Kaiser Permanente brand film
Health systemMade for an organisation that runs its own procurement process. Ask any company you are considering to show you work at this scale, not a showreel.
How to choose a corporate video production company
Ten questions that tell you more than any showreel will, and the answers you should expect. Most of them are about process, access and who owns the footage.
We publish our rates, our process and our timelines. If a company will not, that is itself an answer. Or build your own estimate in two minutes.
What to ask a company to show you
Four full films rather than a reel, which is exactly what you should be asking any company for.
Databricks company film
Enterprise techA finished company film, not a montage of other clients. Full films tell you far more about a production company than a reel does.
Veld Group client story
Professional servicesA repeat client across four films. Repeat work is the single most useful signal available when you are comparing companies.
Gourmet Trading grower interview
Food and agricultureFilmed inside a working packhouse without stopping the line. Ask how a company handles access, because that is what actually goes wrong.
Ten questions worth asking
Six that separate companies, and four more in the FAQs below.
Can I see three full films, not a reel?A showreel is three seconds of everyone best shot. A full film shows whether they can hold a story, cut an interview and land an ending. Ask for the whole thing.-
What does this actually cost?A company that will not give a range before a discovery call is either building a pitch or has no standard rates. Ours are published, line by line.
-
Who is actually on the shoot?The people who pitch are often not the people who film. Ask who is holding the camera, who is directing and whether they are staff or freelance.
-
How many review rounds are included?One consolidated round should be priced in. A company that is vague here is planning to charge you for the revisions your approval chain will inevitably need.
-
Who owns the footage afterwards?You should own the finished films and the licensed footage. Ask specifically about raw material, project files and who can access them.
-
How do you work around our operation?Ask for a specific example. Filming in a working hospital, plant or packhouse is a planning problem, and the answer tells you whether they have done it.
Three kinds of company, and what each is for
None of these is wrong. They are wrong for particular jobs.
This page
Freelance crew
One or two people, hired directly
- Length
- Simple, single-location
- Runs on
- A straightforward interview film
- Cost
- Lowest
Production company
A team with process and range
- Length
- Most corporate work
- Runs on
- Multi-format, multi-location
- Cost
- Middle
Full-service agency
Strategy, media buying and production
- Length
- Campaign-level work
- Runs on
- Paid campaigns with media planning
- Cost
- Highest
Internal team plus crew
Your staff, our crew and kit
- Length
- High-volume, ongoing
- Runs on
- Weekly or monthly content
- Cost
- Variable
Most companies overbuy here in the same way they overbuy formats. A freelance crew will make a good single interview film. What they will not usually do is scope a year of content, run an approval chain or turn one event into a library. Our own ranges are on the cost guide.
How to choose a corporate video production company
Choosing a corporate video production company comes down to six checks: full films rather than a showreel, published or at least stated rates, who is actually on the shoot, how many review rounds are included, who owns the footage afterwards, and whether they have filmed inside an operation like yours before.
Almost nobody chooses badly on craft. Plenty of companies can light an interview. What goes wrong afterwards is nearly always process: a review chain nobody mapped, a deliverable list that arrived after the shoot, footage the client turns out not to own, or a crew that had never worked in a live environment and stopped the work for a day. Those are all knowable before you sign, and none of them appear in a showreel.
1Who is this for?
Marketing and communications teams commissioning video for the first time, anyone comparing quotes that are wildly far apart, and teams who have been burned by a project that ran late.
2What should I ask for?
Three full films, a written range, the names of who will be on the shoot, the review round policy and a plain answer on footage ownership.
3What does it cost?
Between $3,500 and $50,000 depending on format. A typical project with one shoot day and one finished film runs $9,000 to $13,500.
What each format should cost you
So you can tell whether a quote is reasonable before you compare it.
