What a production retainer includes

A production retainer swaps one-off quotes for a regular monthly arrangement. You agree a level of output, the production team books the sessions into its calendar, and each month follows the same rhythm: plan, shoot, edit, deliver. Because the team already knows your brand, your people and your locations, less time goes into briefing and more goes into the work itself.

Billie’s Production Retainers are ongoing film production and creative services for brands and businesses, built around consistent output, considered creative direction and quality visual storytelling. There are three tiers.

Essential is for those building their visual identity. It suits a business or artist that wants a steady flow of polished content without a large production every month: a cafe, a salon, a studio or a small brand that posts regularly and wants it to look consistent. Each month includes:

• 1 production session
• 3 edited video pieces
• 5 short-form edits
• Professional editing and colour grading
• Monthly content planning

Creative is for those ready to expand their visual presence. It doubles the shoot time and adds creative direction, so it fits brands running campaigns, artists with regular releases, or organisations that need both social content and longer pieces every month, with someone shaping the ideas rather than only filming them. Each month includes:

• 2 production sessions
• 6 edited video pieces
• 8-10 short-form edits
• Creative direction and concept development
• Professional editing, colour grading and sound design
• Monthly production planning

Studio Partner is for those seeking an ongoing creative partnership. It is priced on enquiry because the scope is shaped around the client, and it includes weekly production sessions, original film and campaign production, short-form and long-form content, creative direction and visual development, advanced post-production, priority production scheduling and ongoing creative consultation.

It suits organisations that want a production team close at hand all year, with content, campaigns and bigger film work planned together rather than one at a time.

An edited video piece is a finished video with a beginning, a middle and an end: a brand story, a product film, an interview piece, an event recap. A short-form edit is a short vertical or square cut made for feeds such as Instagram Reels, TikTok and YouTube Shorts.

Short-form edits often come from the same footage as the longer pieces, which is why one well-planned session can feed a month of posts. The batch shooting guide explains how that works. Monthly planning is where the month’s content is agreed before anyone picks up a camera: what to film, where, with whom, and what each piece is for.

A retainer is not always the answer. If you need one music video, one brand film or one launch campaign, a monthly arrangement adds a commitment you do not need. Those projects are better as Bespoke Production, which Billie quotes per project for music videos, visual campaigns, branded films and original creative projects.

Events are different again. Weddings, private events, corporate events, screenings and launches are produced by Billie Private and quoted per project. A retainer is also the wrong fit if you have no plan to publish regularly, because content that sits in a folder does no work. The retainer vs one-off guide goes through the trade-offs.

A retainer works best when both sides treat the monthly plan as the main event. Come to planning with what is happening in the business next month: new products, seasonal changes, events, hires and announcements. The more the plan reflects real news, the more useful the content is. Make one person responsible for feedback and approvals, so edits are signed off quickly and next month is not held up by this one.

Keep a list of ideas between sessions. A phone photo of something that would make a good shot, a question customers keep asking, a behind-the-scenes moment you wish had been filmed: all of these become content once they reach the planning conversation. Then publish what is delivered. A retainer pays off through consistency over months, not through any single post.

Start from output, not price. Count how many finished pieces and short edits you would actually publish each month, then check which tier covers that with room for the occasional bigger idea. If you need someone to come up with the ideas as well as film them, Creative is the first tier with creative direction built in, and Studio Partner adds original film and campaign production.

If you are unsure, send Billie a short note with what you publish now and what you would like to publish, and the team will tell you which tier fits, or whether a one-off project makes more sense.

Every vision begins somewhere.

Tell Billie about the project, the timeline and which retainer suits, or ask for a Bespoke Production quote.

Services

• Video ProductionProduction
• Social Media Content CreatorProduction
• VideographerProduction
• Brand Film ProductionProduction
• Commercial Video ProductionProduction

Industries

• Restaurants and Cafes
• Beauty and Salons
• Fashion and Retail Brands
• Gyms and Fitness
• Musicians and Artists

More guides

• Retainer vs One-off Video Project
• How to Plan Social Media Video Content
• How Batch Shooting Content Days Work