What is a video production retainer and how does it work?

[Taken from our pharmaceutical reel]

Direct answer

A video production retainer is an ongoing monthly agreement between you and a studio: you pay a fixed fee, and in exchange the studio reserves capacity for you every month and delivers an agreed scope of work — typically a flagship piece plus cut-downs, social variants and smaller assets. UK retainers usually run between £3,000 and £15,000 a month, with most B2B retainers landing around £5,000–£8,000. Ours start at £4,500 a month.

They make sense for teams producing video continuously rather than occasionally — realistically, from about four assets a month upwards. Below that you're paying for reserved capacity you won't use.

What's actually in a monthly retainer

A well-scoped retainer states its deliverables as numbers, not adjectives. A typical month might be:

• One 60-second flagship piece

• Three 15-second cut-downs, delivered in 16:9 and 9:16

• Two motion-graphic assets

• A shoot day - and shoot days should bank, so if two or three months' worth of material can be captured in a single day, it is

Alongside the deliverables, you should expect:

• A weekly call to plan and review — not monthly. Ours is weekly as standard, and more often when a project needs it.

• Two revision rounds on every deliverable, turned around in one to three days.

• First work in progress within five working days of an approved script — and progress shared throughout, rather than one reveal at the end.

• Asset management. The studio holds your master files and maintains a working library of brand-consistent components that compound across the relationship. This is what makes the ninth asset cost a fraction of the first.

The five questions every retainer contract should answer

Almost every well-run retainer answers the same five questions on day one. Ask them wherever you're signing, and be suspicious of any studio that answers with "it's all bespoke."

1. What's the minimum commitment? Six months is standard across the industry, and it's ours. It exists because the studio is reserving people for you and turning other work away.

2. What happens to unused work? This is where most retainers sour. Three models exist: use-it-or-lose-it, rollover with a cap, or banked hours. Most studios cap rollover at one to three months. Ours rolls over for 12 months — a full year — so a quiet quarter caused by a slipped launch or a frozen budget doesn't cost you the work. If a contract is silent on this, assume the worst answer.

3. What's the notice period? Thirty days is common. Ours is two months, deliberately. That sounds like a longer tie-in and it isn't the point: two months is enough time to fix whatever's wrong. Most retainers that end should have been repaired instead, and a 30-day notice period doesn't leave room for that conversation to happen at all.

4. How is out-of-scope work handled? Quoted separately, on what it actually is. A 15-second cut-down and a three-minute case study film are not the same job and shouldn't carry the same rate.

5. Who owns what at the end? Finished videos should be yours outright, with no restriction on use. Ask specifically about music and stock licence terms — plenty of studios buy 12-month social licences, which means your film quietly becomes a liability on its first birthday. Ours are licensed indefinitely. Raw footage and project files vary by studio; ours aren't handed over, because they're maintained working tools rather than deliverables, and keeping them current is what makes your next asset fast.

Onboarding

One to two weeks, and included. It's a brand and process immersion — how you talk about your product, who signs off, what's already been made — and it pays back across every subsequent piece. On a retainer you do it once. Project by project, you buy it every single time.

Can you pause?

Yes, with us. One paused month is available if you need it. It's rarely offered unprompted anywhere, so ask for it during negotiation rather than when you need it.

When a retainer is the right call - and when it isn't

Right call: you're producing video continuously, most of it is short-form and ongoing, and you want a standing team that already knows your brand.

Wrong call: the work is genuinely one-off — a single brand film, a conference opener, one launch. Nothing accumulates, so there's no saving to unlock. It's also the wrong instrument for a flagship piece everyone will judge you on; commission that as a project. And if you're testing a studio, do a project first. Any studio that will only work on retainer is asking you to commit before you've seen the work, and that's their risk to carry, not yours.

What ours costs

Retainers start at £4,500 a month. What that covers depends on the mix - volume, shoot frequency and whether long-form content is included all move it in both directions. Project work is priced separately: films from £9,000, bespoke animated explainers from £10,000.

These are starting points, not quotes. We'll scope it properly on a call.

FAQ

What is a video production retainer?

An ongoing monthly agreement where you pay a fixed fee and the studio reserves capacity for you each month, delivering an agreed scope of work. UK retainers typically run £3,000–£15,000 a month, most B2B retainers land around £5,000–£8,000, and ours start at £4,500.

What's the minimum commitment on a video retainer?

Six months is standard across the industry, and it's ours, with two months' notice. The long notice period is deliberate - it leaves time to fix problems rather than simply exit.

Do unused videos roll over?

Ours roll over for 12 months. Most studios cap it at one to three months, or offer nothing at all. If a contract doesn't state its rollover terms, assume use-it-or-lose-it.

How often will I speak to the studio?

Weekly as standard, and more often when a project needs it. You also see work in progress from day five rather than waiting for a finished film.

Who owns the videos and the footage?

Finished videos are yours outright with no restriction on use, and our music and stock are licensed indefinitely so nothing has to come down after a year. Raw footage and project files stay with us as maintained working tools.

How many videos a month does a retainer usually cover?

It varies by scope, but around eight assets a month is the point where video becomes a channel rather than an occasional activity. Below about four, nothing compounds.