How Much Do I Charge for a Corporate Video ?

• For Corporate - $25 - $50 / second   $1500/minute - $3000/ minute
    or $ 150/minute - not a lot of edits
    or $ 750/minute - a lot more editing
    or $ 100/hour - at whatever ratio is right - probably 150:1 to 250:1 - meaning
          a 10 minute video would by 150x10/60=25 hours or $2500
          a 10 minute video would be 250x10/60=41 hours or $4100
• For a video Montage - pictures, music, transitions:  $40 - $60 per finished minute
• For a Wedding/Non-Corporate Video - $2,000 for a 6-7 minute video
  (that takes 30+ hours to complete - or 4+ hours a minute to edit  (a 240:1 ratio) or  about $60 - $75 / hour).

Talent adds more, as does music rights and scripting

 

stephenlnoe Total Posts: 801

Posted: Dec 23, 2004 - 06:59       Link to Full Thread Hi, You've got to write out a statement of work listing exactly what they'll get for their bread. Do not go beyond what is written on your statement of work. Make sure to write in your contract that anything beyond what is stated will incur additional charges. This eliminates scope creep and allows you to take his small budget and hold him to it. If the project grows then so does the fee. Don't forget there is no R in fee. Below I linked a program that has the legal paperwork templates created for you. I suggest you look into it. Serious magic is seriously expensive. Is your budget high enough to cover the cost. Is the cost to gain in your favor? Does the customer want it enough to pay for it? It may seem like overkill but learning the answers to these kinds of questions will serve you well in your next job. You can talk from a position of confidence and knowlege. These questions are fundamental business questions and will apply to just about any endeavor. good luck and best wishes.....

Andy Browne - Digital Memories

Posted: Dec 19, 2004 - 08:05   Paul... I am not saying I charge by the finished mninute... I use it merely as a guage. In August I did a 12 minute product demonstration video. It was shot over a 10 hour period with green screen. I did 90% of the scripting and facilitated 3 pre-production meetings lasting over 12 hours. My charges for the completed video exceeded 7x my "ball-park" estimate. The customer know this going in. The nice thing, the next lowest bid they got was for $20,000. But I didn't have the make-up artist, hair stylist, grip, lighting engineer.   Signature: Andy Browne Charlotte, NC USA Streaming Videos: Carolinas Pinnacle Liquid Users Group - PLUG

CamDawg Total Posts: 21

Posted: Dec 19, 2004 - 15:35     Having worked in Corporate/Industrial video production both from the in-house and freelance perspectives for many years I can give you my observations. First, for pre-production, scripting, etc. it is customary to charge by the job. Set an amount to provide the product (ie, script) with reasonable changes, input from the client. State up-front that after 2 (or whatever number you want) rewrites each subsequent draft will carry extra charges. Second, during production it is common to charge by the day. State up-front the longest time you are willing to work in a day (8 hours? 10?). Bill them by the day and you don't have to work out the time spent in traffic, at lunch or whatever. Post-production is often billed by the hour if a client representative is going to be present. You can charge the same way as pre-production if you are going to be working on your own. Be sure to let them know that excessive changes will cost more. Don't forget to add in any other fees that you will encounter such as music, narrator, stock footage, etc. if you are going to have to pay for it upfront. Call around first to get estimates of expenses and then build in a buffer. It is funny that 10 years or so ago before NLE's were prevelent we usually figured $750 - $1000 per finished minute. Times and technology have changed that tremendously. Also, keep in mind that if this is your first paying job it is valuable to you too. You can use it to sell your services in the future. Ask up front for permission to use the project in your demo reel or on it's own. Shouldn't be a problem unless there is proprietary info in the program. You MIGHT even cut them a break if they allow you to use it but don't undercut yourself or they will expect it everytime. Most clients will love it if you come in under budget so build in enough extra that you can do that and still not short yourself. Good luck.

video777 L

Posted: Dec 18, 2004 - 21:27    I stopped charging by the hour a long time ago. It makes it very difficult to give the clients an estimate. You never know what difficulties or challenges you might face. What are you going to say, "Well it took me a ten hours longer than I expected because I ran into some trouble. Gee I hope you don't mind paying all this extra money." Not only that but they will try and have you cut out some things so they don't have to pay as much. The best thing to do IMO is this: 1) Talk to the clients and ask what they expect. 2) Find out if they have a budget and what they are planning on committing to this project. 3) Estimate in your mind how many hours it will take you. 4) Give them a solid quote for the exact amount. I put this amount in the contract along with a section that explains that half is required at time of booking and is non-refundable, etc. If I was doing a commercial I would charge by the second similar to what's already been mentioned $25-$50 per/second. I typically get $2,000 for a 6-7 minute video (that takes 30+ hours to complete).

pelsass

Posted: Dec 18, 2004 - 16:43    Andy, I see big differences in your hourly rate versus your "finished minute" rate. Your hourly rate seems high to me...I charge half that, at $50 per hour (although I am sure you are worth it). However, when you and I compare charges by "finished minute", well, I don't do that. You see, for me, a 7 minute corporate video, like the one I did for the school district, could take up at least 30 hours of my time. That means, I would charge $1500, not $700 (as by your finished minute rate). Bottom line, is I don't like to quote anyone any basic guidelines, but instead I do it like a law firm, I bill by the hour and I will only give them a rough idea of the number of hours involved. I will even have a contingency amount built in to cover my rear. I think this is the safest way to go. However, if this guy is asking about how to do the corporate video, well, then we haven't helped him at all. What is it that the company wants? Why do you feel it necessary to use keying? Is there some particular reason that you feel it is necessary? Find out what it is they want the video to do. That is VERY important. Too often, there is some "big cheese" at the top who wants the video to look a certain way, and he misses the whole point. The point is for the video to be EFFECTIVE towards the desired reaction of the audience. So, figure out what the AUDIENCE would want to see and hear, then go from that angle. Don't get too caught up in what the corporate people tell you, as that's why they are paying you the big bucks. If they have a marketing person, then use that person for ideas, but the administrative people are clueless, and yet some of them will want to do things there way. Remind them that you are making the video so that it works.

Andy Browne - Digital Memories

Posted: Dec 18, 2004 - 10:39     Sonny... I guess you are seeking input on HOW and WHAT to charge. The simple answer is EVERYTHING you do is billable. When I do a corporate video, my time is spent in Pre-production (consultation and development), Production (transportation to and from location and actual filming), Post Production (editing). My general rate is $100 per hour. A good rule of thumb I use to ball park the total cost of a video is $100-$150 per finished minute. That means a 30 minute training video will cost between $3,000-$4,500.