Questions
What people ask before they start.
The questions that come up in almost every first conversation, answered plainly. If yours is not here, ask it — the first conversation is free either way.
Cost and scheduling
What does a documentary brand film cost?
A brand documentary starts at $11,000, a campaign series at $16,000, a founder story at $7,500, and internal brand alignment at $9,000. Those are floors rather than averages — the number moves with shoot days, edit days and crew size. Every project gets a written treatment and a fixed price before anything moves, so the estimate you approve is the invoice you receive. Registered non-profits take 15% off.
How long does a film take, start to finish?
Four to six weeks from kickoff to delivery for a single brand documentary. A campaign series runs longer by design — it is shot across a season so that one subject arrives at a time rather than everything at once. The schedule is agreed at the estimate stage, and the long pole is usually access to your people, not the edit.
How many days will you be filming?
Usually one to three. A Story Short is a single shoot day, a Feature Piece two, a Campaign four spread across a season. Before any of it there is time on site with no camera at all. We come and learn the work before we film it, which is the part most crews skip and the part that makes the difference.
How is an estimate put together?
From shoot days at $3,500, edit days at $1,600, and crew — a second person adds $750, a third $2,150. The shoot day includes the full camera, lens, lighting and sound kit; it is never billed separately. Pre-production runs $750 to $1,500 depending on the tier. You can build the whole thing yourself on the start page and send it over. Nothing is hidden and nothing is quoted on request.
Can we work with you on an ongoing basis?
Yes. A standing programme reserves production and edit days every month for a year — Presence from $6,750 a month, Standard from $13,500, Programme from $20,000 — about ten per cent below day rates in exchange for the commitment. Unused days roll forward a month, larger projects are scoped on their own, and there is a review at six months. Ask about it on the contact page.
How the work is made
What is the difference between a documentary brand film and a testimonial video?
A testimonial asks someone to say the thing you want said. A documentary waits until they say something truer than that. In practice it means longer interviews, real time on site beforehand, and an edit built from what people actually said rather than from a script written in advance. It takes longer and it does not survive being rushed, which is why the process is shaped the way it is.
Do you write a script?
Not for the people on camera. There is a written treatment — the argument the film is going to make, agreed before filming — but nobody is handed lines. Where a film needs narration, it is written from the material after the first assembly rather than before the shoot.
How big is the crew?
Usually one person, sometimes two, occasionally three. One is the smallest footprint and gets the most candour on camera. A second adds dedicated audio and lighting. A third adds a second camera, which is right for facility shoots and anything happening on a schedule that will not wait. The crew grows to fit the film, never the other way round.
How many rounds of revision are included?
First cut, two rounds of revision, then final delivery. Two rounds is what a documentary edit actually needs — enough to get it right, and few enough that the film does not get talked into being about nothing in particular.
What do we need to prepare?
Less than you would think. A conversation about what you do and who needs to understand it, then access — to the floor, the field, or the room where the work happens, and to the two or three people who care most about it. You do not need talking points, and nobody needs media training. People who are simply allowed to explain their own work are better on camera than people who have been coached.
Practicalities
Where do you work?
Hudson Valley, New York, and throughout the Northeast — New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania are all routine. We have also filmed in Cecil County, Maryland for W. L. Gore, in Philadelphia at Globe Dye Works, in New York City for Baruch College, and in a Newfoundland fishing outport for Village at the End of the Road. Travel beyond a day's drive is quoted as a line item rather than appearing later as a surprise.
Can you film inside a working facility?
Yes. Manufacturing floors, clean rooms, farms, mills and labs are the usual settings. A one or two person crew is often the only crew that can work in those spaces without stopping production, which is part of why the footprint stays small. Safety inductions, escorts, badge access and confidentiality restrictions are all normal and get built into the schedule rather than negotiated on the day.
What do we get at the end?
Final delivery in every format the scope calls for — the anchor film, the shorter breakouts, and the social reformats. Social versions are rebuilt rather than cropped, so a vertical cut holds a face where a letterboxed one would have lost it.
Do you work with non-profits?
Often. Hawthorne Valley, Old Tone, The Reinvestment Fund and Roeliff Jansen Park are all in the work. Registered non-profits take 15% off the estimate. Fundraising films, giving films, annual-meeting openers and donor campaigns are all familiar ground here.
How do we start?
Tell us what you do, who needs to understand it, and what you wish they already knew. The first conversation is free and nothing is owed after it. If it looks like a fit, a written treatment and a fixed estimate follow. hello@ephemerisllc.com.