The questions, answered properly.
Everything people ask before they get in touch. If yours is not here, message us and we will answer it, then add it.
General
Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Twenty five years in the industry, fourteen of them based here.
Yes. BVI, throughout the Caribbean, and worldwide. Travel is quoted separately from the shoot itself so you can see exactly what it costs.
Regularly. Travel between islands is included in the quote so there are no surprises on the invoice.
Mango Media is principal led. William shoots, edits, writes and answers your messages. Crew is brought in for larger productions, and software work runs through FruitStack, our own software studio.
Yes. We offer small business packages built for restaurants, shops, charters and services across the territory. Not everything we do is resort scale.
A half day shoot. There is no minimum contract value for photography or video. Social media management has a three month minimum because it does not work in less.
A short call or a WhatsApp conversation. Tell us the problem rather than the service and we will point you at the right thing, including when the right thing is not us.
Photography
A full day is roughly eight hours on property, covering the agreed shot list, plus editing and delivery. A half day is four hours and suits single restaurants, small properties or focused refreshes.
Photos in 48 hours in most cases. If you need something faster for a specific deadline, say so up front and we will usually make it work.
It depends on the shoot. A villa listing is typically 25 to 70 finished frames. A resort day is usually 80 to 150. You get the full edited set, not a preview you pay to unlock.
You get full usage rights for marketing, web, print, OTA listings and social. We retain the right to show the work in our own portfolio. Exclusive or buyout terms are available if you need them.
Standard colour grading, exposure and cleanup are included. Heavy retouching, object removal or compositing is quoted separately when the shot calls for it.
Yes. Send us what you have and we will grade the new work to sit alongside it rather than clash with it.
Yes. Licensed and insured for commercial drone work. Much of St. Thomas sits in controlled airspace, so tell us the location early because authorisation takes lead time.
Sometimes. Magens Bay and other territorial parks require permits for commercial shoots. We arrange them, but they need advance notice.
Usually we shift the schedule within the day, because weather here moves fast. If a full day is lost we reschedule at no additional shoot fee. Terms are in the agreement.
Video
Three to four days to first cut. Final master usually within a week of the shoot.
Sixty to ninety seconds. Longer films get made and then never get watched. We also cut fifteen and thirty second versions for social and paid.
One. That is usually enough when the story is agreed before the shoot. Additional rounds are billed hourly.
Yes. All delivered work uses properly licensed audio, so there are no takedown notices six months after launch.
When the film needs it. Most property films work better without, and we will tell you if we think narration would weaken it.
For property and resort work, yes, and we recommend it. Shared setups, shared prep, and the two sets grade to match. Yacht shoots are the exception: photography and video run as separate full days because each needs a different pace aboard.
Every project includes vertical edits as standard. Vertical is where most viewing happens now and cropping a horizontal film down always looks like what it is.
Websites
One to four weeks in most cases, depending on size and scope. Structure is agreed first, which is the step most projects fail on, and once that is settled the build moves quickly.
Whichever fits the situation. WordPress when your team needs to edit constantly. Custom PHP when speed, control and low maintenance matter more. We build and maintain both.
Yes. We set up editing for the areas that change often and lock the structural parts, so nobody can accidentally break the layout.
No, and that is on purpose. We recommend GoDaddy and set up hosting, SSL, domain and email under your own account, so you own it and can access it any time. We still look after maintenance and support if you want us to.
Almost certainly. We integrate with common hospitality booking platforms, and where nothing fits we build a custom system in house through FruitStack.
Structural SEO is part of every build: clean URLs, structured data, fast loading, sensible headings. Ongoing content SEO is a separate engagement.
Sites are built keyboard navigable, screen reader sensible and with visible focus states as standard. Full WCAG conformance audits are available where required.
Software
Our software studio. Same company, same office in St. Thomas, running under its own name because software buyers are looking for a software company rather than a photography agency. It builds booking platforms, dispatch systems, civic data tools and internal portals across the Caribbean.
The same people throughout. FruitStack is not a subcontractor, it is us. Nothing gets handed to an outside vendor and nothing gets lost between two companies.
Usually yes. Clover, common PMS platforms and most payment processors expose APIs we can work with. If yours does not, we say so before you commit.
Yes. Card payment integration is standard on booking and ordering systems, working with your existing merchant account where possible.
Ongoing support and maintenance as a monthly arrangement. Custom software needs someone on the other end of the phone and that is built into how these engagements work.
A focused booking system is typically eight to sixteen weeks. Larger platforms run longer. We phase where sensible so something useful goes live early.
Working together
After a short call. Shoots are scoped to the property and deliverables, so a number without a conversation would either be wrong or padded. You get a written scope with the quote.
Fifty percent deposit to hold the date, balance on delivery. Retainers are billed monthly in advance. Larger builds are phased against milestones.
Shoots affected by named storms are rescheduled at no additional shoot fee. It is written into every agreement because it is a real risk here, not a hypothetical.
Yes. General liability and drone liability coverage. Certificates are available for properties that require them before crew access.
Yes. We currently work alongside resort marketing teams and provide lateral service. Nobody has to be displaced for us to be useful.
A rough idea of the problem, a target date, and someone who can approve things. That is genuinely it for a shoot. Larger projects need a bit more but we will walk you through it.
Yes, routinely. Send yours or we can provide one.
Still wondering something?
Ask directly. WhatsApp is fastest and you will get a straight answer.
Social media
A production day on property, strategy and content calendar, scheduling and posting, community management, and a monthly report. Content is shot fresh rather than repurposed.
Three months. Social does not show meaningful results in four weeks and we would rather turn work down than set an expectation we cannot meet.
We create it. That is the point of using a studio that shoots. If you have a strong library we will use it too, but a production day is included every month.
Instagram and Facebook as standard, TikTok where it suits the audience. We will tell you honestly if a platform is not worth your time.
Yes, as part of community management, in your voice with escalation rules agreed up front. Review responses on Google and TripAdvisor can be added.
Yes. That is the social reels service. We shoot and deliver, you post.