Video production costs in Vienna and Graz

In short: The cost of video production in Vienna and Graz depends on scope: a short social clip with one setting sits at the lower end of the market, a high-end brand film with several shoot days at the upper end. The drivers are shoot days, team size, concept and post-production, not the location. After the initial call, Maze & Friends from Vienna gives you a fixed-price quote with clearly itemised costs.

The Q4 budget has been freed up, management finally wants a film, and then three quotes land on the table that are several times apart. For what looks like the same video. Every agency says “it depends”, none tells you on what exactly. Without a frame of reference, you can neither budget internally nor compare the quotes properly.

Here you get that frame of reference: the scope levels on the Austrian market, the real cost drivers behind them and a checklist that helps you tell a fair quote from an overpriced one. Yes, it depends on a few things. This is what they are.

Maze & Friends produces videos in Vienna and Graz and calculates quotes like these itself. That is why we are laying out here what the price of a film is made of and how you can tell what you are paying for.

What does video production cost in Vienna and Graz?

For orientation, here are the typical video types and how they differ in scope. We mean a professional production with an experienced team, somewhere between your nephew with a DSLR and the 50-strong commercial crew for a national TV spot. The rows are sorted by effort; the binding figure only ever appears in the specific quote.

Each row covers a huge range. A lean brand film and an elaborate one are both “brand films”, but compare one shoot day with three, one setting with six, stock music with a composed score. That is exactly why the next question is the more important one.

What is video production, and what does a brand film cost?

Because the terms often get mixed up, a quick clarification. Video production covers the whole process of concept, shoot and edit, whatever the end result is. A brand film is a specific kind of result: a film that conveys your company, your values and your people to the outside world. Every brand film is therefore a video production, but not every video production is a brand film.

For the cost question, this means: “What does a brand film cost?” is more precise than “What does a video cost?”. For a typical Austrian mid-sized company, brand film costs depend above all on how many shoot days and locations the film needs. With one shoot day, you get a solid film at the lean end; at the upper end, you get several locations, more elaborate visual language and a story with a fully composed dramatic arc.

What makes a brand film and which formats exist is explained in our guide “What is a brand film?”. Here we stick to the cost question.

What does the price depend on? The 6 real cost drivers

“It depends” is not an excuse, as long as someone says on what. Six levers move your quote up or down:

1. Shoot days. The biggest lever, because every additional shoot day costs you team, equipment and often travel, in other words all the day rates at once. One more day is rarely “a little more expensive”.
2. Team size. A two-person team (camera plus sound/assistant) is a different thing from director, camera, sound, lighting and set assistant combined. More people means more quality, but also more day rates.
3. Concept and script. A well-thought-out concept with a storyboard takes groundwork. But that is exactly what saves you time and nerves on set. Save here and you often pay extra on the shoot day.
4. Post-production. Editing, colour correction, sound design, graphics and animation. With an elaborately animated intro or motion graphics, post-production can cost more than the shoot itself.
5. Talent and equipment. Professional voice-over artists, actors, presenters, a drone, location hire, royalty-free or specially composed music. Every extra shows up in the price.
6. Usage rights and versions. Do you only need the video for the website, or also for paid ads over two years? Do you want three cut versions (long, short, portrait)? Both are legitimate, both cost money.

For context: a shoot day bundles the day rates of everyone involved (camera, director, sound, lighting, assistants) plus equipment and travel. The editing days come on top. Add it up and you will understand why shoot days are the most expensive lever.

Are there price differences between Vienna and Graz?

Hardly any. Prices for video production in Vienna and in Graz are close to each other, for a simple reason: good teams travel. A crew from Vienna will drive to Graz for a good job, a Graz crew will come to Vienna. Day rates depend on skill and equipment.

The differences arise in the additional costs. If you book a Vienna team for a shoot in Graz (or vice versa), travel and possibly an overnight stay are added, a manageable but separate item in the quote. If you are specifically looking for video production in Graz and produce locally, you save these travel costs, but in the smaller market you sometimes have less choice for very specialised disciplines.

Choose by team and showreel. Whether your film is made in Vienna or Graz rarely makes much difference to the final price. Quality depends on entirely different things.

How is a quote put together?

A clean quote is structured according to the three phases of a production. Once you know the pattern, you can see immediately where a quote has substance and where there is just a round sum.

Clients often look only at the shoot day. But preparation and post-production together often make up more than half the price, and that is exactly where it is decided whether a film turns out good or mediocre. A quote that does not itemise concept and post-production is either incomplete or includes them hidden in other items. Ask.

