How much does video production cost? Real figures from 50+ quotes
Video production pricing can be hard to pin down. Ask for a ballpark and you'll usually get "it depends" — which is true, but also not much help when you're trying to put a budget together. As a video production company in London, here's what some of the most common project types actually cost, and what to look out for when you're comparing quotes.
Last updated: August 2026
The numbers below are drawn from more than fifty real quotes for real projects that we issued from December 2025 to June 2026, not industry averages or estimates. Every project is different, but the patterns are consistent enough to give you an accurate picture.
How is video production priced?
Our video production rates are built around day rates. We quote for projects by working out how many days of filming a project needs, the extent of the crew, how much pre-production needs to happen before the shoot, and how much post-production is required afterwards. We then add any additional costs like buyouts, talent fees, music licensing, location fees, and specialist support. We will also sometimes add a production fee for more complex projects.
If you're looking at hiring a single videographer rather than a production company, our guide to videographer costs covers day rates in more detail.
What do common projects cost?
As a guide, here are some of the most common project types and where costs typically land. These are real figures drawn from quotes we sent out December 2025 – June 2026. They skew towards corporate video pricing — as a production company close to the City of London, we get proportionately more of those enquiries, so there was more of that data to draw on. All figures exclude VAT.
Interview and testimonial films — from £3,500 to £5,000
A single-subject film: an executive interview, a customer testimonial, a talking-head piece for your website. Typically a full day of filming with a two-person crew, followed by editing into a finished 1-3 minute film with review rounds included.
Case study films — from £4,500 to £6,000
An interview-led story with supporting footage, usually delivered as a hero film plus cutdowns for social. These need more planning than a straight interview and more editing time too, because the story is often built in the edit. Motion graphics also push the range above the listed figures.
Multi-film productions — from £6,000 to £10,000+
Several films from a shoot day: an interview series, a set of case studies filmed together, or a brand film with a suite of supporting social media content. Shooting several films together is more cost-effective than commissioning them one at a time, but relies on a well-planned shoot and enough post-production time.
Larger productions — £8,500 to £15,000+
Multi-day shoots with bigger crews, multiple locations, or filming outside London. These projects need a much greater level of coordination, and usually carry a production fee (more on that below).
What determines the cost of a project?
Lots of factors contribute to the overall cost of a video production, but these five factors often impact overall cost more than people expect.
1. The deliverables. More films, more cutdowns, more aspect ratios, more versions. The shoot is rarely what makes a project expensive — the deliverables list is, because every additional film and format adds editing time. As an example, we recently delivered a project with more than 100 deliverables from a one-day shoot. The post-production costs were significantly higher than they would’ve been for a more typical set of deliverables.
2. Crew size. Additional crew will increase production costs. Bigger projects — more locations, more ambitious lighting, multiple cameras — need bigger teams.
3. Planning and pre-production. This is one that can actually reduce your costs if done properly. Not every film needs extensive pre-production, but every film benefits from good planning. Thorough pre-production can prevent a whole range of issues from arising later on during the production process. Read more about what pre-production includes.
4. Post-production spec. The level of finish your films need. A 90-second edit with music and captions is a very different job to a three-minute film with sound design and animated graphics. The filming might be identical, but the post-production needs are very different. Motion graphics are a clear and common example: simple titles and captions are part of most edits, but animation and infographics require specialist work and are quoted for as a separate line item.
5. Travel. Filming away from your home city adds travel time for each crew member, plus accommodation for longer trips — and because travel is billed per person, it scales with crew size. On distant locations, shooting with a smaller crew can be more economical than running a shorter shoot.
And what makes a price change after it's agreed?
We quote project fees as fixed costs, so we do our best to stick to that. But sometimes things change, and looking back across the projects that we have had to revise costs on, it is nearly always because the scope of the project grew beyond the original agreement. This is almost always down to asking for more deliverables — an extra film, more cutdowns, the same film in another format.
Asking for additional deliverables during the later stages of a production can also be more costly than asking for the same deliverables at the start. When we know all of the deliverables at the outset, we plan for them and make sure to capture everything we need during filming. When they’re asked for as an afterthought, the footage we have from the shoot has to work harder to create those additional edits — and that can take more editing time.
What is a production fee?
On more complex projects, we add a production fee of 8% to the quote. It covers the work that doesn't belong to any single line item: scheduling across locations, managing contributors and freelance crew, insurance, and the logistics that keep a multi-day or multi-location shoot running properly.
We don’t typically apply it to more straightforward work, and it appears as a line item on the quote, not something folded invisibly into the rates. But applying a production fee is common practice and at the discretion of any production company.
What should you ask when comparing quotes?
Video production quotes vary enormously, and the cheapest and most expensive option for the same brief can be thousands of pounds apart. Some of that is positioning, but a lot of it comes down to differences in scope — and there's no standard format for how quotes present it. Here are some things to check when looking at quotes.
What does the day rate cover? The day rate is the easiest number to compare, and also the least useful if you don’t know what it includes. Don’t be afraid to ask for clarity about what the quote does and does not cover if you are unsure.
Is the equipment included? Traditionally, a rental fee is charged for the equipment needed on a shoot – whether that equipment is owned by the production company or brought in from a rental house. But it is also increasingly common for production companies to fold equipment costs into their existing rates, which is how we operate. We’ll only include rental costs if we are actually bringing in specialist equipment from a rental house. Make sure you know how your production company handles this to avoid any surprises.
What happens if the scope changes? Almost every re-quote we’ve ever issued has been because the deliverables changed from what was asked for in the original brief. Decide what you actually need — how many films, how long, which formats — as early as you can, and the price should stop moving.
A note on these numbers:
This is our pricing – one production company in London, excluding VAT. It isn't a market survey, and rates will vary by region, sector and crew. But real numbers are more useful than vague ranges — and if you're comparing these figures against other quotes, you'll at least know what questions to ask.
If you're planning a project and want a fixed quote, get in touch — we’ll get back to you within 24 hours.
