How much to charge a client for a video ???

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klh121560

Active member
Not sure where to post this (which category), but figured I would get good advice on this forum.

Here is my question: Is there a industry standard on how much you charge a client to do a video for them? I was asked to do a 5-7 minute video about a small company (and it's different locations which are close-by) about its services, staff, customers, background company info, and of course B-roll.

I don't like/want to charge by an hourly rate, but as a single project. I have done 15-20 video's before, a commercial for a contest, pro-bono work, and all these have been non-paid or part of my job related work. Now it is a paying assignment. I will write, produce, direct, film, and do the audio and editing myself. Forgetting the company's annual budget, just in general (or as close as possible), how much does one charge a company for a video? I "heard" it was based on $1000.00 per each finished minute. Anyone else hear this too?

Would love to hear from the experienced video production people out there (not on their personal rate, but for an entire video).

Thanks Again!!!
 
klh121560 said:
Is there a industry standard on how much you charge a client to do a video for them?
...
I don't like/want to charge by an hourly rate, but as a single project.
...
I will write, produce, direct, film, and do the audio and editing myself.
Click to expand...
There is no industry standard. How many hours/days/weeks will you spend on this project? Would you do it for free? Would you do it for $1/hr.? What could you be doing instead? Assuming that you have the time to do it and you won't be sacrificing any time that could be better spent, figure in your time at $50/hr. and add in expenses such as batteries and gasoline. Charge them that amount. so if you spend Forty hours on it charge them $2000. If it was a great experience and they ask you to do another one, charge them $2000 again for the next one. If you hated everything about the job, but they still ask you to do another one, charge them $5000 for the next one.
 
Google 'Vincent LaForet cost of doing business'. Read and study that.

There's far too much variation possible. I've shot 1hour sit down interviews for rates ranging from free to $1500, with a wide range of equipment and styles, and in each case considered those rates fair: I got something and they got something of roughly equal value.

The most aggravating emails I get read something like "we have a product we'd like to feature in a video. Can you provide a quote?" Personally I think anybody that gives a number in exchange for such minimal information shouldn't be in business. How long is the final product? Where will it be shown, and to whom? Do you want graphics, effects, acting, music licensing? The big daunting question that sometimes drives prospects away: what's your realistic budget for this project? Again, I can shoot an interview for a wide range of prices, but I'll have to do an unlit sync sound AF100 solo shoot for one, and can have a full crew with Kino Divas, Schoeps mics on a SD mixer shot with a Red Epic for the other end. The results will be noticeably different.
 
klh121560 said:
I was asked to do a 5-7 minute video about a small company (and it's different locations which are close-by) about its services, staff, customers, background company info, and of course B-roll.

I don't like/want to charge by an hourly rate, but as a single project. I have done 15-20 video's before, a commercial for a contest, pro-bono work, and all these have been non-paid or part of my job related work. Now it is a paying assignment. I will write, produce, direct, film, and do the audio and editing myself.

Would love to hear from the experienced video production people out there (not on their personal rate, but for an entire video).

Thanks Again!!!
Click to expand...

I know you said you don't want to charge by the hour, But I'm a little old fashion, so that's where I start. First thing you need to do is figure out your hourly or day rate. Some people charge a different rate for different job functions, such as directing, writing, video, and audio for example. I charge the same rate no matter what I'm doing. Once you select your hourly or day rate everything else will fall into place. Since you have produced around 20 videos already, you probably have a pretty good idea how long it took to complete the various projects. Use that information to help estimate how many hours it will take to complete this new project, and then multiply by your hourly rate. I also like to rate these projects the same way as I do TV commercial projects. Either tier 3 local, tier 2 regional, or tier 1 national. Once I know the level the client wants to work at, it becomes easier to determine the budget level and how many hours it will take to produce a product at this level. But in my opinion, the best thing you could ever do in a situation like this, is to put the ball back into their court… Ask the client, So what kind of budget were you thinking about to produce this video? Once you talk with the client and know what quality level you are producing, and the accompanying budget, things should start to clarify. As far as using $1000 a finished min to calculate your pricing, it just depends. For knocking out a tier 3 low cost video taking minimal time, that rate may be a little high. And for producing a tier 1 ultra high quality video with custom motion graphics, hours of lighting setups, great narration, so forth, it may be way low. Sometimes it ends up costing $3000 to $5000 a finished min. In some instances where the client has less than the required budget, you might suggest… well your $3000 budget really isn't enough to produce a 5-7min video at the quality level you are after, but we could produce a very nice 2.5 to 3min video with that budget. I think you will find that some clients want a tier 1 level work on a tier 3 budget. Imagine that!
 
Pricing can be a nightmare, that could be a valuable resource for some people. Nice share
 
Hourly pricing is very often not possible - but I really wish it was. This is because Project based pricing immediately puts you and your customer into corners of opposing motivations.
You want to work the fewest hours possible on the project because that is how YOU get more value from the job. The client wants to get the most possible hours out of you because that is how THEY get more value from the job.
That just sounds like an adversarial working experience just waiting to happen.

When we bill by the hour there is a much greater condition of mutual expectation and agreement on work aspects. When the client understands how much each "unit of production" costs (or is worth) then at least there is a much better chance that neither party ever feels that the other is trying to over-exploit them.
 
Here in Austin, Texas, a 2 minute video costs a business/corporate company about $3500.
You can even view it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOLm5WvmLKs
There were quotes for upwards of $6500 for the same video shoot.
Two person shoot with a P3 cam and a few lights.
The shoot took about 3 hours and then whatever editing took.

Maybe that will give you an idea?
 
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