You ask three production companies for a quote on the same video and get $2,800, $6,500 and $14,000. None of them is wrong. They are quoting different amounts of work, and unless you ask, none of the quotes will tell you which parts differ.
These eight questions turn three incomparable numbers into a decision. Listen to the answers, and listen just as hard to how quickly and how specifically they arrive.
1. Who is actually on set, and what does each person do?
You want roles, not a headcount.
A good answer sounds like: “A camera operator, a sound person, and me directing. For your shoot we do not need a separate lighting technician because we are working in one room.”
One person doing everything is a legitimate way to work and it is cheaper. It is also slower on the day and less forgiving when something goes wrong. That tradeoff is fine as long as you know you are making it.
If the answer is a vague “our team,” ask again. On the day, the number of hands is what determines how much gets filmed.
2. How many shoot days, and how long is a day?
A “day” is not a standard unit. For some companies it is eight hours, for others ten, and overtime rates vary.
Ask specifically: how many hours, when the clock starts, and what happens if you run over. That last one is where friendly relationships go wrong at 6 PM.
Also ask how long setup takes before anyone films. If setup is inside your day, your ten-hour day may be six hours of filming.
3. What exactly do I get back, and when?
Get this itemized, in writing.
A complete answer names the deliverables and a date: one 90-second horizontal video, three vertical cuts, captions in both languages, delivered in two weeks. A vague answer, “we will send you the final video,” is not something you can hold anyone to.
Ask specifically about versions. The difference between one video and one video plus four social cuts is significant editing work, and it is much cheaper to agree now than to request later.
4. How many rounds of revisions are included, and what counts as one?
The most common source of disputes in this business.
A good answer has a number, two or three rounds, and a definition. “Changing the music and re-cutting” is a different thing from “fix a name in the caption,” and a studio that has done this before will distinguish them without being pushed.
No number usually means either unlimited-until-they-get-tired, or one round and a surprise invoice.
5. Who owns the raw footage, and do I get it?
You should own the finished work. Raw footage is more often negotiable than people realize, and worth asking about anyway.
This becomes expensive eighteen months later when you want to re-edit and the material lives on somebody else’s drive. If they do keep it, ask how long they keep it for, because “we still have it” and “we deleted it after a year” are both common answers.
6. Is the music licensed for how I plan to use it?
Boring, and it is the one that produces real problems.
A track licensed for organic social use is not necessarily licensed for paid advertising. If you plan to put money behind the video, say so before the edit, not after. Rights issues surface at the worst possible time, which is when the ad is already running.
7. Can I see three finished pieces like mine?
Not a showreel. A showreel is the best four seconds of everything they have ever shot, and every showreel looks good.
Ask for three complete videos of the kind you are commissioning. If you want a testimonial, ask for testimonials. Beautiful commercial work tells you nothing about whether they can make a nervous client comfortable in their own office.
Watch for the thing that showreels hide: how the whole piece holds together, whether the audio is consistent, and whether the ending lands or just stops.
8. What happens if something goes wrong?
The location falls through. The person on camera gets sick. It rains on the outdoor day.
You are listening for whether they have thought about it. Rescheduling policy, deposit terms, whether there is a backup for the key gear. A studio that has worked for a while answers this immediately, because all of it has happened to them.
The two answers that should make you slow down
A quote with no itemization. One number for everything means you cannot tell what is being cut when you ask them to reduce it, and you cannot compare it against anyone else’s.
Reluctance to say a date. Turnaround is the most common broken promise in video. Someone who has delivered regularly has a number ready.
Before you ask any of it
Have your side ready. It changes the quality of the quotes you get:
- What the video is for, and where it will play
- Roughly how long, and whether that is a hard limit
- Where it films
- When you need it
- What your budget actually is
That last one is worth being straight about. Producers are not trying to spend all of it. Knowing the number lets them tell you what is possible within it, and a producer working blind will quote the version that protects them, which is the expensive one.
How we answer these
We shoot video around New York from a studio in the Bronx, so treat this section as what it is. But these are the questions we get asked, and it is only fair to answer them.
Crew depends on the shoot and we tell you who is coming and what each person does before the day. We quote itemized, so you can see which part is the shoot and which is the edit. Deliverables and dates go in writing, including how many social cuts and in which languages. Video work includes up to two rounds of changes, and what we hand over is the finished piece rather than the raw footage. We work in English and Spanish, and there is a makeup artist on set for shoots where people are on camera, which matters most for people who are not used to being filmed.
For multi-camera work we run four cameras on a live switcher, which means the edit starts from something already assembled rather than from hours of separate files.
And if we think the version you are describing costs more than it needs to, we will say so before quoting it.
Tell us what you need and we will come back with an itemized number.
You can also read what video costs in New York by type, or, if you are on the podcast side instead, the seven questions worth asking a podcast studio.