Is It Worth It to CREATE Your Own FILM STUDIO or Should You Rent? (How to Build a Studio)

Often here at Film Jams we are asked if it is worth it to create your own film or photo studio. Should you get your own, rent from someone else’s, or shoot in your house? How about all the gear you have to buy along with it and other extraneous costs? And how to build a studio? Watch the video to find out more!

It is important to consider location when thinking about how to create a film studio. Do you live in a huge city like New York City, a mid-sized city like us in St. Petersburg, Florida, or a small town? Our team considered what our area already had to offer before we began. It was either large, expensive studios, or tiny studios that had older gear and lackluster locations, like next to the train tracks. We decided to open our studio as a mid-sized option to fill that gap for video and photo studio rental in our area.

What about home studios? Can you create a video studio in your house? If you have some spare space or an extra room, it might make sense to utilize it for certain projects. Creating your own DIY film studio should be a space that works for what you need to do. Customize it for your video production or photography studio needs.

It’s also important to consider how many clients per month you'd need to meet basic rent for the studio or soundstage on top of your other expenses. Is it realistic to break even? How big are your video studio projects? Do you need the space and professionalism of your own studio or are you small enough that a small setup in your house will work? And ultimately, should you create your own film studio? These are just some of the questions we address in our video this week.

So photo studio rental or buy? A DIY film studio may help you get started - so check out our tips! Let us know any questions you might have about our experience renting our own studio by commenting below!

If you have any questions on the techniques used in this tutorial video on building a production studio, please send a note in the comments. Thanks for watching Is It Worth It to Create Your Own Film Studio or Should You Rent?, in our Film Jams series!

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GEAR USED IN THIS VIDEO:

LENSES

CAMERAS

AUDIO GEAR

Other equipment we use to film:

CAMERAS

LENSES

TRIPODS

MICS

LIGHTS:

PHOTO GEAR

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Special Thanks to the St. Petersburg Clearwater Film Commission Digital Creator Program

Disclaimer: This video description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. It doesn't cost any more for you, and helps support the channel so we can continue to make more videos like this. Thank you for your support!

#RentingAFilmStudio #ShouldIBuyAFilmStudio #HomeFilmStudio

[terrancewshngtn]

Dude you just gave me inspiration. I've been flirting with the idea of having my own Studio. Instead of waiting on Hollywood. I'll just create my own.

[randywatson]

Have a friend very skilled in construction, drywall, creative engineering, and just plain thinking outside the box.
Can't say how much I enjoyed working with you. Always wishing you the best!!

[VelasquezMedia]

Love to know how your studio is doing in 2024! Hope you all are thriving. Thank you for the video.

[williamhedges]

I bought an old former theater building about the same size as your studio and turned it into a studio so I could film my own movies. It's in a small town so it wasn't very expensive so I don't have to depend on renting it, the building was just $18K plus another $10K to fix it up and the utilities and taxes are less than my house. I do film in the house too. It's also nice because it did have restrooms, an office and other rooms including space in the balconies, a high ceiling, even a garage door for driving vehicles in. I do use every bit of space like you do. I think if you can do most of the work yourself and can find an existing building that it's definitely the way to go.

[belindamorales]

Omg!!! This was answering everything I need right now!! Thanks 🙏🏼

[soubanhphanthay]

Thanks for your info. I love the use of every space for filming.

[spencer]

Thank you for the tips, big idea I got from this is to find warehouse space in a quiet area. I'm in Tampa and I've seen your company before on Google, you have good SEO.

[NicolleMWhalen]

This is AMAZING AND CONGRATULATIONS!!! Can you post a tour video?! Like full out the sets you created and what it looks like behind and above the sets?

[johnweyrick]

These guys and gals are great! I enjoy their shows even when subject doesn't apply to me!

[rfn]

Thanks for the video! We are taking the plunge in a couple of days now..I was excited until you mention the train and ...I realized our future location is not to far from a train track...We are taking over an old photo studio but we plan to turn it into a production studio...Lol..Guess well have to manage the train schedule!

[weliveinhelltv]

I would love to see a full cost breakdown. How much did everything cost? How much liquid cash did you need up front to make this happen? Who did you hire to help? How much time it took for you to pay back the loan and start bringing in revenue? Did you have prior experience using a studio? How much technical knowledge did you need to make this happen? How did you prioritize what equipment to purchase first? Do you find your life to be more difficult or easy after opening the studio? What would you have done differently? Did you do any marketing or advertising? What was your business plan like? Did you purchase any used equipment? How many employees are there at the studio? How many hours a week do you think you spend there?

That's a lot of questions I know, but I'm considering going down this road myself. Thanks for your help!

[MattSpaugh]

Sage wisdom. Room for Aunt Lucy is always a consideration too.

[andresoto]

I'm in the process of opening up my own studio, I'd love to team up with someone else but unfortunately I don't have any close friends/partners like that.... anyways thanks for the video

[SarahMarrieBurge]

What are the steps for starting a studio? What equipment, etc? Blueprints?

[YoungDecent]

good vid! Im in NYC. I have a compact studio I'm building to film Smaller projects or do photos. Gonna rent to other creatives who may wanna use it, and do my projects too!

[dmitry_vyshniak]

Thank you a lot for this video! I am on my way to creating studio space here in Kyiv, Ukraine. If you have more videos about how to build and manage a film studio, I will be happy to get them!

[MortyFilms]

This was super inspiring! My family owns a huge space that I’ve recently been considering as a potential studio, as this would be a way to maintain this old house as well. Besides money, of cause, I guess the biggest issue I’m having is that it is a 3.5h drive from the place I currently live… 😅

[frankduffy]

Great advice! Building my own studio to house a production company to realize a result for my published and non, has been a dream of mine for a long time. I was interested to hear that you're in the Tampa Bay area.

[nickatchison]

I have a 20x49x12 metal building that had a complete house built inside it. It has industrial ceiling elevated floors - 1.5' and 100 Amp 220 service. I want to bold a 3D virtual reality studio as:
1 make studio 14x20, 1 view holodeck 14x20 and 1 computer/control room 6x40. The make shoot room is special ultra black widow high gain projection screen for composing a special flex-wall 3D in 3D Orrery.
It is for making educational videos.
I can do this because I desigñ and build cameras, projectors, and screens. Plus I own everything.

[acamilop]

This is the.dream. I like that you decided to make it part of your business to rent it out. Has it been lucrative to have it?