$123,750 | Contract, 360–520 hours | M1–M11 | $18,000–$44,200 | | [[Position — Character Artist]] | Art | Full-time remote employee | M2–M11 | $93,750–$146,250 | Contract, 480–640 hours | M2–M7 | $28,800–$64,000 | | [[Position — Technical Animator]] | Art | Full-time remote employee | M2–M11 | $88,542–$140,625 | Contract, 360–520 hours | M2–M8 | $21,600–$52,000 | | [[Position — Character Technical Artist (Groom and Cloth)]] | Art | Full-time remote employee | M2–M11 | $83,333–$129,375 | — | — | — | | [[Position — Groom Artist]] | Art | — | — | — | Contract, 160–240 hours | M2–M4 | $8,000–$24,000 | | [[Position — Cloth Artist]] | Art | — | — | — | Contract, 200–280 hours | M2–M4 | $9,000–$25,200 | | [[Position — Costume Designer]] | Art | Contract, 60–100 hours | M2–M3 | $3,000–$10,000 | Contract, 60–100 hours | M2–M3 | $3,000–$10,000 | | [[Position — Environment Artist]] | Art | Full-time remote employee | M3–M11 | $65,625–$106,312 | Contract, 560–720 hours | M3–M6 | $25,200–$57,600 | | [[Position — Unreal Engineer]] | Engineering | Full-time remote employee | M3–M11 | $99,375–$158,962 | Full-time remote employee | M3–M11 | $99,375–$158,962 | | [[Position — DevOps Engineer]] | Engineering | Full-time remote employee | M4–M11 | $91,667–$135,000 | Full-time remote employee | M4–M11 | $91,667–$135,000 | | [[Position — Voice Director and Dialect Coach]] | Performance | Contract, 30–50 hours | M4–M5 | $2,250–$7,500 | Contract, 30–50 hours | M4–M5 | $2,250–$7,500 | | [[Position — Voice Actor]] | Performance | Session / weekly fee (union scale) | M4–M5 | $7,014–$22,014 | Session / weekly fee (union scale) | M4–M5 | $7,014–$22,014 | | [[Position — Performance Capture Actor]] | Performance | Session / weekly fee (union scale) | M4–M5 | $4,058–$8,116 | Session / weekly fee (union scale) | M4–M5 | $4,058–$8,116 | | [[Position — Mocap Technician]] | Performance | Contract, 32–48 hours | M4–M5 | $2,400–$6,000 | Contract, 32–48 hours | M4–M5 | $2,400–$6,000 | | [[Position — Sound Designer]] | Performance | Contract, 100–140 hours | M5–M7 | $6,000–$12,600 | Contract, 100–140 hours | M5–M7 | $6,000–$12,600 | | [[Position — QA Tester]] | Deployment | Full-time remote employee | M6–M11 | $31,250–$47,250 | Contract, 220–300 hours | M6–M11 | $5,500–$12,000 | | [[Position — UX and Accessibility Designer]] | Deployment | Contract, 60–100 hours | M6–M8 | $4,500–$12,500 | Contract, 60–100 hours | M6–M8 | $4,500–$12,500 | | [[Position — XR Engineer]] | Engineering | Full-time remote employee | M6–M11 | $56,250–$87,750 | Contract, 440–560 hours | M6–M11 | $30,800–$67,200 | | [[Position — Mobile AR Engineer]] | Engineering | Full-time remote employee | M6–M11 | $62,500–$94,500 | Contract, 300–420 hours | M6–M11 | $21,000–$50,400 | | [[Position — Kiosk and AV Integrator]] | Deployment | Contract, 60–120 hours | M7–M8 | $5,100–$18,000 | Contract, 60–120 hours | M7–M8 | $5,100–$18,000 | | [[Position — Second Historian]] | Research | Contract, 20–40 hours | M7–M8 | $1,500–$5,000 | Contract, 20–40 hours | M7–M8 | $1,500–$5,000 | | [[Position — visionOS Developer]] | Optional | Contract, 100–160 hours | M9–M10 | $9,000–$24,000 | Contract, 100–160 hours | M9–M10 | $9,000–$24,000 | ### Scenario A — Full-time studio: roll-out ```mermaid gantt title Full-time studio (months from M0) dateFormat X axisFormat M%s section Full-time employees AI Conversation Engineer : 1, 12 Conversation Designer : 1, 12 Character Artist : 2, 12 Technical Animator : 2, 12 Character Technical Artist (Groom and Cloth) : 2, 12 Unreal Engineer : 3, 12 Environment Artist : 3, 12 DevOps Engineer : 4, 12 XR Engineer : 6, 12 Mobile AR Engineer : 6, 12 QA Tester : 6, 12 section Contracts Historian of Record : 1, 12 Corpus Editor : 1, 4 Costume Designer : 2, 4 Voice Director and Dialect Coach : 4, 6 Mocap Technician : 4, 6 Sound Designer : 5, 8 UX and Accessibility Designer : 6, 9 Second Historian : 7, 9 Kiosk and AV Integrator : 7, 9 section Performer fees Voice Actor : 4, 6 Performance Capture Actor : 4, 6 ``` ### Scenario B — Lean core + task contracts: roll-out ```mermaid gantt title Lean core + task contracts (months from M0) dateFormat X axisFormat M%s section Full-time employees AI Conversation Engineer : 1, 12 Unreal Engineer : 3, 12 DevOps Engineer : 4, 12 section Contracts Conversation Designer : 1, 12 Historian of Record : 1, 12 Corpus Editor : 1, 4 Character Artist : 2, 8 Technical Animator : 2, 9 Groom Artist : 2, 5 Cloth Artist : 2, 5 Costume Designer : 2, 4 Environment Artist : 3, 7 Voice Director and Dialect Coach : 4, 6 Mocap Technician : 4, 6 Sound Designer : 5, 8 XR Engineer : 6, 12 Mobile AR Engineer : 6, 12 QA Tester : 6, 12 UX and Accessibility Designer : 6, 9 Second Historian : 7, 9 Kiosk and AV Integrator : 7, 9 section Performer fees Voice Actor : 4, 6 Performance Capture Actor : 4, 6 ``` ## Totals | Line | A: low | A: high | B: low | B: