How Much Should I Pay for a Video?

“How Much Should I Pay for a Video” – Great question, and like all things art it’s incredibly relative.

Some of the most effective video content pieces were created for almost nothing using an iPhone and a great concept.

That said we’re going to be talking commercially and if you want to experiment with your iPhone and social media on the fly all the more power to you. As an industry rule of thumb, video usually works out to about $1000 a minute for a basic finished product., of course, can vary depending on the production itself and the post-production involved. Realistically a corporate video or even a music video could easily range between $5000 – $50,000, depending on what you want to produce.

Some constants can be accounted for such as editing, colour correction, and sound – however, sometimes there are special effects and compositing that need to be done and this may take more time.

To simplify this some production companies (self-included) price post-production based on a day rate. For instance, a 3-minute video with 3 days worth of post-production would be considerably less expensive than a 3-minute video with 10 days worth of post-production. We also like to consider what we’re going to do with for music – which could depend a lot on where the video is going to be distributed.

Before all of that though we need to establish what kind of production costs we’re looking at. Does there need to be a set? Wardrobe? Actors? Good Actors? Dancers? Are you going to feed these people? Do they need a wardrobe? Will the video have music? As you can imagine this list goes on.

So how does it work then? Well unlike a website we’re dealing very much on the artistic side of things with video and like it or not there is an entertainment factor that needs to be met, something to make it watchable. We like to create a narrative whenever possible – to tell a story or explain an idea. Having said that very much like a website we need to have a clear idea of at least the kind of video we’re producing before we can put together an accurate budget. We’re happy to work within realistic existing budgets also – when we know these constraints we can determine the kind of video we’re making and understand roughly how we’re going to make it.

Another thing to consider when making a video is who is involved and why. It’s not hard to get a male or female actor for a video in a basic speaking role for less than $500 – however, it would be easy to cast the same video with a lead that costs $7,500 because of their talent or name – and this could be worth it depending on how you’re looking at it. Does the actor need to have any special talent more than the name? If the talent needs to be able to dance (well) they will probably cost more as they are specially trained.

So why make a video?

Videos are abundantly engaging and can last as content forever. They can be seasonable and reusable as promotional content and above all else, they can be entertaining and that is a solid way to create a real connection with people, a way to share the personality behind your brand.

If you haven’t read our article How Much should I pay for a website click here