Here are ways a client can lower the cost of video production.
1. Manage the Length of Your Video
The sweet spot for most videos is around two to three minutes. Online audiences have endless options to choose from, so a video needs to be genuinely compelling to hold attention past the five-minute mark.
Length also drives budget directly. Every additional minute means more material to shoot and more material to edit — and the video session itself, while generally set by the shot list created in pre-production, takes longer as more content needs to be captured.
The best way to control cost, then, is to keep the video brief and focused. The same rule applies here as in any marketing or advertising: know your message, and keep it clear and simple.
If you have a lot of stories to tell, consider breaking them into several short, topic-specific videos instead of one long one. If budget is tight, a good starting point is a single general video introducing who you are, what you offer, and what sets you apart — then add individual product or service videos as budget allows.
2. Editing
Staying involved in the editing process is another effective way to control costs.
- Give clear guidance up front. The clearer the direction on content, the more time Mark can spend on the creative work rather than revisions.
- Centralize feedback. Incremental edits driven by multiple decision-makers add up quickly. It's best to have one person responsible for approving the final cut.
- Make edits count. Editing is a slow, technical process — every version has to be rendered, compressed, optimized, and uploaded before your team can view it. Mark typically outlines how many rounds of revisions are included in the agreed budget, so it pays to use each round efficiently.
Close collaboration with me leads to a stronger final video, delivered on time and on budget.
3. Use People from Within Your Organization
Hiring actors gives you control over who represents your company, products, and services — but it comes at a cost.
- Talent options: non-speaking models and background extras, or speaking actors. Both are typically booked through an agency, which adds roughly 20% on top of the talent fee.
- Fee structure: talent costs are generally based on hours worked and intended usage — where the video will run and how large the audience will be. Contracts are usually limited to a fixed term, such as one year.
- Casting: larger-budget projects, especially those with an on-camera speaking role, often require a casting session, which adds a casting director's fee and a studio rental fee. Casting even a single role can run into the thousands of dollars.
In total, talent costs typically include three components: a session fee, a usage fee, and an agency fee.
A lower-cost alternative is to use someone from within your organization to present your products, or to record a voiceover that plays over footage of your products and services in use by your own team.
Decide early. These decisions should be made before production begins — making changes after the fact can drive costs up by 200–300%.