The Best-Kept Secret in Content Creation: How Festival Highlight Reels Can Become a Real Business (and a Surprisingly Profitable One)

 by Robert Gallagher—Studio L7

There are a lot of ways to make money in content creation—weddings, portraits, corporate gigs, social media retainers, product photography, commercial campaigns, stock footage, events, and on and on. But every once in a while, a niche comes along that feels so obvious and so profitable and so fun that you wonder:

“How is nobody talking about this?”

That’s exactly how I feel about festival highlight reels—one of the most overlooked, underpriced, and wildly in-demand forms of content production happening today. And I’m not being dramatic when I say: this might be the next big thing for creators looking to earn real money with video without getting swallowed by the wedding industry or buried in corporate bureaucracy.

In this post, I’m going to break down:

• Why festival highlight reels are a business

• Who will pay for them (hint: it’s more people than you think)

• Why creators don’t realize this is a gold mine

• What gear you need (spoiler: you probably already have it)

• The exact packages you can sell

• The path to launching a reel-only event company

• And why this might actually be the best-kept creative secret of 2025

Let’s dive in.

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What Exactly Is a Festival Highlight Reel?

A festival highlight reel is a short, cinematic recap of an event—usually 15–60 seconds—designed to show the energy, emotion, visuals, and experience of a festival in a way that makes viewers say:

“Oh damn, I want to be there next year.”

Think:

• Food & drink festivals

• Craft beer events

• City night markets

• Music festivals

• Cultural celebrations

• Wine walks

• Car shows

• Holiday fairs

• Church festivals

• Street parades

• Outdoor vendor events

• Hot-air balloon festivals

• Renaissance fairs (yes, seriously)

Anywhere crowds gather, booths pop up, and an atmosphere forms, there is an opportunity to create a gorgeous, story-driven highlight reel.

And here’s the magic:

Nearly every one of these events needs content.
Most of them don’t have anyone doing it well.
And none of them want to do it themselves.

That’s where the business comes in.

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Why This Is a Business—Not Just a Fun Project

If you take nothing else from this article, take this:

Festivals need professional highlight reels every single year.

They need them to:

• Promote next year's event

• Secure sponsors

• Sell vendor spots

• Build hype on social

• Show attendance to the city

• Prove ROI to partners

• Attract performers

• Advertise to tourists

We’re talking dozens, hundreds, even thousands of events across the country that all need the same deliverable—a simple, clean, energetic, shareable highlight reel.

Now look at who needs content from the same event:

1. The Festival Organizer

They want the hero reel. The marquee video. The one they’ll put everywhere. They often want multiple versions—horizontal, vertical, teaser, sponsor cuts.

2. Festival Sponsors

Breweries, wineries, distilleries, food brands, coffee companies, soda vendors, tech sponsors, clothing brands—they all want footage of people interacting with their product.

3. Individual Vendors

Every food booth, craft booth, bar, shop, and artisan wants content they can use for their own marketing. This alone can become a business model.

4. Performers

Bands, DJs, dancers, cultural groups, magicians, speakers—every single performer wants reel content for their booking pages.

5. Local Tourism Boards & City Accounts

Cities love highlight reels because it showcases community, culture, and local revenue.

This means one event can turn into 10+ separate sales—all from footage you captured in one afternoon.

It’s the ultimate “work once, sell many times” model.

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Why Almost No Creators Are Doing This (And Why That’s Good for You)

This is the part that blows my mind.

There are creators out there hustling for:

• $75 portrait sessions

• $200 brand deals

• $300 wedding add-on clips

• $150 “highlight” edits on Fiverr

Meanwhile, festivals are sitting there with:

• Marketing budgets

• Sponsor requirements

• Social-media needs

• Proven annual revenue

• Contracts they renew every year

And hardly anyone is tapping into it.

Why?

Reason 1: Creators think festivals don’t pay.

Wrong. Sponsors pay. Cities pay. Tourism boards pay. Organizers pay. Performers pay. Everyone wants content.

Reason 2: Creators assume it’s too competitive.

Nope. Look around. You’ll see lots of bad festival recap videos—shaky shots, blown-out highlights, muddy sound, zero storytelling.

If you can make a reel that visually feels like something you’d want to attend, you win.

Reason 3: Creators associate “event video” with weddings.

This is not weddings. No timelines. No bride. No family drama. No twelve-hour commitment. No posing.

Just vibes, visuals, people having fun, vendors making food, and music in the air.

Reason 4: Creators don’t realize how repeatable this is.

Festivals happen every year—sometimes every month or weekly throughout a season.

Wedding clients refer one couple.
Festivals refer entire networks.

And the best part:

You don’t need to be a giant studio to do this.

One shooter. One camera. One gimbal. One mic. Some ambience. A clean edit. Deliver. Invoice. Done.

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What You Need to Get Started (Spoiler: You Already Have It)

You don’t need to drag out the entire Hollywood truck.

For most festival highlight reels, here’s your core kit:

• A mirrorless or DSLR

• OR an iPhone with a good app (Blackmagic Camera works beautifully)

• A gimbal (Hohem, Zhiyun, DJI—pick your weapon)

• A wider lens (18–35mm range is perfect)

• A mid-range lens for portraits and details

• A simple ND filter

• A Zoom recorder to grab clean ambience (optional but powerful)

• A small LED panel if you want vendor close-ups at night

That’s it.

