Ask for video quotes in Kampala and you'll get numbers from 800K to 80M for what sounds like the same thing. None of the quotes will explain the gap. Here's what's actually inside it.
The one-man band: 500K–1.5M
One person, one camera, natural light, shooting and editing everything themselves. For social content, event recaps, and simple testimonials, this tier is honestly fine. Its ceiling is real though: no dedicated sound means risky audio, no lighting kit means you're praying for good weather, and one pair of hands means no second angle.
The small crew: 2M–6M
A shooter, someone on sound, proper lights, and a separate editor. This is where most brand work should live, and it's where our own production Sprints sit: a Commercial Shoot runs 1.5M to 3M and a scripted Product & Campaign Video starts at 4M. The Africa Practice anniversary film came from this tier. You get coverage, safety takes, and someone whose whole job is making it sound good.
The big production: 10M–80M+
Casting, art direction, location scouting, a director who doesn't touch a camera. This is TV-commercial territory, and if you're putting real media spend behind the ad, it earns its price. If you're posting it on Instagram, you're buying a suit to wear in the shower.
We work at this scale too — the Basco Paints campaign came from our network. What's different is how the number is built. At most production houses, 80M arrives as one figure and a confident handshake. Our Kustom Productions are quoted line by line — crew, shoot days, gear, locations, post — and you approve every line before anything rolls. If a line needs to move mid-production, you sign off first. 80M is a fine price for an 80M production. It's a terrible price for a mystery.
What actually moves the price
Shoot days move it most — every extra day multiplies crew, transport, and location fees. After that: crew size, lighting and lens requirements, how many locations you're moving between, and the edit. A straight cut is cheap. Motion graphics, subtitles in three languages, and five platform cutdowns are not, so ask for them in the quote, not after.
Where brands waste money
Three ways, mostly. Paying commercial rates for content that will live and die on social media. Insisting on gear specs they read somewhere instead of outcomes. And skipping script sign-off, which turns into re-edits, which cost more than the script meeting would have.
What a real quote should show you
Day count, crew list, deliverables with lengths and formats, revision rounds, and who owns the footage. If a quote is one number on a WhatsApp message, that number will grow. Ours are itemised at every scale — preset Sprints and 80M productions alike — and the payment terms are public: half to start, half on delivery.
Got a video project and a budget you're unsure about? Post a brief and we'll tell you what your number realistically buys.