At Nowa Film, a Toronto video production company, brand films, testimonials, product launch films and corporate videos usually cost $3,500 to $25,000 CAD. Commercials usually cost $4,000 to $50,000, event coverage starts at $2,400 and social content starts at $1,800 per month. Where a project lands depends on its scope: creative development, shoot days, locations, people on camera, crew and the number of finished versions. Runtime is a weaker guide than it looks.
Our published rates, by type of video
We publish our video production rates so the first conversation can start from a real number. These are the ranges on that page, in Canadian dollars. Every project is still quoted to its scope: the table tells you which range you are in, and the rest of this guide explains what moves a project within it.
| Service | What it covers | Published rate |
|---|---|---|
| Video production | Brand films, testimonials, product launches, corporate video | Usually $3,500 to $25,000 |
| Commercials | Spots for TV, pre-roll and paid, with the cutdowns around them | Usually $4,000 to $50,000 |
| Events | Conferences, galas, recaps and same-day edits | Starting at $2,400 |
| IMAG | Live camera feeds for venue screens | From $1,800 |
| Social media | Vertical videos and ad creative | Starting at $1,800 per month |
Websites are priced separately; our guide to website scope and cost covers how to read those quotes.
How much does a corporate video or brand film cost?
Most brand films, corporate videos, testimonials and launch films sit somewhere between $3,500 and $25,000. The spread is wide because one name covers very different productions. A focused film, shot in one place with a few speakers and one main edit, asks for less than a film with a developed concept, a script, several locations, cast, art direction and a family of shorter versions.
A people-led film shows where the money goes. In the employee film we made for Scheidt & Bachmann Canada, team members speak to camera on a city street, in an open-plan office, in a hallway and in front of a large rainbow SB logo. Lower-thirds give each person’s name, role and city, and subtitles run on screen. In a film like that, every speaker is a booking and a conversation to prepare, every setting is a setup to light and record, and names, subtitles and graphics are finishing work. None of it depends on the running time.
If you are torn between two approaches, ask for both to be priced. An interview-led film and a scripted film with a voiceover can carry the same message at quite different costs, and seeing them side by side makes the decision concrete. Our guide to producing a corporate video covers the stages and approvals behind either one.
Does a two-minute video cost less than a five-minute one?
Not reliably. Much of a budget is set before the edit: planning, people, places and shoot time. A two-minute interview film from one office and a two-minute concept film with cast and three locations can sit far apart within the same range.
The same holds at the short end. A fifteen-second spot, like the promotional spot made for Harley-Davidson Canada, has no spare seconds: every frame is chosen, and the cost follows the planning and the shoot rather than the running time. Length does change the edit. A longer film needs more footage reviewed, more structure to hold attention and more finishing. But if you need to save money, cutting a minute from the brief usually saves less than removing a location or a version.
What moves a quote within its range?
These are the drivers that change a production quote, what each one changes and how a marketing team can keep it under control without weakening the film.
| Driver | What it changes | How to keep it under control |
|---|---|---|
| Creative development | Concept, treatment, script and storyboards before filming | Approve the idea before polishing lines. Say if an agency script already exists. |
| Shoot days | Crew, equipment and scheduling time | Group scenes by place and book the hardest people to schedule first. |
| Locations | Moves, setup, lighting, sound checks and access | Add a place only when it proves something the first one cannot. |
| People on camera | Preparation, direction, releases and any cast fees | Choose people who know the subject, and tell them the audience early. |
| Crew and equipment | What can be captured at the same time, and how | Match the crew to what happens at once, not to the size of the company. |
| Art direction | Set dressing, props and time on set | Film in spaces that already look like the brand. |
| Versions and cutdowns | Edit time, graphics, captions and reviews | List every version before the shoot. Separate new edits from resizes. |
| Review rounds | Edit time and the schedule | Send one set of combined, timecoded notes per round. |
| Music and usage | Licence cost, territory and term | Say where the film will run, and for how long, before the edit. |
The pattern is the same in every row: money follows decisions made late. A version list agreed before the shoot costs less than the same list discovered in the edit, because the shots it needs can be planned into the day. Our guide to planning cutdowns before the shoot shows how to build that list.
What does a commercial cost?
Our commercials usually cost $4,000 to $50,000. That covers spots for TV, pre-roll and paid placements, with the cutdowns around them. It is the widest range on our rates page, and much of the spread comes from what exists on day one. We can develop a concept and treatment with your brand team, or produce a script your agency has already written. The second starts further along, so there is less creative development to price.
What moves a commercial toward the upper end is usually the same list: cast, several locations, art direction, a larger crew and a full set of versions for each placement. Decide the placements before the treatment is approved, because a six-second cutdown and a thirty-second spot need different first frames. Commercials sit alongside brand and corporate films on our video production page.
What do event and social video cost?
Event coverage starts at $2,400, for conferences, galas, recaps and same-day edits. IMAG, the live camera feeds that put speakers on the venue screens, starts from $1,800. Coverage hours, rooms running at the same time, the number of cameras and whether an edit has to play the same night all move an event quote. Our event video production page includes the Blossom Social investor tour at a Toronto baseball stadium and coverage of the Toronto Police Chief’s Gala.
Social content starts at $1,800 per month, for vertical videos and ad creative. If a brand film is already planned, ask whether some of that vertical material can come from the same shoot days.
What should a quote include, and how do you compare quotes fairly?
A quote you can compare names the finished films, not only the days and the crew. The line-by-line checklist in our guide to choosing a video production company covers creative, production, post, review, usage and terms. Four habits make the comparison fair:
- Send every company the same brief and the same deliverable list, in writing.
- Ask each to state its assumptions: who writes the script, who finds the location, who books the people on camera.
- Ask for options to be priced separately, so a total that leaves out the cutdowns is visible as exactly that.
- Compare what each quote delivers against the placements you have booked, not the totals alone.
If two quotes still differ widely after that, ask each team what it would do with the difference. The answer tells you whether one is planning more, or the other expects you to supply part of the work.
How to set a budget that matches the job
Start from the job, not the runtime. Write what the film has to do, where it will run and how long it should keep working. A film for a two-week launch and a film that will sit on your home page for three years justify different spending.
Then find your range in the table above and share a band with the companies you are talking to. A band lets a producer propose the version of the idea that fits it, instead of guessing. Our video production brief template has a line for it. If the budget is lower than the idea, cut scope before you cut craft:
- Fewer locations, chosen for what they prove.
- Fewer versions, chosen for the placements you have actually booked.
- One well-prepared speaker instead of four rushed ones.
- A concept built to fit one shoot day.
Keep the element that carries the idea. If the film works because of a place, a person or a product detail, protect it and trim around it.
Quick answers
How much does a corporate video cost in Toronto?
At Nowa Film, a Toronto video production company, corporate videos, brand films, testimonials and product launch films usually cost $3,500 to $25,000 CAD. Where a project lands in that range depends on creative development, shoot days, locations, people on camera, crew and the number of finished versions. Every project is quoted to its scope, and the ranges are published on our rates page.
How much does a 2-minute video cost?
There is no fixed price for a runtime. A two-minute interview film shot in one office and a two-minute concept film with cast and three locations can sit far apart within our usual $3,500 to $25,000 range for video production. Shoot days, places, people and the number of versions drive the cost; length mainly changes the edit.
How much does a commercial cost in Toronto?
Nowa Film’s commercials usually cost $4,000 to $50,000 CAD, covering spots for TV, pre-roll and paid placements with the cutdowns around them. The range is wide because a commercial can be a short online ad produced from an existing agency script, or a developed concept with cast, several locations, art direction and a full set of versions.
Google Meet