A guide to video production costs
Its rare to see a price list on a video production company’s website and to be honest you should be wary of any company offering “off the shelf” prices and packages for video production. Every brief is different and the type of production required (and therefore budget) can vary widely. However to provide some transparency and insight into budgeting for your promotional video here are some common video production costs.
Not all the items below are required on every project and some of them have wider cost ranges than others depending on what your requirements are.
You can also pay a lot more or a lot less for most of the crew and personal costs shown here. This is usually based upon the experience that the brief demands for each crew member.
So here’s some common elements that you may require in your production and a guide on costs. These are based on a very common brief that we often get for producing a corporate video which requires location filming of simple action or actuality footage, some talking head interview shots and possibly a voiceover and/or model requirement.
Pre-Production Costs
This includes the services of your producer in providing project management, scripting, project logistics and scheduling. This particular element does differ but as a rule budget allow roughly 10% of the overall production costs for Pre-production
Cast
Good models, actors and voiceover talent will cost between £150 – £300 per day including usage buyout. You can certainly pay more (depending on talent required and their current demand) but if you’re paying less there’s usually a trade off in terms of talent and commitment.
Crew Per 10 Hour Shoot Day
Director – £400 per day and upwards depending on experience.
Camera Operator/DOP/Sound engineer- £350 per day and upwards depending on experience.
Equipment
Camera Kit per shoot day (this kit should include camera, tripod, lens, monitor and cables etc)
£250-£350 per day for a camera kit that will give you a basic corporate look (such as a Canon C300)
£750 – £900 per day for a camera that will give you a stunning cinematic look (such as a RED Epic)
Sound
Radio microphones £50 per day
Lights
Basic interview lighting kit including 3 x heads with stands (1x 150w, 2x 300w) £40-£70 per day
Location
Studio hire (small studio – talking heads size) £500 per day
Location agency (real location/set hired through location agency for special requirements) £1000 per day and upwards
Post Production Costs– Editing, Animation, Mastering etc
The amount of time you need to edit your project depends on the amount of material shot and the complexity of the requirements but as a guide editing should come in at £350-£400 per day (this should include editor and edit suite but not Director who can sometimes be required to sit in the edit).
So there you have it. Depending on your project you may need some (or many) other elements or you may only require a couple of the items in this list.
Hopefully this gives you some advance steer on where you Video Production Costs may need to be to achieve the type of video production you require.
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