You don’t need three shooters.
You don’t need cinema cameras.
You don’t need 15 pelican cases.
You don’t need to overthink it.

If you can capture:

• crowd energy

• food textures

• performance moments

• vendor interactions

• details

• ambience

• golden hour

…you can sell a festival highlight reel.

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The Packages You Can Sell (And How Much They Go For)

Here’s where it gets exciting. You don’t have to guess—I’ve built this out already.

Package 1: The Core Highlight Reel

$1,500–$2,500

• 3–4 hours shooting

• 30–60 second reel

• Horizontal + Vertical versions

• Basic color + sound

Package 2: The Festival Social Media Pack

$3,500–$6,500
Everything above, plus:

• 3–5 social reels

• Sponsor coverage

• Vendor shots

• Aerial footage (if permitted)

Package 3: The Annual Festival Partnership

$8,000–$15,000

• Full event coverage

• 1 hero reel

• 6–10 social edits

• Photo gallery

• Sponsor highlight package

• Planning meeting

• Yearly contract

You can also offer add-ons:

• Performer reels: $250–$500

• Vendor footage packs: $150–$300 each

• Same-day teaser: $200–$500

• A raw-footage pack: $500–$1,000

• Sponsor-only reels: $300–$600

Again: one event can turn into 5–15 separate sales.

This is what makes the model so financially powerful.

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The Workflow (Simple, Clean, Repeatable)

This is the process that makes this business scalable:

1. Pre-Event

• Brief call with organizer

• Grab schedule + map

• Identify VIPs, sponsors, performers

2. Shoot Day

Your job is to capture:

• Establishing shots

• Crowd reactions

• Vendor action

• Food & drink textures

• Kids playing

• Performers

• Golden light

• Details, details, details

3. Edit

• Choose music first

• Build emotional arc

• Mix in ambient sound

• Keep transitions clean

• Color grade for vibe, not perfection

4. Deliver

Send files in multiple aspect ratios + optional thumbnails. Festivals love when you think ahead for them.

5. Upsell

After delivering the main reel:

“Would you like vendor-specific or sponsor-specific reels for your partners?”

This is where the real money is.

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Why This Is One of the Best-Kept Secrets in the Creator World

Content creators talk all day about:

• getting brand sponsorships

• chasing YouTube views

• posting for exposure

• selling presets

• landing wedding clients

• doing corporate video work

But almost nobody is talking about festivals.

Why?

Because most creators think events = weddings.
But festivals are something else entirely:

• There’s far less pressure

• There’s far more creative freedom

• There’s a built-in audience

• There’s inherent energy

• There’s guaranteed repeat business

And unlike weddings, festivals happen:

• monthly

• quarterly

• annually

• seasonally

• or even weekly

You could build an entire income stream just doing highlight reels for city events, vendor nights, beer festivals, or community markets—without ever touching a wedding again.

And here’s the funny part:

We’re at a moment in time when festivals need content more than ever.

People aren’t scrolling static images anymore. They want:

• motion

• story

• sound

• rhythm

• emotion

• atmosphere

That’s what highlight reels deliver.

You’re not just selling video.
You’re selling the feeling of being there.

When a festival sees a creator who can turn everyday scenes—a food vendor pouring a drink, a musician tuning up, a group of friends laughing under string lights—into something cinematic?

They say yes.
They book again.
They recommend you.
They bring you back next year.
And that’s how a business is born.

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How to Start Your Festival Highlight Reel Business in 7 Days

Day 1: Pick your name + simple brand

Examples:

• FestFrame Media

• CityLight Reels

• Highlight + Hype Co.

• Studio L7 Events (your brand fits perfectly)

Day 2: Build your starter landing page

One festival reel + contact form + pricing.

Day 3: Shoot a small local festival for free or cheap

Just one.
You need a sample.

Day 4: Edit your hero reel

Make it tight, fast, emotional, and clean.

Day 5: Build your package list

Three options + add-ons + upsells.

Day 6: Email every organizer within 50 miles

A short, clean pitch:

“Do you need a festival highlight reel for marketing, sponsors, and next year's promotion?”

This works.

Day 7: Post your reel everywhere

Tag festivals, vendors, performers, food trucks—they will repost.

Now momentum starts.

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Why I’m Sharing This Secret

Most photographers and videographers are stuck in the same cycles:

• chasing unpredictable gigs

• competing with newcomers

• getting underpaid

• dealing with high-pressure expectations

• working burnout hours

I’m sharing this because there’s a wildly scalable, creative, repeatable niche sitting right in front of us—and almost nobody is talking about it.

Festival highlight reels are one of the most overlooked opportunities in content creation today.

They let you:

• build a real business

• work creatively

• expand recurring revenue

• sell multiple deliverables from one shooting day

• form long-term partnerships

• get paid to capture culture, food, music, and people

• enjoy the work instead of suffering through it

If you’re a creator looking for a lane — this is a lane.

If you want to build something sustainable — this is sustainable.

If you want to stand out rather than compete — this is the niche.

And if you want to create cinematic, emotional, story-driven work that actually pays?

This is your moment.