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How Much Does a Commercial Video Cost?
In the Tulsa market, a locally produced thirty-second commercial typically runs from about $5,000 for a simple one-location spot to somewhere between $20,000 and $40,000 or more for a production with actors, multiple locations, and a broadcast finish.
Quick answer
A commercial is the one kind of business video where the price spread is very wide, because the same thirty seconds can be shot in one morning at your storefront or over three days with a cast and a crew of fifteen. National brands spend hundreds of thousands. Tulsa businesses buying a spot for local TV, YouTube pre-roll, or paid social do not need to spend anything like that. This guide lays out the typical market ranges published for commercial production, explains what separates a $6,000 spot from a $30,000 one, and shows what to include in the brief so the estimate you receive covers the whole job. These are market figures rather than our prices, and they cover production only; the media buy is a separate budget.
Typical range
$5,000 to $40,000+per commercial (production only)
Typical published ranges for locally produced :30 spots in the Tulsa market, 2026; media buy not included
These are typical market figures for the area, not our prices. Your written estimate carries the number for your project.
Cost factors
What moves the price up or down.
An owner-to-camera spot needs a short script and one setup. A narrative spot with a story, characters, and a punchline needs a writer, a storyboard, and shots planned to the second. The creative approach decides almost everything downstream, which is why it is the first conversation with a producer.
Your own staff on camera cost nothing beyond their time and usually read as authentic for local business. Professional actors add day rates and usage fees that depend on how long and where the spot airs, and a voiceover artist adds a session fee. Casting also adds a few days to pre-production.
One location and one shoot day is the baseline for a local spot. Every additional location adds setup time, and every additional day adds crew and gear. A spot that moves between a showroom, a customer's home, and an exterior street scene is a two-day production in most cases.
A small crew with one cinema camera, lighting, and sound handles most local spots. Larger productions add a second camera, a gaffer to run lighting, a grip package (stands, rigging, and camera support), camera movement gear like a slider or gimbal, and sometimes a drone. Each adds to the day rate, and each should be justified by a shot in the storyboard.
Editing, color grading, sound design, music licensing, and graphics are where a commercial gets its polish. Broadcast delivery adds mastering to station loudness and format specs. Motion graphics and animated end cards add hours, and every extra cutdown or aspect ratio adds more.
A spot that runs on local TV, YouTube pre-roll, and Instagram needs a :30, a :15, a :06, and vertical and square cuts, plus captions for social. Planning these before the shoot means the crew captures for all of them on the day. Adding them later often means a partial re-edit.
Cost breakdown
By project size.
| Project scope | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Owner-to-camera :30, one location | $5,000 | $10,000 |
| Product or service :30 with b-roll and voiceover | $8,000 | $15,000 |
| Scripted :30 with professional talent, one or two locations | $12,000 | $25,000 |
| Narrative :30 with cast, multiple locations, two shoot days | $25,000 | $40,000+ |
| Cutdowns and social versions (per set) | $500 | $2,500 |
| Media buy (local TV, pre-roll, paid social) | separate | separate |
How Commercial Video Is Priced
Commercial production is almost always quoted as a project: one number that covers pre-production, the shoot, and post-production through to delivered files. Underneath that number the producer is adding up shoot days, crew, gear, talent, and editing hours, and the itemized version of the estimate shows each of those lines.
In the Tulsa market, published guides put a locally produced thirty-second spot anywhere from about $5,000 to $40,000 and more, and broader industry guides describe a $5,000 to $25,000 band for small and mid-sized business commercials, climbing to $25,000 to $150,000 for regional and national work. The overlap in the middle is where most Tulsa dealership, healthcare, restaurant, and service-business spots land.
The main thing to understand is that the price is driven by production complexity rather than runtime. A thirty-second spot is not cheaper than a two-minute video by default. A well-produced :30 often costs more, because every second is scripted and shot deliberately rather than pulled from interview footage.
Local Commercial Costs: The Tulsa Picture
Local spots are the bread and butter of Tulsa commercial production, and they cluster in a narrower band than the headline range suggests. A one-location spot at your business, using your own staff, with a simple edit, music, and a voiceover, is commonly published in the $5,000 to $12,000 range. That covers dealerships shooting on the lot, restaurants shooting in the dining room, and service businesses showing the crew at work.
The next step up adds professional talent or a second location, and published ranges move into the $12,000 to $25,000 band. This is where scripted spots with a character or a small narrative live, and where the storyboard and casting add pre-production days. Above that sit full productions with a cast, multiple locations across the metro, two shoot days, and a broadcast-grade finish, which local guides price at $25,000 to $40,000 and beyond.
A single-camera day at the low end of the published band explains the bottom of the market. It is possible to shoot a very simple spot in a half day, but scripting, editing, music, and delivery push the finished cost well above the shoot rate alone.
Costs for TV, YouTube, and Paid Social Spots
Where the commercial runs changes what has to be delivered, and that changes the cost. Broadcast TV needs a master file built to the station's loudness and format spec, with closed captioning in many cases, and a :30 or :15 exactly to length. Getting that right is a finishing step that adds a few hours of post-production but saves a rejected upload.
