Raw Video: why it costs extra

Your video project is complete, it’s exactly what you needed, but you just had a thought.

It would be great to get all of that raw video that was shot. It might be good for future projects!

No doubt. All of the raw video we shoot during your project might be valuable for future videos you decide to produce. It seems like a no brainer.

Here’s the thing though… we charge extra for the raw video.

Say what?!

Transparency

Lucky for you one of our company values is Be Transparent, especially when it comes to pricing.

We explain in detail how to figure out our video production cost. We’re also happy to explain why it costs you more to get the raw video.

When you hire us to create a video or series of videos, you are paying for the final product(s). You are not paying for the raw video it took to create it.

Now… we could just charge more for the final videos, knowing that part of that charge is for the raw video. Then, we could hand over everything once the project is complete.

Easy-peasy.

The reason we don’t is because most of our customers aren’t interested in the raw video, so we don’t think it’s fair to charge them for something they don’t want or need.

However, customers who do want the raw video can have it for an additional charge.

Value Goes Both Ways

Like the final product, the raw video we shot has value… to both of us.

You might be thinking… wait… I know it’s valuable to me for future content, but why would it be valuable for you as the video producer? It’s not like you’ll use it in someone else’s video.

True. The value for us lies in you… as a recurring customer.

If you’re going to use that video in the future, we want to be the ones creating those videos for you.

I know… selfish on our part. We totally admit it.

Here’s the thing

Our regular customers will tell you, we’re happy to hang on to their raw video for them… at no charge.

In some cases, we have built an entire video library for them that we can choose from during their future projects with us.

They love it.

As a matter of fact, we were able to create a whole series of videos for one customer during the COVID-19 pandemic mainly because we had tons of their raw video ready to go.

It not us, it’s you

However, we get it, you might have various reasons for wanting to take the raw video with you at the end of a project. Those reasons probably don’t even have anything to do with us.

No problem.

Some video companies won’t give up the raw video at all, but we will. Our going rate is a flat $1000 fee plus the cost of a hard drive, which is usually less than $100.

Similar Situations

We’re not the only ones who do this sort of thing.

Have you ever hired a professional photographer? They shoot hundreds, in some cases thousands, of photos during a photo shoot, but ultimately what you get in return is a handful.

Have you ever asked them for all of the raw photos? In most cases, photographers won’t give them up at all, even if you offer to pay for them.

We’re not going that far. If you want our raw video and are willing to pay for it… it’s yours.

Compensation

So… there it is. We just want to be compensated for something we created that holds value.

We weren’t kidding when we said we value transparency.