Hiring an Out-of-State Production Team for Your Event: What to Know
If your event is happening somewhere your usual production company doesn't operate — or you're a national brand planning events across multiple cities — you're faced with a choice: fly in a team you trust, or hire local for each city. Neither is automatically right. Here's how to think it through.
Option 1: Fly In Your Trusted Team
Pros:
Consistency across every event — same creative style, same team, same communication process
No need to re-vet a new vendor for every city
Your team already understands your brand, your goals, and how you like to work
Cons:
Travel and lodging costs, which can add 15–30% to your total budget depending on distance
A team unfamiliar with local venue quirks, parking, or load-in rules
Less flexibility if your event date changes on short notice
Option 2: Hire Local in Each City
Pros:
No travel costs
Local teams already know the venues, permitting requirements, and typical challenges in that market
Easier to book on short notice
Cons:
Inconsistent creative style and quality from one event to the next if you're hiring different vendors in every city
Time spent vetting and onboarding a new team for every event
No accumulated institutional knowledge of your brand or preferences
The Middle Path: A Centralized Team With Local Crews
The approach that works best for companies running events in multiple cities is a production partner that manages the creative and project direction centrally, while working with vetted local crews on the ground in each market. You get:
One point of contact and one consistent editing style across every city
Local crews who already know the venue logistics, without you having to vet a new full vendor each time
Lower travel costs than flying a full team to every event, since only the direction is centralized, not every crew member
This is worth asking about directly when you're evaluating a production company for a multi-city relationship: do they have their own network of vetted local crews, or would every out-of-town event mean flying their core team in at full travel cost?
Questions to Ask a Production Company About Multi-City Coverage
Do you have local crews in the cities I need coverage in, or would you need to travel for all of them?
Who handles creative direction and editing — is it consistent across every city, or does it vary by local crew?
What's the cost difference between a local crew and a flown-in team for a specific city?
Can I see examples of your work in that specific market?
The Bottom Line
If you're planning a single out-of-town event, the math usually comes down to travel cost versus the value of working with a team you already trust. If you're planning events across multiple cities on an ongoing basis, a centralized production partner with local crews is usually the most consistent and cost-effective option — you're not starting from scratch, or compromising on quality, with every new city.
Running events in multiple cities?
Parish Mandhan Productions manages creative direction centrally while working with vetted local crews across major markets, so you get consistent quality without paying full travel costs for every event. Get in touch to talk through your multi-city coverage needs.
