Short answer
Check the licence first — video production need a licence for some work and not other work. Then check that the business is who it says it is: of the 435 Australian video production in this directory, only 24.4% publish an ABN you can confirm, and 1.7% list a phone number that contradicts the one on their own website.
Video Production handle corporate, promotional, event and wedding video, animation, drone footage and editing. This is what to check before you put your business on camera, and what the evidence says about the category as a whole.
Video Production are licensed for some work and not others
Filming itself is unlicensed, but commercial drone work is not: anyone flying a drone for a business needs CASA's operator accreditation or a remote pilot licence, and bigger drones or city flying need an operator's certificate. Ask about it directly when drone footage is part of the quote. For everything else the contract decides who owns the footage and what you may do with it.
CASA publishes the rules for commercial drone flying and the operator's certificate register; an accredited operator can show you their accreditation on the spot. The rest is in the contract.
What 435 Australian video production actually publish
We check every business in this directory the same way, and publish the result whether it flatters the trade or not. For video production:
| What we checked | Video Production | All trades |
|---|---|---|
| Publish an ABN we could confirm | 24.4% | 21.5% |
| Listed phone matches their own website | 35% | 59.2% |
| Listed phone contradicts their own website | 1.7% | 7.7% |
| Website responded when we checked | 83.1% | 81% |
| Corroborated by two or more sources | 90% | 81.1% |
| Median number of Google reviews | 19 | 39 |
What goes wrong with video production
- Drone footage shot by someone without CASA accreditation or the permission to fly there
- Raw footage retained by the producer so you cannot re-edit later
- Usage rights that stop at one platform or one year
What to ask before the work starts
- If drones are involved, what is your CASA accreditation or licence?
- Do I receive the raw footage, and may I use the finished video anywhere I like?
- What is the delivery date and how many rounds of edits are included?
A video production company who answers all three of those without hesitating is telling you something useful. One who is vague about a licence number is telling you something too.
The median matters more than the average
The median video production company in this directory has 19 Google reviews. That is the number to hold in your head when you see a perfect five-star rating: five stars from four reviews and 4.6 from three hundred are not comparable, and the second is almost always the safer hire.
It is also why the ranking here weights review volume more heavily than review score. A business cannot buy its position, and a handful of glowing reviews does not move it far.
Where the video production are
Sydney (20). A shortlist for your own area is more useful than a national ranking — the best video production company in the country is no help if they are four states away.
Where to check a licence, by state
There is no national register. Search the licence number with the regulator for the state where the work is happening.
- NSWNSW Fair Tradingbuilders, electricians, plumbers and specialist trades
- VICBuilding and Plumbing Commission, and Energy Safe Victoria for electricalbuilding practitioners and plumbers; electricians are Energy Safe Victoria
- QLDQueensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC)building and most trade contractor licences
- WABuilding and Energybuilders, electricians, plumbers and gas fitters
- SAConsumer and Business Servicesbuilding work contractors and supervisors
- TASConsumer, Building and Occupational Services (CBOS)building and occupational licences
- ACTAccess Canberraconstruction occupations licensing
- NTNT Government building practitioner registrationbuilding practitioners and electrical workers
Common questions
- Do video production need a licence in Australia?
- Sometimes. Filming itself is unlicensed, but commercial drone work is not: anyone flying a drone for a business needs CASA's operator accreditation or a remote pilot licence, and bigger drones or city flying need an operator's certificate. Ask about it directly when drone footage is part of the quote. For everything else the contract decides who owns the footage and what you may do with it.
- How do I check a video production company's licence?
- CASA publishes the rules for commercial drone flying and the operator's certificate register; an accredited operator can show you their accreditation on the spot. The rest is in the contract.
- What percentage of Australian video production have a verifiable ABN?
- 24.4% of the 435 video production in this directory publish an ABN we could confirm against the national register, against 21.5% across all trades.
- How many reviews should a video production company have?
- The median video production company here has 19. Treat a five-star rating from a handful of reviews with more caution than a slightly lower rating from hundreds.
Compare video production near you
435 video production, ranked on the evidence described above rather than on advertising.
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