What Is A Video Production Company?
A video production company films and edits videos and multimedia for brands. They can work on a wide array of projects, including:
- Onboarding videos
- Demo videos
- How-To’s
- Motion graphics and animation
- Brand videos
- Commercials
- And more!
What Is A Full-Service Video Production Company?
A full-service video production company is more involved in the conceptualization, storyboarding and release of a video.
For instance, they have access to:
- Photographers who can shoot behind the scenes images.
- Experts who can storyboard the video.
- Writers who can create a script.
- A robust crew who can make the shooting process simple
- A marketing team who can help release the video and ensure it is a success. And more!
What Companies Make Movies?
Although video production companies are involved in the creation of Hollywood styles movies and feature films, those production studios vary greatly from the full-service video production companies that create videos and short movies for brands.
As you search for the best video production firm for your business needs, make sure that have experience creating multimedia for brand growth purposes.
28 Questions To Ask A Top Video Production Company Before You Hire Them
- How would you describe our brand?
- What do you think of our visual identity so far?
- What video would you suggest to reach our goal and why?
- How will you define our demographic and pinpoint the most important messaging?
- What trends do you think should we incorporate in our video and why?
- Who will be working on this video?
- What role will they have?
- Is this team member full-time, part-time or freelance? Have you worked with them before?
- What similar projects have they worked on and what was the outcome?
- Does this person cost an extra fee on top of our general production costs?
- Do you have an in-house producer?
- Will your producer work with our in-house producer or point of contact?
- Who will send the call sheet?
- Who will scout and secure locations (permits included)?
- Who handles catering, transportation, props, music playlist, casting, and glam squads?
- Who will be in charge of keeping the shoot on schedule?
- What information or assistance will you need from us leading up to the shoot, during in, and post-production?
- What videos within our industry have you worked on and what was the result?
- Have you created videos that achieved a similar business goal? What was the result?
- Tell us about your most difficult shoot. What did you learn from it?
- How would you describe your creative aesthetic?
- What filmmakers, brands, or campaigns inspire you and why?
- What video trends should we be paying attention to?
- What is the minimum this project will cost? The maximum?
- What reasonable overtime charges should we factor in?
- Do we need to budget for additional crew members, stylists, and hair and makeup artists, or does your cost include them?
- Does this cost include catering, cost of location, styling and glam items, transportation and props?
- Are there other costs that we should expect to incur throughout the production process?
How To Choose The Best Video Production Company
Type Of Video
Before you start searching for the perfect video producers to build your visual content, determine the goal your brand needs to reach and the type of video you think would do so.
Research your industry, company type, and competitors to see the content that consumers are gravitating towards, then evaluate if that content might (or might not) work for your business, too.
Timeframe
The amount of time you have to actually determine a concept, shoot the video, and edit several versions will determine the video production agency you choose to partner with.
Some agencies have faster turnarounds than others or may charge a hefty fee to expedite a project to meet your deadline.
Marketing Expertise
The best video production agencies also have digital marketing expertise. This knowledge helps them identify the types of videos that do best on various platforms, the lengths they should be, and what particular demographics relate to best.
Remember, you aren’t creating an artistic film -- you are promoting a business. Therefore, every idea -- even the creative ones -- need to be rooted in B2B or B2C objectives. Don’t just rely on an agency to have great shooting and editing skills -- an equal amount of strategy needs to be present.
The Crew
Many incredible video agencies have varying levels of full-time, part-time and freelance crew members, and these might not be the same every time they work to produce a video.
Before you sign a contract with a production company, ask who your point of contact will be throughout the project, who exactly will be working on your video, and in what capacity.
Bonus Tip: Even if you have collaborated with a video production company previously, ask all the same questions about crew members. They may not assign you the exact same team members, meaning you could oblige your brand to work with people whom you haven’t personally vetted yet.
What Are The 3 Stages Of Video Production?
Pre-Production
Pre-production is all the preparation leading up to the shoot. This includes:
- Conceptualization
- Storyboarding
- Casting
- Securing filming locations and permits
- Creating a call sheet and schedule
- And more!
Production
Production is the actual day or days that you film. When a video production agency conducts proper pre-production, you’ll know exactly how long production will run and how much it will cost.
Post-Production
Post-production puts all the pieces together into a final product. This includes:
- Editing
- Sound mixing
- Distribution
- Marketing
- And more!
How Much Does A Film Production Company Cost To Hire?
Film production companies can be quite costly. After all, you are paying for the final product, in addition to many hours of work shooting and editing the video, as well as the large crew. The final price largely depends on how big your project is.
There are a few average costs to keep in mind, though.
- Video editing can cost between $40 and $125 per hour.
- Camera-trained actors can cost $50 to $500 per hour.
- Studio time can run $400 per hour or more.
- Crew members can cost $25 to $75 per hour, depending on experience.
Find the best video production companies in the agency listings above.
