A commercial has a job, not a message.
A commercial is supposed to cause something: a purchase, an enquiry, a visit. That is what separates it from every other video format. It is allowed to look good, but if nobody acts at the end, it was expensive and it did nothing.
It earns its budget on product launches, campaigns, digital ads, cinema and out-of-home. In all of those you are paying twice, once for the film and once for the media that carries it, and the film has to be worth the second invoice. A spot that runs for six months in paid media is a different brief from one that runs for two weeks around a launch, and that difference belongs in the concept, not in the edit.
I am based in Vienna and shoot across Austria and abroad. Travel, location fees and anything booked for the shoot appear as their own lines in the quote instead of disappearing into a flat rate.
And when it does not fit: if you want to explain who you are as a company, that is not a commercial, it is a corporate video. If you need material for your channels month after month, ongoing content costs less and does more.
A commercial is the most expensive format I offer. It pays off when there is a budget behind it for distribution. A commercial nobody runs is a film without an audience, and the shoot is the smaller half of that problem.
If you are still weighing the options, the services overview puts the formats side by side with what each one is for.
Most commercials fail on the idea, not on the picture.
There are two typical failures. The first looks like advertising, sounds like advertising and gets skipped before anything has been said. The second is pleasant to watch, maybe even wins some sympathy, but afterwards nobody knows what they are supposed to do.
Both come from the same cause: somebody decided how the spot should look before deciding what it should achieve. That order is expensive, because you only see the mistake once everything has been shot and the money is gone. The questions that actually decide a commercial are cheap to ask and have to come first: who should see this, where will they see it, and what should happen in their head afterwards. Answering them on paper costs a morning. Answering them after the shoot costs another shoot.
The job first, then the picture. And a team when the job needs one.
It does not start with a shotlist. It starts with the question of what the spot has to trigger, and in whom. The idea grows out of that, and only then the script. Whatever does not pay into that job gets cut, however good it would have looked on the day.
I also tell you early whether the budget matches what you are describing. If it does not, I say which format gets you further with the same money rather than shooting a thinner version of the wrong film. That conversation costs nothing and it happens before anything is booked, which is the only point at which it is still cheap to change direction.
For commercials I work with production partners.
As soon as actors, booked locations, props or a larger lighting setup are involved, the job needs a team. Concept, direction and post-production stay with me. The production itself I run together with people I shoot with regularly. You still have one point of contact, and that is me.
Edit, colour grading and sound design happen at my desk. That is what keeps the finished spot close to the concept you signed off, instead of drifting during post. It also means one person carries the film from the first line of the script to the final export, so nothing has to be explained twice.
Four commercials from practice.
How a project runs.
You send me the plan
Through the form: the goal, the audience, where the spot should run, the timeframe and the budget.
An answer within 24 hours
With first thoughts on the idea, an estimate on the budget and my availability in that period.
Concept and script
Before anything is booked, the idea has to stand. Only when it does do we plan team, location and props.
Production and edit
The shoot with the right team, then edit, colour grading and sound design with me. Delivery 7 to 14 working days after the last shooting day.
What sits inside a commercial project.
On request there is more: alternative cuts for different channels, vertical versions for social ads, subtitles, or a second language version in English or German. Extra cuts are cheapest when they are decided before the shoot, because the framing changes when a vertical version is planned from the start.
The project can run entirely in English, from the first briefing through script and feedback to the subtitles, and that costs nothing extra.
- Idea, concept and script
- Casting, location and props as needed
- Shoot with a team, camera, lighting and sound
- Edit, colour grading and sound design
- One revision round per video, always included
What a commercial costs.
What moves the price:
- whether actors or a voice talent are needed
- whether locations have to be booked
- props, set dressing and lighting setup
- the number of shooting days and the size of the team
- where and for how long the spot will run, meaning the usage rights
I tell you early whether your budget fits the plan. If it does not, I also tell you which format brings more for the same money. You get that answer within 24 hours of writing to me, together with a first read on the idea and my availability in the period you are planning for. What I quote covers concept, production, edit, colour grading, sound design and one revision round per video, delivered 7 to 14 working days after the last shooting day.
How I build a concept when nobody hands me one.
commercials.
Commercials start at around 4,000 euros net. That is a guide price, not a fixed price. It depends on whether actors, booked locations and props are needed, how many shooting days there are and where the spot will run.
On commercials, with a team. Concept, direction and post-production stay with me, and for the production I work with partners I shoot with regularly. You still have one point of contact for the whole project.
Yes, that runs through the production. You do not have to organise actors, shooting permits or props yourself. Those items are listed transparently in the quote rather than buried in a flat rate.
From the first idea to the finished spot it is several weeks, depending on the scope, because concept, casting and scheduling need lead time. The edit itself is 7 to 14 working days after the last shooting day.
One revision round per video is always included, and it applies to every cut delivered from the project.
Then I say so, and we look at which format brings more for the same money. Often that is ongoing social media content or a corporate video. A commercial shot under budget looks like a commercial shot under budget.
Yes. I am based in Vienna, but I shoot across Austria and abroad. Travel costs are listed transparently in the quote and not hidden inside a flat rate.
Yes. Briefing, script, direction on set, feedback and subtitles all work in English. I work in English and German, so an international client does not need a translator in the loop.
Tell me about your campaign.
What is being advertised, who it should reach, where the spot will run and with what budget. You get an answer within 24 hours with a concrete estimate.