Commercial video production cost
That is a real answer and a useless one. Here is what actually moves the number, what each tier buys, and why the airtime usually costs more than the commercial does.
Short answer
Published industry ranges put a professionally produced 30 second commercial at $5,000 to $50,000, with national campaigns well past six figures.
Our own work spans a wider range than that. A straightforward single location spot starts at $1,500. A scripted production with professional cast and a full crew runs into the tens of thousands and keeps climbing from there with shoot days, locations and post. What moves the number is scale, not quality.
These are what a production at each scale costs today. The films under each band show what that level of production looks like, so you can place your own project rather than guess. Our most awarded commercials are not our most expensive ones.
Band one
One production day, one location, little or no cast. This is the local cable rate, and it is what most small businesses spend on a spot. A restaurant, a jewelry store with two actors, a dental practice, a powersports dealership, and a New York City shoot for a home automation company all sit in this band.
One of the commercials below won a Bronze Telly. Another is a montage cut to music. Same money, different briefs.
Polaris dealership, Liberty NY. Bronze Telly.
Restaurant, Garfield NJ.
Jewelry retail, Edgewater NJ. Two actors.
Dental practice, Montgomery NY.
Luxury home automation. Shot in New York City.
Band two
Where our framework starts. The story, the structure and the shot list are settled before anyone films anything, and the shoot becomes execution rather than discovery.
Still one or two production days. What changes is the weeks of work in front of it, and what comes out the other end.
Still one or two production days. What changes is the weeks of work in front of it, and what comes out the other end. Our most awarded commercial is a production at this level: a Gold Telly, a Gold Vega for editing and a Silver Vega for advertising.
Six attractions in one minute. Shot silent, every sound built afterward to sit with the music. Gold Telly, Gold Vega for editing, Silver Vega for advertising.
Scripted holiday campaign with a lead actor. Produced an online film and a 30 second TV cut from one shoot. Platinum Hermes.
Solar developer based in Sullivan County with farms across New York.
Larger productions
Full scripted production. Professional cast, a crew of ten or more, multiple setups, and the coordination that comes with all of it. These are quoted individually, because at this level the number is set by the idea rather than by a rate card. More shoot days, union talent, more locations and longer post all move it, and there is no ceiling here, only scope.
Both of the campaigns below were for the same bank. One produced two finished commercials from a single day by staging two stories in one location. The other was a larger single production with five professional actors.
Worth saying plainly: at every level, budget buys production value. It does not buy the idea. The story work is the same whether the crew is two people or twenty.
Two commercials, one day, one location in New Hampton NY, with each cast appearing in the other's background. Bronze Telly.
A separate, larger production. Crew of ten, five professional actors. Gold Hermes.
What pushes it higher
01
The biggest single factor. Crew, gear and travel are priced by the day whether you use eight hours of it or three.
02
Real people cost nothing. Professional actors are a day rate plus usage. One of our bank spots ran five professional actors and a crew of ten.
03
One location is cheapest. Several means moving, resetting and losing hours. A location you have to dress costs more than one that already looks right.
04
A written scene with performances is a bigger production than filming something that is already happening.
05
Licensed music is a line item. Built sound is another. We shot one commercial silent and designed every effect afterward to sit with the score.
06
Television has technical specs and hard durations. It is easier to plan for before the shoot than to fix afterward.
07
If you cast professional actors, how long and where you run the spot affects what they are owed. This is the cost most people do not know exists until they see it on a quote.
The bigger number
Producing a spot and running it are two separate budgets, and people searching for what a commercial costs are often mixing them together.
Production is what you pay a company like ours, once. The media buy is what you pay the station or platform, every time it airs. On most local campaigns the media buy is several times the production cost.
Which means the commercial is the small part of the budget that decides whether the large part accomplishes anything. You pay the same airtime either way.
We do not sell media buying. We are telling you this because it is the thing most likely to be misjudged, and getting it backward is expensive in a way that does not show up until the campaign is over.
Timeline
The filming is usually one day. The project is a few weeks, and most of that is the part before the shoot.
A simple spot with no cast can be turned around in a week or two. Anything scripted needs time for concept, approvals and casting. If it has to air on a date, we work backward from that and tell you honestly whether it fits.
Questions
We will give you a number and tell you honestly which tier your project belongs in, including when the cheaper one is the right call.
Most of these begin as a fifteen-minute call.
Last updated September 2026 · Nimble Dragon Studios · Monticello, New York