high | |---|---|---|---|---| | Employees | $878,542 | $1,367,774 | $317,084 | $491,962 | | Contracts and fees | $68,822 | $186,230 | $236,722 | $582,830 | | Other personnel costs | $31,000 | $65,000 | $14,000 | $30,000 | | **Personnel total (excluding founders)** | **$978,364** | **$1,619,004** | **$567,806** | **$1,104,792** | **Scenario B saves about $410,558–$514,212** in year one. ## Other personnel costs | Item | A: low–high | B: low–high | |---|---|---| | Recruiting (job boards, portfolio tests, background checks) / Recruiting and contractor sourcing | $8,000–$15,000 | $3,000–$6,000 | | Payroll provider / PEO for about 10 remote employees in several states / Payroll provider / PEO for 3 employees + contractor payments platform | $8,000–$20,000 | $3,000–$8,000 | | Team travel: 2 in-person weeks (one on Nantucket) / Team travel: 2 in-person weeks (founders, engineers, key contractors) | $15,000–$30,000 | $8,000–$16,000 | ## Spend by quarter | Quarter | A: low | A: high | B: low | B: high | |---|---|---|---|---| | Q1 (M0–M2) | $85,381 | $150,034 | $55,151 | $117,259 | | Q2 (M3–M5) | $259,804 | $447,493 | $186,802 | $378,499 | | Q3 (M6–M8) | $324,140 | $532,688 | $183,055 | $355,477 | | Q4 (M9–M11) | $309,040 | $488,788 | $142,798 | $253,558 | ## People working each month (excluding founders) | Scenario | M0 | M1 | M2 | M3 | M4 | M5 | M6 | M7 | M8 | M9 | M10 | M11 | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | A: full-time studio | 0 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 16 | 15 | 12 | 12 | 12 | | B: lean core + contracts | 0 | 4 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 12 | 8 | 8 | 8 | ## Trade-offs | | A: full-time studio | B: lean core + contracts | |---|---|---| | Year-one cost | Higher | Lower | | Cost after the Mitchell production | Salaries continue whether or not the next figure is funded | Contracts end with the task | | Speed on the second figure | Faster; the team already knows the pipeline | Slower; re-hire or re-book contractors | | Knowledge retention | Stays in-house | Must be written down (this vault helps) | | Management load on founders | Managing about 11 people | Coordinating many contractors across time zones | | Quality risk | Lower once the team settles | Higher for character art and animation, the most specialized work | **A middle path worth pricing next:** scenario B plus the **character artist** as a fourth full-time hire. Likeness is the hardest skill to contract well and the one every future figure needs. **On DevOps:** in scenario B, full-time DevOps from M4 costs $91,667–$135,000. If the CTO or AI engineer can carry infrastructure until the kiosk opens, a part-time contract (about $13k–$29k) would save most of that. ## Rate sources - Glassdoor, remote LLM engineer salary 2026: https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/remote-llm-engineer-salary-SRCH_IL.0,6_IS12228_KO7,19.htm - Glassdoor, conversation designer salary 2026: https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/conversation-designer-salary-SRCH_KO0,21.htm - Glassdoor, 3D character artist salary 2026: https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/3d-character-artist-salary-SRCH_KO0,19.htm - Glassdoor, technical animator salary 2026: https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/technical-animator-salary-SRCH_KO0,18.htm - ZipRecruiter, work-from-home Unreal Engine developer salary (Sept 2026): https://www.ziprecruiter.com/Salaries/Work-From-Home-Unreal-Engine-Developer-Salary - ZipRecruiter, consulting historian salary (Sept 2026): https://www.ziprecruiter.com/Salaries/Consulting-Historian-Salary - Upwork, 3D artist hourly rates: https://www.upwork.com/hire/3d-artists/cost/ - Glassdoor, environment artist salary 2026: https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/environment-artist-salary-SRCH_KO0,18.htm - Glassdoor, XR developer salary: https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/xr-developer-salary-SRCH_KO0,12.htm - Glassdoor, iOS developer salary 2026: https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/ios-developer-salary-SRCH_KO0,13.htm - Glassdoor, DevOps engineer salary: https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/devops-engineer-salary-SRCH_KO0,15.htm - SAG-AFTRA 2025–2028 Interactive Media Agreement wage table: https://www.sagaftra.org/sites/default/files/2025-2028%20Interactive%20Media%20Agreement%20Wage%20Table.pdf - YunoJuno, sound designer contractor rates 2026: https://www.yunojuno.com/freelancer-rates-job-role/sound-designer - Glassdoor, game tester salary: https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/game-tester-salary-SRCH_KO0,11.htm - BLS, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (June 2026): https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.nr0.htm Positions: `roles/positions/`. Sources page: [[Sources — 2026-09-19]]