How can you recognise a fair quote?

Before you sign, go through this checklist. It separates serious quotes from flying blind:

• Shoot days clearly stated? Is it there in black and white how many shoot days have been calculated?
• Team itemised? Do you know who will be on set, or does it just say “film crew”?
• Number of cut versions and correction rounds defined? Two rounds of corrections are standard; unlimited is unrealistic.
• Usage rights settled? Where and for how long may you use the video?
• Delivery date and format? Resolution, aspect ratios (16:9, 9:16, 1:1), file formats.
• Music and image rights cleared? Royalty-free, licensed or specially composed, and who is liable for the rights?

A quote that discloses these points is almost always the more honest one, even if it looks more expensive at first glance. When the change orders arrive after the second shoot day, the cheapest quote often turns out expensive.

And the most important lever comes before the quote: the clearer your brief, the more precise the calculation. If you say “we just want a video”, you get a wide range. If you state the goal, target group, where it will be used and your budget frame, you get a real figure. We have described in detail how to choose the right production company in Finding a brand film agency.

How much budget do you really need?

Instead of staring at a number, start from the goal:

• Feeding social ads: several short, quick clips beat one expensive glossy film. So the calculation is for a package of several formats from one shoot day.
• Brand film for the website and trade fairs: the classic. The price depends on the number of locations and the ambition for the visual language.
• Winning staff: an honest recruiting film with real employees is lean in effort and often pays off particularly well.
• Giving the brand emotional weight: a high-end brand film with everything that goes with it: several shoot days, a director, actors, composed music. That puts you at the upper end of the market.

Too much budget is almost never the problem. It gets expensive when a lot of money flows into the wrong format, or so little that the result harms your brand instead of helping it.

Orientation helps, the fixed-price quote decides

The cost of a video production comes from shoot days, team, concept, post-production and rights. For your project, you ultimately need a concrete figure: tell us your goal, where the video will be used and your budget frame, and Maze & Friends will give you a fixed-price quote with clearly itemised shoot days, services and rights.

See how we approach video production in Vienna: strategy, shoot and edit from a single source, for Vienna and Graz.

From the studio: Lumitech: corporate film from a single shoot day · TiPY: brand film.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a professional video cost?

What a professional video costs depends mainly on shoot days, team size, concept work and post-production.

A short social media clip with one setting sits at the lower end of the market, an emotional brand film with several locations, composed music and elaborate visual language at the upper end. In between are product videos, testimonials, recruiting videos and brand films, each with its own typical scope. The binding figure only ever appears in the specific quote; at Maze & Friends, as a fixed-price quote after the initial call.

Is there a price list for video production?

There is no binding price list for video production, because video is not a standardised product; only scopes can be compared.

On the Austrian market, the types of video differ mainly as follows:

• Social media clip: one setting, short formats, mostly in portrait format
• Product video: one shoot day, product in detail, often with graphics
• Customer story or testimonial: interview at the customer’s premises plus supporting footage
• Recruiting video: real employees, several cut versions
• High-end brand film: several shoot days, director, actors, composed music

Each type of video covers a huge range, such as one shoot day versus three, or stock music versus specially composed music. Ask for a quote that itemises shoot days, services and rights separately.

What does a shoot day with a professional team cost?

A shoot day with a professional team is the most expensive single item in a video production, because it bundles the day rates of everyone involved plus equipment and travel.

It includes camera, director, sound, lighting and assistants, depending on how many people are on set and what equipment is needed. For shoots elsewhere, travel costs are often added. That is why an additional shoot day is rarely just a little more expensive. Because shoot days are the biggest cost lever, a good concept that allows an efficient shoot saves the most money. Ask for the number of shoot days and the team line-up to be itemised separately in the quote.

How much does video editing cost per hour?

On the Austrian market, professional video editing is usually calculated in editing days. Hourly rates are unusual there.

How many editing days a project needs depends on the amount of footage, the number of versions, colour correction, sound design, graphics and correction rounds. An elaborately animated intro or motion graphics can even cost more than the shoot itself. If you want to reduce editing costs, decide before the shoot which versions you need, and give feedback in one batch rather than in many small rounds. Ask how many editing days the quote includes and what an additional round of corrections costs.

How is the budget for a video production split?

Roughly, 20 to 30 per cent goes on pre-production, 40 to 50 per cent on the shoot and 30 to 40 per cent on post-production.

