What does the production phase cost?

Jun 30

Half of the people who work in this industry love this phase the most (the other half loves post-production). It’s what drives them to get up in the morning. It’s the opportunity to really show what they can do and create “magic” from the camera.

>>Jump straight to the cost

Location

The location will determine some upfront costs. An interview at your desk or at home costs nothing to rent. A separate space or studio may have a cost associated.

Actors

If you need professional actors for your production, they need to be hired. A talent agency can easily help with this but the production company may know some actors as well. Cost depends on how specific and how skilled you need the actors to be.

Gear

Gear may be listed as a line item on an estimate or it may not. Some production companies will roll it into the other hourly rates, other, generally larger ones, separate everything out. Total cost of gear tends to scale with the number of cameras needed.

A word of caution on gear–
Cameras, lenses, and lighting equipment lists often become a source of “technical confusion” or a “flex” of capability, credibility, or simply to increase price. It can be listed with heavy industry jargon, overly specific, and include brand names (RED, ARRI) or words like “cinema” or “8K”. Just because they have an “cinema camera” does not mean it’s the best camera for the project.
A camera used primarily for Hollywood movies is way overboard for a simple 2 minute interview destined for your website. Try not to get distracted or confused by the gear listing. Ultimately, you should be paying for the gear that is the right gear for the project.

Ask these questions:

Can I see finished product examples using the gear that will be used for our project?
Are you renting gear or do you own it? (You may still pay a ‘rental fee’ or ‘use fee’ of company-owned gear).

Camera Cost - $300-$800 per camera per day

Other Gear Cost - $0-$600 per day

Crew on set

The cost of crew is most easily scaled based on the number of people involved. So if you’re looking for a basic understanding of if a shoot is simple or complex, ask how many people are on the production crew.

One-Person Band (Producer-Editor-Director) - This is the freelancer who generally works alone. These sets are simple–a single camera, maybe a small light depending on the environment, and an easy audio kit. Show up, use what’s there, in and out in 1-4 hours. Gear may be broken out into its own line item, but in total, the per-hour cost should fall in the range below.

Cost - $30-$100/hour

Small Crew - These have 2-4 people as a crew depending on the environment and what’s being captured. Starting with a crew of two people. It's likely a “videographer” (to run the camera) and a “producer” (conduct the interview, coordinate and lead the shoot). As complexity increases– length of the day, lots of moving around, difficult environments that need lots of lighting, etc– the crew might add one or two more people. A second camera and videographer could be added, a “grip” (which, in this case, is just an extra set of hands), perhaps someone to help setup/move lights. A specific person may be added to address audio & microphones if more than one person is on screen.

An important question here is where the crew comes from. An in-house, full-time crew is the most consistent for pricing and results. These people are on-staff, dedicated to the production company and their work. However, it’s common for production companies to subcontract out to crew for shoots. Consistency is key. Ask how long they’ve worked together, what other productions the crew member has worked on, and what their role was in the other productions.

Sometimes these are billed hourly, other companies will do them in half-day (aka “4-hour minimum) or full-day rates (8-10 hour day). Hourly prices are good for crews that can set up quickly. Half and full-day rates are better for slower/more complex setups.

Hourly Cost - $150-$300 per hour for the full crew

Day Rate Cost - $1,250 half-day, $2.500 full-day

Large Crew - Envision a movie set (or Google “movie set photos”). These crews can be a few thousand dollars to tens of thousands or millions. As referenced earlier, costs go up proportional to the number of people and large crews certainly make that happen fast. Below are descriptions of various crew roles. All of these roles have their own rate, can be union or non-union, and paid hourly or day-rate. The production company should know all of these and budget accordingly in their estimate to you.

Crew cost - $200-1200 per crew member, per day (role/experience based)

Minimum - $5,000 total per day

Common Roles on set

Director - Top of the food chain. The director is the lead creative decision maker for everything. They have ultimate responsibility for bringing the vision to life for the camera to capture. This is the one role on a larger set that is billed at a fully flat rate for the project. (Example: $10,000 flat rate for an entire commercial project)

Director of Photography (“DP”) - In charge of all the cameras, lighting, and videographers (often called 1st camera, 2nd camera, etc). This person decides the visual “look” captured by the camera. Often this is through camera settings, camera angles, camera movement, recording formats, and directing the lighting crew.

Producer - Coordinator/logistics of the set. While the Director is focused on what’s being captured as a holistic vision, the Producer is moving all the pieces around the set. Coordinating and calling crew and on-screen talent, checking to make sure everyone has everything they need, and sometimes conducting interviews.

Production Designer - This person controls everything in the physical environment seen on camera. From the location chosen, decor and props used on the set, and clothing worn on-screen.

Boom Operator - Common when multiple people are on-camera together. Rather than putting a mic on each person, a special boom mic can be suspended over/under/next (but never visible to the camera!). The boom operator has the essential job of making sure everyone can be heard. It may look like holding a pole with a mic on the end, but it is a very specific and important role.

Now for a few you’ve seen in movie credits but maybe not known their job…

Gaffer - A gaffer is in charge of the lighting on set and often has an electrician-type background. Where lights need to be placed and moved to achieve the vision of the director and director of photography

Grip - Grips are in charge of moving, placing, and adjusting the lighting and light modifiers on set at the direction of the Key Grip .. They are essential in making complex lighting and camera movements happen.