Why some music videos cost over $100,000 — TG Omori

Nigerian music video director, ThankGod Omori, popularly known as TG Omori, has revealed that some of the music videos he has worked on have cost more than $100,000 to produce.

Omori disclosed this during an interview on the Afropolitan podcast published on YouTube on Wednesday, while discussing the budgets involved in producing music videos, particularly projects shot outside Nigeria.

Omori said video directors and filmmakers were often reluctant to disclose the budgets of their projects because production costs depended largely on the concept and location.

“As directors, we don’t really like to reveal budgets because filmmaking is subjective. The ideas vary, and sometimes we don’t like to put budgets out,” he said.

According to him, revealing production budgets could also discourage some people or make them undervalue the creative work involved.

“It doesn’t scare people. It doesn’t also speak cheap of our art. To some people, it might be scary to some people. It sounds very… So it always boils down to the concept that we’re trying to work on,” he added.

Omori said music videos shot in the United States, particularly in cities such as Las Vegas and Los Angeles, were usually more expensive because of additional production costs.

“Most times if we’re shooting abroad, it’s actually more expensive. So most of the videos I’ve had to shoot in Las Vegas or LA have had to be a bigger budget, not necessarily coming to me, but because shooting in America, I have to pay for insurance, have to pay for these, have to… Every hour spent, all of those things,” he said.

The director said such productions could cost well above $100,000 because payments were made in dollars and several expenses had to be covered.

“At the end of the day, you’re paying in dollars, and sometimes it goes way above a hundred thousand dollars,” Omori said.

Asked whether he meant more than $100,000 for a single music video, he replied, “Yeah, most times.”

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He added that he had also produced some music videos in Nigeria for about $100,000, noting that such budgets could be more profitable when the production was done locally.

“But in Nigeria here, I’ve done a couple for around a hundred thousand dollars. But it’s easier here. You make a lot of profit from that in Nigeria,” he said.

Omori, however, explained that spending a similar amount on a production abroad could yield significantly lower returns because much of the money would go into production and service costs.

“But if I do that abroad, you probably might not make… You just probably get a service charge because everything is actually very…,” he said.

He also spoke about the advantages of working with local artisans in Nigeria, saying they could help achieve elaborate production designs at relatively lower costs.

“That’s why I enjoy shooting in Las Vegas because I won’t say cheap, but manpower or labour is quite affordable here. You can get good artisans, local artisans,” he said.

According to him, local artisans could deliver quality work when properly supervised and given a clear creative direction.

“If you have the vision that can help you get the best, if you can… It’s just that working with people in Lagos is actually, you are going to sacrifice your sleep and your time to make it happen,” Omori said.

He noted that although working with local artisans could reduce production costs, directors often had to closely monitor the entire process to ensure the desired result was achieved.

“It might save you some money, but to save your health, to go after your sleep and your health, because you have to literally work with them with every nail that is going into the wood,” he said.

“You have to watch the process of everything. But they’re going to get it right. But you’re actually going to have to monitor everything to actually get what you really want. So those are the downsides,” he added.