What’s the Average Cost of a Brand Video?

Branded videos represent one of the most compelling opportunities to share your brand’s story and set the audience straight. But, brand videos can also take a lot of time, organizational skills, and money to produce. With video production rates varying so drastically from one project to the next, defining the average cost of a brand video may seem like something that simply can’t be done. However, there are ways to break down the numbers, estimate the various expenses, and define the average cost of a brand video — let’s take a look!

Beverly Boy Production Crew Rates

If you’re going to produce a brand video, you’re going to need a crew. This means you need someone to operate the cameras, call the shots of the production, and edit the final footage for the big screen. While the average cost of various cast and crew members can vary from one studio or agency to the next, it’s important for you to know the baseline rates and the estimated price ceiling for each crew member involved in producing your brand’s story. Hourly rates are as follows:

• Film Director – >$250 per hour
• Script Writer – >$150 per hour
• Cameraman – >$400 per hour
• Editor – >$175 per hour
• Actors – >$500 per hour
• Equipment – up to 100s per hour
• Studio Shooting – up to $400 per hour
• Narrator – >$400 per hour
• Audio Files – up to $1000
• Video Rendering – up to $75 per hour
• B-Roll – expect to pay a percentage between 10 and 50% of your total cost
• Miscellaneous Fees – can cost very little up to 1000s extra

Keep in mind that each of the above rates is the maximum estimated hourly expense that you can expect to pay and that many of these rates will be significantly lower for you if producing a brand video that is of average quality and average scope.

Average Cost Of Various Styles of Brand Video

So we know that brand videos have varied production rates. The style of video directly influences the rate of production. Animated videos tend to have the highest costs, but they are also some of the most flexible and easiest for your audience to relate with. Likewise, testimonial style videos and interviews have the lowest rates of production but they often need more than just the interview in order to produce branded copy that sells your products or services to the world.

Most types of video will run between $1,000 and $10,000 per minute to produce with the exception of some animated video formats including stop motion and 3D rendering that may cost more. Here’s how each style of brand video can be estimated based on a 2-minute average playtime:

• Stock image videos with limited use of characters or outside sources – $1,000 to $3,000
• Animated videos with 2 characters and a basic environment – $2,000 to $5,000
• Animated videos with more than 2 characters & extensive environment – $5,000 to $20,000
• Documentary style videos with corporate interviews & experts – $2,000 to $6,000
• Lifestyle videos with a narrator and commercial production features – $5,000 to $25,000
• Narrative videos with limited location shooting, minimal scripting & few actors – $2,000 to $4,000

These are just some of the potential rates involved in producing a brand video. Still, wondering what’s the average cost of a brand video? Give Beverly Boy Productions a call and we’ll help you decide a budget for your film project.