This guide answers what it costs to hire a production company for your project, not with a fixed rate, but by explaining how a budget is actually built.
Short answer
There is no single price: it depends on the locations, the shooting days, whether there is talent on camera and how much post-production sits behind it. As a very broad reference for the Spanish market, not a MIDMEDIA PICTURES rate card, a simple project can land in the low hundreds of euros, a mid-complexity one in the low thousands, and a high-end production can pass €10,000. The only way to know where yours falls is to tell us about it.
Why the price varies so much
Asking for “the price of a film” is like asking for “the price of a house” without saying how many rooms it has or how it is finished. Two films that look alike can differ by thousands depending on what sits behind them.
What actually determines the cost
- —Number of locations: every move adds set-up, wrap and travel time.
- —Shooting or session days: the cost rises almost linearly with each day added.
- —Actors or talent: compared with filming only the client's own team, this adds fees and sometimes casting direction.
- —How involved post-production is: motion graphics, advanced grading or multi-track sound work add hours that never show on the shoot but do show on the invoice.
- —How urgent the deadline is: asking in 48 hours for what normally takes a week almost always carries a surcharge.
- —Usage rights: a licence with no time limit across every channel costs more than one specific, limited use.
Three scenarios, by complexity
Rather than a price per service, it helps to think in terms of complexity, the same service (film, photography, event) can land in any of these three levels depending on the variables above:
- —Simple: one location, no talent, a single shooting day or session, a straightforward edit. A short institutional film shot in your own offices, say, or a product session with few references.
- —Mid complexity: two or three locations, art direction, several shooting days or sessions, motion graphics or advanced retouching. A corporate film with interviews across sites, say, or multi-camera event coverage.
- —High complexity: multiple locations, actors or talent, an expanded crew, delivery in several formats and channels. A brand campaign shot over several days, say, with derivative pieces for different platforms.
The real range inside each level depends entirely on the variables in the previous section, which is why a serious quote always starts by asking about your project rather than throwing out a number.
Why asking for “a price” on its own does not work
When you write to several companies asking for “the price of a corporate film” with no context, each of them assumes something different, one prices a single day with no talent, another three days with full art direction, and the quotes you get back are not comparable, however much they look it. The more context you give (locations, the final length you want, where it will be used), the more real and the more comparable each answer becomes.
Common mistakes
- —Comparing quotes without comparing what they include (revisions, usage rights, deliverables).
- —Choosing on the lowest price alone, without asking what was cut to get there.
- —Leaving no margin for the unexpected, permits, a location that falls through the day before.
- —Asking for “the cheapest possible price” instead of first defining what the project actually needs.
In short
There is no single price for “a film” or “a photo session”, there is a range that depends entirely on the variables of your particular project. Rather than hunting for a figure, the useful thing is to understand what moves the price and to ask for a quote with the full context of what you need.