Professionally produced video tapes cost from $1,500 to $4000 and up per finished minute. Apart from the general truths that generating good ideas is expensive and takes time, good machines are expensive, and real talent and expertise are expensive, the following are main villains. Unfortunately they also make your video more entertaining, more persuasive, more competitive with your competition, and more likely to meet the expectations of people used to NBC.

Meetings, research, arriving at a consensus about the ideas to be communicated in the script and the creative approach.

Script Writing. Revisions (sometimes several). More meetings.

Shooting Days, often involving air travel, hotel, interpreters, drivers, etc.

Elaborate sets, costumes, & props, aerial shots, extensive searches for stock footage & rights to same.

Name actors / talent.

Elaborate computer graphics and transitional titles.

Original Music: composer, arranger, singers & instrumentalists.

Extensive editing and re-editing.

Profit and overhead: a fair return on investment, plus rent, Federal, stage, and local taxes, production equipment, computers, software, staff salaries, benefits, legals costs, accouting, insurance, marketing, printing, phone, fax, internet, and a hundred other costs taken for granted in large organizaitons.