Should You Hire a Freelancer or a Production Company? Avoid these Video Project Mistakes!
When planning a video project, one of the first questions is whether to hire a freelancer or a production company. The right choice isn’t about one being better…it’s about matching the right team to the project’s complexity and your resources.
When a Freelancer Makes Sense
Freelancers are specialists…experts in one part of the process, like cinematography, directing, or editing. They shine when your project is focused, well-defined, and low-complexity.
For example, if you already have a creative director, social media team, or in-house editors, a freelancer can provide the professional capture camera, lighting, and sound, while your team handles scripting, editing, graphics, and social formatting.
In these scenarios, you don’t need full production oversight because your internal team can manage the workflow.
In the past, when I was a freelancer, I worked with clients who hired me as a freelance cinematographer, expecting just the shoot. As we talked, it became clear they hadn’t planned for audio capture, extra crew, or post-production needs. They hadn’t fully realized what’s involved to create a polished, professional video.
These were situations where a production company would have been the right choice, providing the necessary team, equipment, and workflow to execute the project properly.
When a Production Company Is the Right Choice
Production companies are ideal when you don’t have dedicated video resources and the project is more complex. They handle multiple roles, technical expertise, and end-to-end production, including pre-production planning, shoot execution, and post-production delivery.
A friend of mine worked for a mid-sized company that wanted to produce a series of interviews for social media. They already had a social media team and a creative director who could handle editing and graphics, but their manager insisted on hiring a full production company. In this case, a skilled freelancer could have captured all the interviews with professional camera and lighting gear, and the in-house team could have managed post-production. Hiring a full production company was overkill. It added personnel, scheduling, and cost where a freelancer would have sufficed.
On the other hand, if the same company had no internal team to handle editing, graphics, or social distribution, a production company would have been the right choice. They bring a full crew and manage every step of the process, ensuring the project is delivered professionally and efficiently.
Key Takeaways
Hire a freelancer when: You have internal resources, the project is focused and simple, and you don’t need full production oversight. Freelancers excel at specialized roles like shooting or editing.
Hire a production company when: You lack internal video resources, the project is multi-faceted, or you need someone to handle everything from pre-production to post-production.
