Pricing guide
What a video production day costs: New Jersey vs. New York City vs. Philadelphia
A single-camera video production day with Ascari Digital starts at $1,500 in New Jersey, New York City and Philadelphia. The published price doesn’t change by city. What changes is the work around the shoot: travel, parking, permits and how long it takes to get gear into the building. In most cases those differences are small, and all of them are listed in your fixed quote.
We can only speak to our own prices, so that’s what this guide covers. Other companies charge differently, and it’s worth comparing what’s inside each quote rather than the headline number.
The three markets compared
| New Jersey | New York City | Philadelphia | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Production day from | $1,500 | $1,500 | $1,500 |
| Getting there | Home base (Cherry Hill) | Local, commutable from New Jersey | Local, just across the river |
| Common permit question | Depends on the town and location | Often none for camera and tripod only | Required at all city parks |
| Likely extras | Few on most shoots | Parking, load-in time | Parking, venue rules |
| Same price everywhere? | Yes, starting price | Yes, starting price | Yes, starting price |
What a production day includes
A production day covers one camera, wireless audio and crew on site for the day. It’s the smallest unit we book: there’s no half-day shooting rate. If the shoot needs more than one angle or lit interviews, a multi-camera or lighting package is added and quoted per project.
A production day doesn’t include the edit. If you need a finished recap, an event highlight edit starts at $1,000, which is why most projects start at $2,500.
New Jersey
We’re based in Cherry Hill, so New Jersey is the simplest case. For most shoots there’s little to add. Rules for filming on public property vary by town, so if you’re shooting outdoors on public land, check with the municipality or ask us to.
New York City
New York has a reputation for expensive shoots, but a small crew can be surprisingly simple. The Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment says a permit is no longer needed if you’re using only a camera and tripod with handheld gear, you don’t take exclusive use of city property and you don’t ask for parking privileges.
Bigger shoots are different. Lighting on a sidewalk, closing off space or needing guaranteed parking all move you into permit territory, and they add planning time. Venues add their own rules, and loading gear into a Midtown office takes longer than it does in a suburban one. It’s a commutable local shoot for us, which keeps travel simple. See our New York City video production page for more.
Philadelphia
Our Cherry Hill office is just outside the city, so travel rarely moves the number. The main thing to check is location. The city requires a media permit to shoot at all city parks and Parks & Recreation facilities, so build that time into your schedule. See Philadelphia video production for details.
What actually moves the price
Location is rarely the biggest factor. Four things move the price of any video: crew days, edit complexity, number of deliverables and travel.
Crew days. A second shoot day or a second operator changes the total far more than the city does.
Edit complexity. A clean interview edit costs less than one with animation and many sources.
Number of deliverables. One video costs less than a main edit plus cutdowns and vertical versions. Vertical cuts start at $350.
Travel. We cover most of the Northeast locally, from DC up to New York and Connecticut, and from eastern Pennsylvania to the Jersey Shore. Outside our local area, travel days are billed at half the production day rate, plus expenses.
A market-rate sanity check
If you’re comparing freelancers or building a budget, national wage data is a useful reference. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a national median of $74,990 for camera operators as of May 2025. That’s a salary, not a day rate, and it covers neither gear nor the business around it, so don’t try to turn it directly into a daily price. It’s mainly a reminder that a very low day rate usually leaves something out.
How to keep a day’s cost down
Keep everything in one location. Moving gear uses up shoot time.
Have people ready. Delays on set are the most expensive minutes of the day. Confirm who’s on camera and when.
Plan the day’s other uses. One day can often produce a hero interview, a few testimonials and social clips, if it’s planned that way.
Ask about parking and load-in early. A venue’s loading dock rules can decide how early the crew needs to arrive.
Book the edit at the same time. It’s easier to scope the shoot when everyone knows what the finished videos are.
Tell us the address on the first call. We can check permits, parking and load-in for that exact location, instead of guessing at them, and your quote will reflect the real shoot. That one detail removes most of the surprises from a city shoot, and it costs nothing to send.
The short version
The starting price is $1,500 in all three markets. Expect small differences for parking, permits and logistics, and a bigger difference from crew size and the edit. Our pricing page lists every published starting price, and a quote from us is one fixed number with all of it spelled out.
Brandon Ascari
Founder of Ascari Digital, a video production company in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Brandon holds an MFA, has more than ten years in production, and taught video production at Seton Hall University. His crew produces for Google, Sony and Informa Connect and runs its own YouTube channels.