BUDGETING FOR A COMMERCIAL VIDEO: PART II

HOW MUCH DOES IT COSTS TO PRODUCE AND DISTRIBUTE A PROFESSIONAL COMMERCIAL VIDEO?

Making a commercial video is a lot like building a house. What kind of house would you like us to build? A small one bedroom, one bathroom house? A modest two-story three bedroom house with two bathrooms? A luxurious mansion with ten bedrooms, five bathrooms and a pool? What kind of materials would you like for us to use? The cheapest materials available? The more expensive higher-end materials? 

How many crew members will we need to get this video done? Do we need one cameraman and one director? Do we need a dedicated sound operator? Do we need a hair and makeup artist? Do we need one or two production assistants? Will we need a driver? Do we need any specialized equipment to pull off certain shots? Do we have to pay for locations? Is this a one day shoot? A two-day shoot? A three-day shoot? Are we working with local actors? Actors provided by a talent agency?  

The list goes on and on. Much like hiring a general contractor to build a house, a production company can easily accomplish both small and great things - depending on the manpower and money behind them and the project. So, putting together a fixed number that suits all projects is just, well, impossible. You can get a professional commercial video made and distributed for as little as 1,500 for a local business or as much as 10,000,000 for a national campaign.

One thing we can do is start with the base minimum that it will cost to produce a video with us and we can take a look at that below:

BASE MINIMUM

Basic Commercial Video - Half-Day Shoot (up to five hours)

One Half-Day of Production - 600
Basic Camera Package - Included
Post-Production & Editing - 300 (at an estimated average of five hours of work)

Total: 900 (estimated)

*This does not include any voice over, actors/models, additional crew members, visual effects, motion graphics, original music, or any additional assets. This does not include distribution of the commercial.

Basic Commercial Video - Full-Day Shoot (anything over five hours up to ten)

One Full-Day of Production - 1,000
Basic Camera Package - Included
Post- Production & Editing - 600 (at an estimated average of ten hours of work)

Total: 1,600 (estimated)

*This does not include any voice over, actors/models, additional crew members, visual effects, motion graphics, original music, or any additional assets. This does not include distribution of the commercial.

GOING UP FROM THERE

Depending on what you want or need to complete the video that we have conceptualized, the costs of production is going to rise. Let’s look at an example of how that happens below:

Modest Commercial Video - Half-Day Shoot (up to five hours)

One Half-Day of Production - 600
Production Management - 150-250
Upgraded Camera Package - 500-600
Local Sound Operator - 200-300 
Local Production Assistant - 100-200
Local Hair & Makeup Artist - 150-250
Local Actors/Models x2 - 300 (150/per) -400 (200/per)
Food for Talent & Crew - 150-250
Local Voice Over Artist - 75-175
Post-Production & Editing - 300 (at an estimated average of five hours of work)

Total: 2,525-3,325 (estimated)

*This does not include distribution of the commercial.

Modest Commercial Video - Full-Day Shoot (anything over five hours up to ten)

One Full-Day of Production - 1,000
Production Management - 150-250
Upgraded Camera Package - 900-1,000
Local Sound Operator - 400-500
Local Production Assistant - 200-300
Local Hair & Makeup Artist - 300-400
Local Actors/Models x2 - 600 (300/per) -800 (400/per)
Food for Talent & Crew - 300-400
Local Voice Over Artist - 75-175
Post-Production & Editing - 600 (at an estimated average of ten hours of work)

Total: 4,525-5,425 (estimated)

*This does not include distribution of the commercial.
 

It’s really a catalog of moving parts when it comes to pricing out a professional commercial video production. How much do you want to spend to get the product you want? Is your commercial a one bedroom house with one bathroom or a ten bedroom mansion with a pool or is it a two-story house with three bedrooms and two baths and maybe a hot-tub? 

COSTS OF DISTRIBUTION

Another thing to consider is the distribution costs of the commercial video once it has been completed. Again, here, we can touch on the minimums. Hulu for example, requires a 500 minimum to run a campaign and if we were to run that campaign for you, we will charge a 20% distribution fee. So you would be looking at a minimum of 600 for us to run your commercial on Hulu after completion of the video. 

Let’s look at running your commercial at the local movie theatres. The local theatre downtown with two small screens may charge 400 for a month. The bigger theatre with six state of the art screens and an imax screen is going to charge somewhere around 1,500 minimum and as much as 13,000 for a long term contract.

Much like the bigger theatre, the cost of running your commercial on cable is a bit of a moving target. Going by nielson numbers, they are going charge more to run your commercial on a network with high viewership (such as HGTV) in a highly viewed block of time (6-9pm) as opposed to a network with lower viewership (such as Inspiration) at a lower viewed block of time time (6am-9am). The best plan of attack here would be to have a set budget put aside. Let’s say 1,500 to 13,000. Then we can approach the distributors and say hey, we have X amount we want to spend and here’s who we want to reach. How can we get the most out of our spend?

In the case of Hulu, we would take your 500 minimum (Hulu) to 1,500 to 13,000 or whatever your media buying budget is that you have set aside for distribution and we would set that budget within the campaign manager. From there, that budget would tick down over time per impression until it reaches zero. For more information on running an ad on Hulu, click here.

The best way to get an accurate estimate on costs of production and or distribution is to sit down with us and talk about what you want to do. You can also take a look at our packages and payment options for more information on how we can break up costs of production.

* Please note that all the production/post-production rates in this blog are examples based on our own current rates and rates we’ve been able to secure with individuals on past projects. These are all subject to change and are by no means fixed rates or universally standard rates.

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