How Much Does Video Production Cost?

Shilouetted people on a video film set

May 9, 2022

Producing a video is a lot like building a house. You need 1) a plan, 2) a solid foundation and structure, and 3) beautification. There are three distinct phases to producing a video, each of which have associated costs.

Read on to get the down low on facets of pre-production, filming, and post-production, and how those are going to impact how much video production costs.

Ready to understand what a professional video production company can offer you? JB Media Productions is the team for you. We support brands nationwide in building their business presence and amplifying their messages through skillfully crafted videos. Contact us to learn more.

How Much Does Pre-Production Cost (and What’s Involved?)

Pre-production is just what it sounds like: the preliminary steps to creating a business video, commercial, advertisement, you name it. The steps are pretty similar regardless of the type of video you’ve ordered, and will include the following:

  • Onboarding with a video production company
  • Initial meetings
  • Location selection and scouting
  • Storyboarding
  • Script writing

In pre-production, you get to know the team and they get to know you. This is important, at least for a team like ours, because you don’t want your business video to look just like everyone else’s. The real uniqueness of who you are and what you offer is understood in these initial meetings.

You also get a detailed outline of what the project will entail, which ensures everyone is on the same page as you head toward filming day.

We want to call one of these out for a little more clarification: location selection and scouting. You may have a location in mind. We need to scout it out. And this is for your benefit. Some locations are more time or labor intensive to use. Will setting up and tearing down be reasonable? Is there the right room or light? What about power? Sound? We evaluate a space based on criteria like that to ensure success.

Pre-production costs for a professional video are probably not the lion’s share of the final cost, but the hours you invest in here absolutely impact the final result.

How Much Does Filming a Professional Video Cost?

Once all the prelims are covered, and your team is prepped for what to expect, filming day will come. Here are the cost-related factors to filming:

  • Travel – JB Media Productions serves clients nationwide, and our travel should be factored into your cost. For shoots lasting more than one day, this includes lodging and expenses.
  • Locations – Whether you have a single or more than one location will impact hours, which raises video production costs.
  • Set up/Tear down – Depending on the space you choose (like we mentioned above) set up and tear down may take hardly any time or a ton of time. We’ll estimate this, but know that it’s always in your best interest to 1) use a production crew for a full day and 2) have clear expectations about how long it takes to do this at a professional level.
  • Crew – The scope of your project, and additional components, will determine the crew you need (multiple cameras, type of sound set up, hair and makeup, etc.). These decisions are made in pre-production and delivered at the shoot.
  • Days – The number of days we need to accomplish your shoot requirements will add to the cost.

You may have your own extra costs, such as hired talent. Ideally, you’ll calculate an “all in” number to really understand the full cost of your video.

How Much Does Post-Production Cost?

We will be careful to include this visibly in your quote, but not all video production companies will, so this is a super important area to pay attention to. When filming is done, you aren’t even 50% of the way there. The majority of work on our end comes in post-production.

Post-production costs mostly come down to editing hours. It will take more hours to edit if you have hours of B-roll for us to use, if you want custom graphics (especially 3D), if you want a lot of video graphics (lower thirds, title cards). While some editing is standard, keep in mind that significant edits also rack up your cost in post-production.

Video Production: Cost Versus Benefit

Anytime you invest in your business, you should evaluate cost versus benefits. If you’re running this video as an ad, you’ll easily be able to measure the return on ad spend (ROAS). If it’s a brand video, a commercial, a presentation, or other type of corporate video, you’ll want to establish your own metrics for measuring success. It’s important that you do so, and that you recognize that the cost of a professionally produced video will yield dividends.

That’s because video is the #1 most popular way people consume content. They expect the brands they know and love, and the businesses they want to do business with, to have a slick, polished, and interesting array of professionally produced videos.

Videos are fast becoming essential business collateral, and we are here to provide them.

For an estimate on your video production project, head to our home page and request a quote.

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