Every quote we send from Palm Beach is built from the same seven line items, and the number at the bottom moves for reasons that are explainable. Palm Beach video production cost is not mysterious; it is the sum of crew days, planning time, a few county specific costs and the deliverables you asked for. This guide walks through the seven lines so you can read any quote, ours included, and know what you are paying for.
The ranges first, because that is the question. Most short form social content starts around $5,500. Most corporate videos, from a two camera executive interview to a recruitment film, land between $5,000 and $15,000. Full commercial productions with concept, casting, locations and finishing run $25,000 and more. Where your project sits inside those ranges is decided by the lines below.
Table of contents
- 1. Crew days: the line that sets everything else
- 2. Pre production: the cheapest line and the one most often cut
- 3. Permits and officers: the permit is free, the officer is not
- 4. Insurance: what the county requires
- 5. Season: why January costs more than September
- 6. Weather: the hurricane backup date
- 7. Post and deliverables: the line you control
- Palm Beach video production cost FAQ
1. Crew days: the line that sets everything else
Video is priced by the day, and the day is priced by who is on it. A single operator with a camera, a lav kit and a light is one number. A director, a camera operator, a sound mixer and a gaffer with a van of lighting is roughly four times that number, and it produces a different film.
The honest way to read this line is to ask what the footage has to do. A testimonial for a sales deck needs one person who can light a face and ask good questions. A commercial that will run next to national work needs the full crew, because the viewer will compare it to national work. Our Palm Beach video production company quotes crew by the role, so you can see exactly who is in the number and remove anyone you do not need.
Two cheap days usually cost more than one well planned day. The second day is where the overtime, the reshoots and the rushed edit live.
2. Pre production: the cheapest line and the one most often cut
Pre production is the concept, the script or interview questions, the shot list, the location scout, the schedule and the approvals. It is a few hundred dollars to a few thousand depending on scope, and it is the line clients most often ask to remove.
It is also the line that protects every other one. A scout finds out that the boardroom on Royal Palm Way has a window wall facing west, so the interview moves to the morning. A schedule finds out that the CEO has 40 minutes, not two hours, so the second camera is cut and the questions are tightened. Every dollar here saves several on the shoot day. Keep it.
3. Permits and officers: the permit is free, the officer is not
This is where Palm Beach differs from most markets, and the rules are published. The Palm Beach County Film and Television Commission issues permits for public property “at no cost to production,” with standard permits taking “three business days to process”. The costs that do appear on a quote are the off duty law enforcement details the county or a municipality requires for traffic control, road closures or public safety sequences, and those are billed to the production at rates that vary by municipality.
Two more things to know. First, the county commission “does not issue permits for the Town of Palm Beach”; anything on the island’s public property is a direct application to the Town, with its own process. Second, filming entirely inside private property, an office, a hotel ballroom, a clinic, usually needs no permit at all, which is why most corporate work carries nothing on this line. For event work, where this comes up most, see our guide to West Palm Beach event video production.
4. Insurance: what the county requires
You should not see an insurance line on a quote, because a production company carries it already. What you should see is a certificate when you ask for one. The county’s standard is a $1 million comprehensive or commercial general liability policy to secure a permit, rising to $5 million where stunts or special effects are involved. Venues on the island and the larger hotels typically ask for similar cover naming them as additional insured. Tone Films carries $2 million in general liability and provides certificates in whatever wording the venue or the county emails back.
If a quote from any company does not include insurance, or treats it as an add on, that is the line to ask about before any other.
5. Season: why January costs more than September
Palm Beach has a season, and it moves prices in two ways. The first is direct: in January through March the freelance crew pool is contracted to the galas, the conferences and the brand shoots that all land at once, and late bookings pay for scarcity. The second is indirect: hotels, venues and parking all cost more in season, and a crew that travels in from Miami or Fort Lauderdale for a two day shoot carries those costs into the quote.