What a reasonable quote looks like
Our published ranges, so you have something to compare any other quote against.
| Package | Typical range | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Customer testimonial | $3,500–$15,000 | One story, or a batch day covering several |
| Corporate or interview video | $6,000–$15,000 | Leadership, company and interview-led films |
| Product video or explainer | $6,000–$25,000 | Product films, demos and animated explainers |
| Training or internal video | $6,000–$25,000 | Onboarding, compliance and internal comms |
| Recruitment or culture video | $9,000–$35,000 | Employer brand across one or several sites |
| Video podcast series | $9,000–$25,000 | Recurring episodic production |
| Brand story film | $9,000–$35,000 | Multi-location brand film with cutdowns |
| Commercial or video ad | $9,000–$50,000+ | Written, directed and produced for paid media |
Line by line: pre-production $1,000 to $1,500, a shoot day $6,000 to $8,000, editing $2,000 to $4,000 per finished film, cutdowns $750 each. These match our pricing page and budget estimator.
Warning signs worth taking seriously
No range before a call
Every production company knows roughly what a one-day interview film costs. Refusing to say means the number depends on what they think you will pay.
A showreel instead of films
Three seconds of everyone best shot proves nothing about holding a story for two minutes. Ask for the finished films those shots came from.
Vague on review rounds
Unlimited revisions is not generous, it is unpriced, and it usually means the scope will be renegotiated once you are committed.
No answer on footage ownership
You should own the finished films and the licensed footage. Hesitation here tends to mean a licensing conversation later.
Different people on the shoot
Ask who is actually filming. A pitch team that hands over to unnamed freelancers is a real risk on a complex location.
No experience in a live environment
Filming in a working hospital, plant or packhouse is a planning problem before it is a camera problem. Ask for a specific example, not a reassurance.
Corporate pages worth reading first
The rest of the corporate cluster, and the published cost guides.
Corporate video production
The full service page: formats, process and pricing.
Corporate video cost
Every format with its real range.
Our production process
Five phases, about four weeks.
Corporate video strategy
What to make first, and in what order.
Types of corporate videos
Ten formats, and when each is right.
Video production pricing
Every line item, published.
Where we film
Irvine Los Angeles San Diego San Jose San Francisco New York and nationwide for multi-site systems. Back to all industries.
What clients say about working with us
Kaiser Permanente, Databricks, Google, Porsche, Abbott, Veld Group and Gourmet Trading have all chosen us, most of them more than once.
They impressed us with prompt responses, ensuring we met all filming objectives without missing a beat. The quality fully met my expectations.
7 Hills Productions went above and beyond in terms of quality, professionalism, responsiveness, and timeliness. They captured our vision perfectly.
They did an amazing job providing a great product. Very easy to work with, we decided to keep working with them for a year-long campaign.
Choosing a video production company FAQs
How do I compare two very different quotes?
Line by line, not as totals. Ask both for shoot days, number of finished films, review rounds and what the deliverable list includes. Quotes that look far apart usually differ on those four things rather than on rate.
Should I use a freelancer or a production company?
A freelance crew is fine for a single straightforward interview film and usually cheaper. A production company earns its margin on multi-format work, approval chains and anything filmed inside a live operation.
How do I know if a price is fair?
Compare it against published ranges. Ours are on this page and on a cost guide for every format, which is the point of publishing them.
What questions do most people forget to ask?
Who owns the raw footage, how many review rounds are included, and who will actually be on the shoot. All three cause problems after the contract is signed, not before.
Does local matter?
For a single shoot day, yes. Travel is billed at cost, so a crew in your state is cheaper. For a multi-city programme it matters much less than whether they can run the logistics.
What is included in a shoot day?
Crew, camera, lighting and audio for a working day on location. Pre-production is quoted separately at $1,000 to $1,500 and editing at $2,000 to $4,000 per finished film.
How does billing work?
A 40 percent deposit books the shoot date and the balance is due on delivery. We bill through purchase orders and AP portals where your finance team requires it.
How many revisions are included?
One consolidated review round on the cut. Extra rounds are quoted at the time so a long approval chain never turns into a surprise invoice.
Do you charge for travel?
Not within Southern California. We are based in Irvine and film across Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose and the Bay Area. Travel outside California is quoted at cost.
Can I get a written quote without a call?
Yes. Send the format, the scale and roughly when you need it, and you get a written scope and a number back, usually the same day.
Talk to a corporate producer
Tell us the format, how many locations and roughly when you need it. You get a written scope and a number back, usually the same day.
4.9 on Google5.0 on ClutchShot and edited in houseRaw footage included
Start your corporateReply within one business dayGet a quote
Press Escape to close, or watch it on Vimeo.
