How much does it cost to make a video?
That's the most common question I hear. While I do have some pricing packages (see right) virtually every video I produce is custom-designed to meet a client's specific marketing needs. Since every client is different, so are my prices.
Since that doesn't help plan a budget, I usually tell my clients to factor at least $1,000 per finished minute.
Wait, what? Why does it cost so much when I can buy an HD camera for $80!?!
Ah, the thousand-dollar question... the fast answer is: it depends.
Professional video production requires three things:
- Expensive equipment
- Tons and tons of time
- Years of experience crafting a video message people will watch
While it's true you can buy some very nice HD-quality cameras for cheap, that's like saying that since you can buy a circular saw for $40 at Home Depot, it's shouldn't cost you anything more to build that new deck on the back of your house. Also, the brevity of a good video program can confuse people. If a great commercial zips by in thirty seconds, it should only take a few hours to make, right?
Truth is, even a simple one-minute web video can take 4 hours to shoot and a full 8-10 hour day to edit, and it often takes longer. For more complicated shoots requiring scripts, actors, crew members, green screen, or teleprompters, the time factor shoots up tremendously. The TV spots I made for Smartbox took a full day to shoot and 3 days to edit -- for each single thirty-second commercial. My last feature film ran 88 minutes and took two years to plan, shoot and edit.
It's true that technology has actually lowered some costs. Back in the 1980s and early 1990s, when we shot on expensive Betacam tapes ($60 for 30 minutes) and edited on pricey tape-to-tape edit systems, we charged $2,000 a finished minute and higher.
Today, technology puts all of my editing tools into a laptop; we shoot on HD cameras that cost a fraction of what they did 20 years ago.
But since our job is to tell a convincing story that will market your company, the time factor hasn't changed. Good, effective story-telling doesn't fall out of a software package. That still takes years of experience to do correctly, and like all writing, it's a ton of time and hard work to do it right.
Individual Video Production Rates
- Shooting rates: $100 per hour/ $600 per 8-hour day. Includes HD camera, operator, laveliere or boom microphone, professional lights. Portable green screen, add $25.
- Writing: $50 per hour
- Pre-production, storyboard, production conferencing: $75 per hour
- Post-production/editing: $50 per hour
- Spanish-English, English-Spanish translations: call for rates
- Green screen studio rental: $25 per hour
- DVD Authoring: $75 per hour
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Sample $500 web videos:
Denver Bookbinding
Adams County Animal Hospital |
$500 Web Video
- 60-90 seconds finished run time
- Planning, scriptwriting
- 2 hours on-location shoot in your office/company
- Includes interviews, B-roll
- Editing, titles
- Delivery time: 1-2 days
- Professional on-camera talent available for additional cost (this is usually not needed)
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Sample $1,000 videos:
Maxfund Animal Shelter |
$1,000 Promotional Video
- Up to 2 minutes finished run time
- Planning, scriptwriting
- 2 hours green-screen studio shoot with teleprompter OR 3 hours on-location shoot at your office/company
- Includes interviews, B-roll
- Editing, titles
- Delivery time: 2-3 days
- Professional on-camera talent available for additional cost
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Sample $1500 web videos:
Belly Bra
Ice Destroyer
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$1500 Trade Show/Marketing video
- 2-5 minutes finished run time
- Planning, scriptwriting
- 4 hours green-screen studio shoot with teleprompter OR 4 hours on-location shoot at your office/company
- Includes interviews, B-roll
- Editing, titles, music, graphics
- Delivery time: 3-5 days
- Professional on-camera talent available for additional cost
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Sample $2,000 corporate video:
Project Cure
Manning Business Solutions
Clear the Air Foundation
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$2,000 Corporate/Fundraiser/Trade Show/Marketing Video Production
- 3-5 minutes finished run time
- Planning, scriptwriting
- 8 hours of on-location shooting OR green screen shooting (can be mixed)
- Includes interviews, B-roll
- Editing, titles, music, graphics
- Delivery time: 5-7 days
- Professional on-camera talent available for additional cost
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Sample $2,000 TV project:
Smartbox
Big View Ranch
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$2,000 TV Commercial or Video News Release
- 30-second broadcast TV commercial
- OR 3-minute video news release
- Planning, scriptwriting
- 8 hours of on-location shooting OR green screen shooting (can be mixed)
- Includes interviews, B-roll
- Editing, titles, music, graphics
- Delivery time: 5-7 days
- Delivered on HD for broadcast
- Professional on-camera talent available for additional cost
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Sample $3,000 video:
Colorado Bar Association
Invensys Eurotherm
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$3,000 Training Video/Trade Show/Program
- Up to 5 minutes finished run time
- Planning, scriptwriting
- 2 days (16 hours) of on-location shooting w/one camera
- Or one day with 2 cameras and operators
- Includes green screen, if needed
- Includes interviews, B-roll
- Editing, titles, music, graphics
- Delivery time: 5-7 days
- Professional on-camera talent available for additional cost
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Sample $5,000 video:
Tri-R-Recycling
Design Detective
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$5,000 Corporate, TV, Web, Trade Show, Marketing Video Program
- 5-7 minutes finished run time
- Used for infommercials, TV shows, pilot episodes, corporate training, marketing, fund-raising, promotions
- Planning, scriptwriting
- 5 days of on-location shooting OR green screen shooting (can be mixed)
- Includes interviews, B-roll
- Editing, titles, music, graphics
- Delivery time: 10-15 days
- Professional on-camera talent available for additional cost
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