Rates for shooting a commercial

[Todd Terry]

There is no easy answer for that, other than “how long does it take” x “your hourly rate” + “any expenses.”

We’re often asked “How much does a commercial cost?” and my smartass answer is “How long is a road? It just depends on where you want to go and what kind of scenery you’d like along the way.”

We have set hourly rates for writing, shooting, editing, meetings, and everything else. A spot that takes half a day to shoot will cost less than one that takes three days of shooting. Same for editing. Is there travel involved? Do they want to shoot 35mm film or HD? Does anything explode or fly? Do they insist on James Earl Jones for the voiceover? There are countless factors.

However, your question was “What would you guys charge…”

Local commercials I direct and we produce typically fall within the $5K to $15K range. Something from $9K-$12K is common for us.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[John Davidson]

Sort of a loaded question. Are you insured? Do you have lots of overhead? The costs of doing business often drive the cost of production. Are you in a large city or small? Market size also factors in. Have you done this for 10 years and know what caveats to avoid? Music libraries will cost money. Easy answer – 10k. Medium answer – 30k. Hard answer – 2k. DSLR’s are used all over broadcast nowadays, so just because your camera didn’t cost 30k doesn’t mean you can’t charge a premium price.

The quality of your storytelling and your clients ability to pay will define what you cost.

[Grinner Hester]

Just stick to your usual day rate. This way, you are covered if they make a bigger production out of it than needed. Same for post. It’s ok to quote a flat bid, just round up for revisions before ya quote it. Today, these quickies don’t have to cost the client more than a few grand.

[Trey Eckles]

Thanks. I was looking at turnhere.com. I will be shooting commercials similar to that. Do you guys think this company pricing is to low?

[Todd Terry]

Well, those are not what I’d really call polished commercials. They are ehh-not-too-bad web videos, stick-the-business-owner-on-camera and shoot-a-little-B-roll-and-slap-it-together videos.

It’s sort of comparing apples and oranges when you ask the “What would you charge?” question. Yeah, we charge at least ten to twenty times as much as they do. Is our product ten or twenty times better? Well, yes, I think so. But not everyone or every client needs high-end slick production, especially if it’s not destined for broadcast.

Still… I have no idea how they do it for that money. Even a super down-n-dirty no-lighting no-scripting no-story bad web video one would think would cost more than $400 (which would seem to be what their minimum basically is, based on their six-month contract).

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Todd Terry]

On further examination of that website, LOVE this part from their “tips for a successfull shoot” section for clients….

First, they say….

“Lighting is critical to the quality of your video…”

Immediately followed by…

“TurnHere filmmakers shoot using all natural lighting.”

With the addendum…

“If you own a restaurant or a bar think about how you can temporarily improve lighting.”

Nice that they are asking clients to be their own directors of photography.
Will they ask them to edit next, too? Hahah. Hmmm, that may not be funny. More like sad.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Mark Landman]

If I’m not mistaken. turnhere.com pays a whopping $200 to shoot, edit and upload a spot within 24 hours. I wouldn’t go within 2 light-years of them.

Mark Landman
PM Productions
Champaign, IL

[Cory Petkovsek]

Sales principle: Price based upon value to the client.

When you say 30 second commercials, some people here (like me) think broadcast; which is where Todd’s prices come in to play. What you are really talking about are low production value web video. Those are $500-1000 for equipment/crew/production/post. You can make them cheaper once you develop infrastructure, but that’s not a market I recommend.

Cory

—
Corporate Video

[Cory Petkovsek]

$500-1000 to start depending on what they want to show.

—
Corporate Video

[Mark Suszko]

I love step three of the workflow process as described on their web site: “Your video is magically created”.