Video Editing Services in NYC: Cost & Turnaround

You shot the footage. Maybe it was your wedding, a conference panel, a product launch, or a weekend of event coverage on your phone and a friend's camera. Now you have folders of clips, no time, and a deadline. What you need is not another shoot — you need someone to cut it. That is exactly what editing-only video editing services in NYC are for.

This guide covers when it makes sense to hand your footage to an editor, what editing-only service actually includes, what it costs, and how fast you can expect it back. SHMONG TV edits client-supplied footage out of our DUMBO studio at 68 Jay St, with finished cuts delivered in 5–7 business days and a 48-hour rush available when the calendar is tight.

When to hire an editor for your footage

Hire an editor when the raw material already exists and the bottleneck is post-production, not the camera. A few common situations:

• You have wedding or event footage from a shooter who delivered raw files but no edit, or a family member who filmed the day.
• You recorded a panel, keynote, or webinar and need a tight highlight cut plus vertical clips for social.
• You film your own content — interviews, podcasts, product demos — and the editing is piling up faster than you can clear it.
• A previous edit missed the mark and you want the same footage recut with a different pace, story, or music.

If you still need a crew on the ground, that is a full production, not editing-only — and we do that too. But if the shooting is done and you are staring at a hard drive, editing-only is the faster, more affordable path. You skip the shoot-day cost entirely and pay for the part you actually need: the cut.

What editing-only service includes

When you send SHMONG your footage, editing-only means we take your raw clips and turn them into a finished, delivery-ready video. A typical editing-only project includes:

• Story assembly — selecting the best takes and building them into a sequence that holds attention.
• Color correction and grading so shots from different cameras and lighting conditions match.
• Audio cleanup — balancing levels, reducing noise, and syncing music or voiceover.
• Titles, lower-thirds, and simple motion graphics for names, dates, and captions.
• Licensed music and sound design where it fits the piece.
• Deliverables in the formats you need — horizontal for YouTube, square or vertical cut-downs for Instagram and TikTok.

Every project comes with two rounds of revisions, so you get to react to the first cut and refine it. We edit in Adobe Premiere and DaVinci Resolve, the same tools we use on full productions for clients ranging from a16z's Cultural Leadership Fund to the NY Black MBA. The output does not look like a favor — it looks like your footage got the treatment it deserved.

How much video editing costs

Editing rates vary widely because projects vary widely — a 60-second social reel and a 20-minute wedding film are not the same job. Typical NYC rates for professional editing depend on runtime, the number of clips and camera angles, how much color and audio work the footage needs, and how many deliverables you want.

Rather than publish a rate card that would mislead you, SHMONG quotes every project individually. Here is how the pricing works:

Send us the details — runtime, number of clips or angles, the deadline, and where the finished video is going — and you get a real number back fast, not a range. The $1,000 minimum keeps our schedule focused on projects where we can do work we are proud to put our name on.

Turnaround and rush options

Turnaround is where editing-only work lives or dies. A great cut delivered after your launch date is worth nothing. Here is how SHMONG handles the clock:

• Standard turnaround: 5–7 business days for a finished edit once we have your footage and creative direction.
• 48-hour rush available when you are up against a hard deadline — a client presentation, an anniversary, a campaign go-live.
• Two revision rounds are built into the timeline, so plan a day or two for your notes and our turnaround on them.

Speed is something clients notice. As one review from Delilah Perez put it, the experience was "very professional with a fast turn over allowing me to use the content in a timely manner." To hit the fastest turnaround, get your files to us organized and flag your must-have moments up front. The cleaner the handoff, the faster the cut — and the more time you keep for revisions before your deadline.

Wedding, event and social edits

Editing-only fits a lot of formats. The most common requests we get:

• Wedding video editing service. If you have raw wedding footage — whether from a shooter who only delivered files or from cameras around the room — we cut a cinematic highlight film and, if you want it, a longer feature edit of the ceremony and speeches. We have delivered 500+ weddings, including traditional cultural films like Cynthia & Martin's Gold African wedding.
• Event and conference edits. Panels, galas, keynotes, and networking events become tight highlight reels plus sponsor-ready recaps. We have edited event content shot at venues from Barclays Center to S&P Global and the NASDAQ MarketSite in Times Square.
• Social reels and vertical cut-downs. One long recording becomes a set of short, platform-native clips — vertical for Reels and TikTok, square or horizontal for the feed.

Whatever the format, the goal is the same: a finished piece that looks like it was planned that way, not stitched together after the fact.

“My experience booking with Shmong was very professional with a fast turn over allowing me to use the content in a timely manner.”

— Delilah Perez, Google review

Sending SHMONG your footage

Getting started is simple. Here is the path from hard drive to finished video:

• Tell us the project. Email contact@shmong.tv or use the form at /contact with the runtime, footage source, number of clips or camera angles, your deadline, and where the video will be published.
• Get your quote. We send a written quote within 24 hours, usually the same day. The 50% deposit locks your slot in the schedule.
• Send the files. We will confirm the best way to transfer your footage. Organized folders and a note on your must-have moments speed everything up.
• Review and refine. You get a first cut, give notes, and we apply them across two revision rounds.
• Receive your deliverables in the formats you need — and your raw footage stays yours.

You do not need to be in Brooklyn or even in New York for this. Editing-only works entirely remotely, so we cut footage for clients across the five boroughs, Long Island, Westchester, and northern New Jersey — and beyond. If your footage is ready, tell us your deadline and what you need, and we will get you a number today.

Frequently asked questions

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