Pre-production includes concept, script, storyboard, planning and location scouting. The shoot covers team, equipment, lighting, sound, actors and locations. Post-production bundles editing, colour correction, sound design, graphics and correction rounds. A common mistake is to look only at the shoot day: preparation and post-production together often make up more than half the price and decide between good and mediocre. A quote that does not itemise concept and post-production is incomplete or includes them hidden in other items.

Why do quotes for the same video vary so much?

Quotes for what looks like the same video vary widely because video is not a standardised product, and shoot days, team, concept and post-production can easily triple the price.

One provider calculates one shoot day with a two-person team and stock music, another three shoot days with a director, lighting and specially composed music. Both can be called a brand film. You can only compare quotes fairly if they have the same scope: what is prepared, shot and edited, which films, lengths and formats you receive, and which rights, corrections and additional costs apply. The more precise your brief, the more comparable the quotes become.

Is video production in Graz cheaper than in Vienna?

Video production in Graz is hardly cheaper than in Vienna, because day rates depend on skill and equipment.

Good teams travel: a Vienna crew shoots in Graz, a Graz crew in Vienna. Almost all the differences come from additional costs. If you book a team from the other city, travel and possibly an overnight stay are added. Producing locally saves these travel costs, but the smaller Graz market sometimes offers less choice for very specialised disciplines. Choose by team and samples of their work.

Can I have a professional video produced on a small budget?

Yes, on a small budget, a focused clip with one setting, one shoot day and a clear message can be produced professionally.

The key is to scale the format to the budget instead of producing a big film half-heartedly. Better to do one thing properly than three things by halves. On a small budget, that means one goal, one target group, one place where it will be used and a team that shoots efficiently. It rarely fails because the budget is too small. More often, money ends up in the wrong format, or the effort is so minimal that the result harms the brand instead of helping it.

How many correction rounds are usual in a video production?

In video production, two rounds of corrections are considered standard on the market, and they should be stated explicitly in the quote.

As a rule, every additional round costs extra, because editing and colour correction take up real working time. Unlimited corrections are unrealistic. The more precise and consolidated your feedback in the first round, the fewer rounds you need and the sooner your film is finished. It helps if one person internally collects the feedback and resolves contradictions before it goes to the production team.

How do I avoid expensive change orders in a video production?

You avoid expensive change orders by agreeing shoot days, team, cut versions, correction rounds and usage and music rights in writing before you sign.

Without this clarity, the cheapest quote often turns out expensive as soon as change orders arrive after the second shoot day. Check whether concept and post-production are itemised, whether the delivery date, resolution and aspect ratios such as 16:9, 9:16 and 1:1 are defined, and who is liable for music and image rights. A quote that discloses these points is almost always the more honest one, even if it looks more expensive at first glance. Clarify any unclear items before production starts.

Why do usage rights affect the price of a video?

Usage rights affect the price of a video because using it only on the website requires fewer rights than paid ads over several years.

This mainly concerns music, actors and footage: royalty-free music is cheaper than licensed or specially composed music, and for advertising you often need extended rights. Clarify before you ask for a quote where and for how long you want to use the video. It is similar with versions: three cut versions such as long, short and portrait are legitimate, but each costs editing time. Have the quote confirm which rights are included for which channels and which period. Under Section 26 of the Austrian Copyright Act (UrhG) (in German), the contract determines how far the right to use a work extends.

How much budget do I need for social ad videos?

For social ads, you calculate a package of several short formats from one shoot day rather than a single glossy film.

For ads, several short, quick clips beat an expensive glossy film, because you can test variants and swap them continuously. The price is determined by the number of clips, the shooting effort and the versions per clip. What matters is that the clips are built for ads: vertical, with the key message in the first few seconds and understandable without sound. Media budget for running the ads comes on top and is not included.

What information does a production company need for an accurate quote?

For an accurate quote, a production company needs four things above all: your goal, target group, where the video will be used and your budget frame.

If you only say “we just want a video”, you get a wide range; if you get specific, you get a real figure. Also helpful are the desired delivery date, the formats you need, such as 16:9 for the website or 9:16 for Reels, the number of possible locations and whether your own employees will appear on camera. The clearer your brief, the more precise the calculation. On this basis, Maze & Friends itemises shoot days, services and rights separately in the quote.

Is AI making video production cheaper?

AI speeds up individual steps of a video production, such as transcripts, subtitles or format variants, but the big cost blocks of shoot days, team and concept remain.

The costs arise mainly where people work on location: on set, in directing and in concept development. If you want to show real people, spaces and processes, you still need a shoot. Fully AI-generated clips are possible, but they don’t show your team and your business and are better suited to illustrations than to films meant to build trust. AI is therefore most noticeable in post-production.