YouTube pre-roll is more forgiving technically but harder creatively, because the viewer can skip after five seconds. Spots for pre-roll are often written as :06 bumpers or :15 cuts with the offer up front, which means the shoot has to capture a strong opening shot. Paid social on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok needs vertical and square versions with captions burned in, since most viewers watch with the sound off.
All of these versions can come from one shoot if the producer plans for them. Published ranges for a set of cutdowns and social versions run from a few hundred dollars to a couple of thousand when they are added to an existing project. The media buy itself, whether a TV schedule or a paid social budget, is a separate cost from production and is set with your media buyer or agency.
What Separates a Good Commercial From an Expensive One
Money spent on a commercial does not automatically make it work. The spots that perform for Tulsa businesses share a few traits that have little to do with budget: one clear offer, one call to action, the business name and location visible early, and a look that matches where the spot runs.
The expensive mistakes are usually creative ones. A script that tries to say everything, a location that does not look like the business, actors playing customers when real customers would be more convincing, or a spot shot only in widescreen that then has to be cropped awkwardly for social. Each of those costs money to fix after the fact, and each is avoidable with a producer who asks about the media plan before writing the script.
The cheapest way to make a commercial look expensive is good lighting, clean audio, and a confident edit. Those come from crew skill and planning rather than from a bigger gear package. Spend on the shoot day and the finishing, keep the concept simple, and the spot will hold up next to regional advertisers with far larger budgets.
Budgeting Questions to Settle Before You Ask for Estimates
Where will the spot run, and for how long? This decides the deliverables list and any talent usage terms, and it is what a producer needs before anything else. What is the single offer or message? If you cannot say it in one sentence, the script is not ready and the estimate will be padded to cover options.
Who is on camera? Staff, real customers, or professional actors each carry different costs and different credibility. Where will it be shot? One location at your business keeps the project in the lower band; multiple locations push it up. When does it need to air? A tight deadline can add crew or rush post-production fees, while a normal two- to four-week schedule keeps costs standard.
With those answers, an itemized estimate is straightforward to produce and to compare. Ask every company you approach for the same inclusion list: pre-production, shoot days and crew, talent, post-production, revision rounds, and the exact versions delivered. That is the only way to know whether a lower number is a better deal or a smaller job.
Common concerns
Not if it is lit and shot properly. Real locations are what most regional and national service brands use in their advertising, because customers trust a place that looks like the one they will visit. The difference between a spot that looks local and one that looks like a brand campaign is lighting, camera movement, and a confident edit rather than a rented studio. Shooting at your business also removes location fees from the estimate.
It depends on the mix. A spot built for paid social and YouTube can run on a modest media budget and be measured directly, and the same footage feeds your website and sales materials. If the plan is a small broadcast schedule only, the production cost may outweigh the reach, and a producer will say so. The useful question is what the total spend, production plus media, needs to return, and that is a good first-call conversation.
Cost guide questions
How much does a 30 second TV commercial cost?
Production of a locally aired thirty-second spot in the Tulsa market is typically published from about $5,000 for a simple one-location shoot to between $20,000 and $40,000 or more for a production with actors, multiple locations, and a broadcast finish. National spots cost far more. The airtime is a separate cost set with the station or your media buyer. These are market ranges rather than a quote.
How much is a 30 second YouTube ad?
Producing the ad is priced the same way as any :30 spot, with published Tulsa ranges starting around $5,000 for a simple shoot. Pre-roll often calls for a :06 or :15 version with the offer up front, which is usually cut from the same footage. The cost to run the ad on YouTube is separate and set by your campaign budget and bidding, not by the production company.
How much should a 3 minute video cost?
A three-minute piece is usually a brand video, company overview, or product demo rather than a commercial, and in the Tulsa market published ranges for that work run about $7,500 to $20,000 depending on shoot days and editing scope. Runtime matters less than complexity; a scripted :30 can cost more than an interview-driven three-minute video.
What should a 5 minute video cost?
A five-minute piece is long-form content such as training or a documentary-style brand story, and it is priced on shoot days, interviews, and editing hours. Published ranges for that scope in the Tulsa area typically sit in the upper corporate band, roughly $12,000 to $20,000 and up when multiple locations and interviews are involved.
Does the commercial price include airtime or ad spend?
No. Production estimates cover making the spot: pre-production, the shoot, editing, and delivered files. Airtime on TV, YouTube ad spend, and paid social budgets are separate and are set with your media buyer or the platform. A producer can build the deliverables to fit your media plan, but the media cost is its own budget line.
How long does it take to produce a commercial?
Two to four weeks is typical for a local spot: about a week for script, shot list, and scheduling, one shoot day, and one to two weeks of editing, revisions, and station delivery. Casting, multiple locations, or a seasonal deadline can change that. Give the producer your air date on the first call and the schedule is built backward from it.
Can we reuse commercial footage for social media and our website?
Yes, and you should plan on it. Footage from a commercial shoot can be cut into vertical social clips, a longer web version, and stills for the site, as long as any talent usage terms allow it. Listing those versions in the scope before the shoot lets the crew capture for them on the day, which is far cheaper than a second shoot.
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