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Answering the #1 Question: How much?

 

A friend says to you—“I’ve saved a little money and I’d like to buy a car. What should I get?” It’s impossible, of course, to answer. You can as easily pay $800 for a car as you can $80,000– and the same true in video production. It all depends on the type of car you want to own. And an $800 “vehicle” may fit your needs for a quick Q&A or behind-the-scenes video; but it’s probably a poor choice for your company introduction or commercial.

Don’t worry, I’ll get to specific costs

I always ask my clients to describe their goals, vision, and provide a comfortable budget range that they’re hoping to work within. That way I can tailor the scope of the project to meet their goals, provide options, and create a common vision. I’ll create a proposal that includes all of their costs as well as a set number of revisions, and they can decide if it fits their needs. There are never any over-runs, fees, or additional expenses.

But often times, clients want a ballpark quote before sitting down for initial meetings and proposals. They want to know if my company is something they can afford, and whether a conversation is worth pursuing. So let’s talk about costs in general….

Actual production costs

Video production is an investment. We want you to have as much information as possible at each stage of your process, so we’ve created a page that shows what different Hurricane Image productions cost, and a little of what went into those costs. The rates and prices below are all back-of-the-envelope, and for every category there’s a cost-saving hack. They often trade dollars for time. You can check out examples on our pricing page.

You Should get what you pay for

Now that you have a basic sense of production budgets, it’s helpful to delve into the breakdown of those costs.

1. Production Expertise. There are some talented newcomers out there, but generally speaking you pay for experience in this field. A recent graduate may charge $25/hour, but an experienced profession will charge between $60 and $200/hour depending on the activity. While a professional costs more on paper, they often work more quickly (experience) which brings down the actual cost. Production expertise is especially important during the planning stage which includes coordinating the shoot, creating shot lists, hiring talent, selecting equipment, etc. These require a diverse set of talents and management skills that develop over time. At Hurricane Images, we charge on average $75/hr for pre-production activities, $135/hr for production (filming), and $65/hr for editing and graphic design.

2. Concept, outline, storyboard, shotlist, script, location scouting, scheduling, and hiring. These are “Pre-Production” elements. Not all projects need a script and storyboard, but the magic starts with the concept and finds its shape in the outline. These are not areas to skimp, and if you’re new to video production, bring your production company in early to discuss your concept, goals, and messages. Hurricane Images will consult on concept for free… before you sign a contract or agree to work. We offer this service for free because we charge by the product, and we need to fully understand the concept before we can create a proposal for you. Pre-production activities costs between $60 and $100/hour, and you can expect anywhere from 2-40 hours of work depending on the complexity of the project.

3. Actors/Presenters. Do you need to hire professional actors, models, or presenters? Not everyone is comfortable on camera, and you may need to make some difficult decisions about who should represent your company on screen. Starting day rates for union actors is $265/day, and can go (quickly) up from there. Due to the monetization of streaming platforms (which makes royalty payments to actors nearly impossible), you’ll also pay a “buy-out” of their rights. This is typically triple the actor’s rate. Plan on $1,000/day per actor. 

4. Equipment. Most companies have their own equipment, and unless you have special needs this cost should be included in the filming rate. Occasionally a particular idea will need a specialized piece of equipment, and rental fees can range between $40/day and $2,000/day depending on the item. It’s better to be flexible on how to achieve an effect or shot, and have the experienced producer figure out how to create it. Hurricane Images can film micro, macro, underwater, aerial, and pretty much any style you want to create. We have multiple cameras, lighting kits, and sound systems.

5. Filming. The cost of filming depends on two things: the number of days and the size of the crew. If the production elements are well planned or coordinated by you—or the shoot only involves one person on camera—you may well get away with a single person setting the lights, recording audio, and doing the camera work. In fact, more than half of our productions are filmed with just one person. A one-person shoot will cost between $125-$150 an hour, or $800-$1,000 a day. This includes all equipment costs. As the shoot becomes more complicated, more crew are added to organize the day. Each crew member will range from $450/day to $700/day. A mistake companies sometimes make is trying to estimate the number of hours by the amount of time they anticipate filming. Not only are the filming hours usually underestimated, but the cost of prep, travel, setup, and break-down are typically forgotten. A 60-minute interview will require a minimum of 3 hours on location, plus travel (and pre-production). Most shoots will include not just the main subject, but 2-4 hours of B-roll as well.

6. Editing. Editing is one of the least appreciated aspects of video production. Whatever magic you created in the concept blooms in the edit. Editors typically charge between $60 and $200/hr. Higher-end editors often do graphic design, color grading, and sound design work as well. The editing process can be long and difficult to predict, and it’s typically one of the places where cost-overruns occur. We provide a flat rate (or project fee) for editing which includes two rounds of revisions, making sure you know your cost to the penny. Typically, every hour of filming requires 3-4 hours of editing.

These are the main components of a video production when it comes to cost, but there may be other considerations as well, including: set pieces, props, location rental, stock footage, custom music/sound design, etc.

A few tips for hiring your first production company

 

Some businesses are reluctant to share their budget because they think they can get an incredible deal if the companies are bidding blind. In reality, you’ll get better results if you say, “here’s my budget and my vision—what can you do for me?” A production company that might have quoted twice your budget when bidding blind may come up with the most creative and cost-efficient solution to meet your needs when they understand the constraints. A second tip is to find a reference video, something that’s similar to your vision. Share it and then start a discussion with the perspective company.

Hurricane Images offers a set production cost because we strongly believe that this is the best protection for our clients. There are no over-runs or additional expenses. Some companies explain their hourly rates, but this great at predicting the actual cost of the video. We provide hourly rates in order to give a general sense of what we charge for rough comparisons.

If you’d like to getter a better sense of what video production costs here at Hurricane Images, we’ve created a pricing page that lets you see the budget for other projects we’ve created.