The market as a whole is growing into that season. The Business Development Board reported in March 2026 that the county’s 2025 production revenue reached $260.5 million across 602 productions, a fourth straight record. More production means more competition for the same January crew.
The lever you control is timing. Interviews, recruitment films, patient education series and brand films that do not depend on a season event are cheaper and better in September, October, May and June. Gala and event work has to happen when it happens, and our guide to Palm Beach gala video production is about getting the most out of those dates.
6. Weather: the hurricane backup date
Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 to November 30. For any exterior shoot in those months, a quote should name a backup date and say what it costs to move to it. Ours says: the backup date is held at no charge, and if the shoot moves on a weather call made the day before, no crew day is lost. If the call is made on the morning of the shoot after crew has traveled, a half day is billed.
Summer also changes the schedule on a normal day. Afternoon thunderstorms are routine, so exteriors are planned for early morning and late afternoon light, and the midday block goes to interiors. That is a planning choice, not a cost, but it is why a summer exterior day can look longer on a schedule than a January one.
7. Post and deliverables: the line you control
Post production is editing, color, sound, graphics and revisions, and it scales with what you ask for. One two minute film with two rounds of revisions is the baseline. Add a 60 second cut, three vertical clips, captions in two languages and a version with a different end card for a second audience, and post grows accordingly, though far less than shooting a second day would.
This is the line to spend on, because it is where a single shoot day turns into a year of content. The most cost effective quote is usually not the smallest crew; it is the one that lists every version you will need in the next twelve months and gets them all from one day on set. Our portfolio shows what those versions look like across corporate, event, healthcare and brand work, and our Palm Beach healthcare video production guide has a worked example of one shoot producing eight to twelve videos.
Palm Beach video production cost FAQ
How much does a corporate video cost in Palm Beach?
Most corporate videos, from a two camera executive interview to a recruitment or culture film, fall between $5,000 and $15,000. Short form social content starts around $5,500 and full commercial productions run $25,000 and more. Crew size, shoot days and the number of deliverables decide where a project lands.
Do film permits add to the cost in Palm Beach County?
The county permit itself is free. Costs appear only where a municipality requires off duty law enforcement for traffic control, road closures or public safety sequences, and those are billed by the municipality. Filming entirely on private property usually needs no permit. The Town of Palm Beach runs its own permit process for the island.
Is it cheaper to hire a freelancer than a production company?
For a single simple deliverable, often yes. For anything brand critical, a company brings a crew with redundant gear, insurance the venue and county will accept, a producer managing the schedule and an editor and colorist working in parallel. The difference usually shows up as fewer reshoots and a faster, cleaner finish rather than a higher invoice.
Does it cost more to film in season?
Late bookings in January through March carry a premium because crews, venues and hotels are all in demand at once. Booking early removes most of it. Work that does not depend on a season date is cheaper and easier to schedule in the spring and autumn.
What happens to the quote if a hurricane or storm moves the shoot?
Every exterior quote from June 1 to November 30 names a backup date held at no charge. A weather call made the day before moves the shoot with no crew day lost. A call made on the morning of the shoot, after crew has traveled, bills a half day.
How fast can we get a quote?
Within 24 hours of a short conversation about what the video has to do, who is in it, where it is filmed and when. The quote is fixed fee and lists each of the seven lines above so you can adjust any of them.
Get a fixed fee quote
Tell us what the video has to do, where it will be filmed and when, and we will send a fixed fee quote within 24 hours with every line itemized. Tone Films is on Royal Palm Way in Palm Beach, with no travel fees within 50 miles, serving West Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiter, Wellington, Delray Beach and Boca Raton. Contact Tone Films or see the full list of video production services.
About the author — Andrei Tone is the founder and director of Tone Films, a video production company with studios in 45 U.S. cities. He has directed films for police and fire departments, 9-1-1 districts, school districts, hospitals and brands including Disney Junior and Cuisine Solutions.
