Cinema and television are both famed for the way they embellish reality to highlight the associated glitz, glamour, and drama that supposedly surrounds highflying office workers – all in the name of entertainment, of course. And workplace dramas and comedies are no different.
And with these big-name films and shows come some very expensive sets and imagined offices.
But how much would some of these famous spaces actually cost to run and maintain in today’s market?
Well, wonder no more because the VoiceNation team has you covered. Considering multiple factors, including location and employee count, we’ve been able to conclusively determine the most expensive fictional workplaces you’ve seen onscreen!
The real cost of your favorite fictional offices
Ready to discover just how much the Wolf of Wall Street would need to spend on maintaining their workplace? Interested in finding out the worth of Ugly Betty’s workspace? Prepare to have your mind blown with just a quick glance at our graphic and list below.
1. 30 Rock – $14,325,300
Taking the crown as TV and film’s most expensive fictional office, we have 30 Rock’s NBC studio.
The satirical sitcom parodies creator Tina Fey’s own experiences working for the same network, and the show’s New York City office would cost a mind-boggling $14,325,300 in running expenses per year just to keep the lights on.
In fact, if we assume that each of the seven seasons covers a year in total, in reality, that works out at over $100m to run the office over the entire course of the series.
2. The Wolf of Wall Street – $10,366,694
The second most expensive fictional office, we have an unsurprising candidate in The Wolf of Wall Street’s Stratton Oakmont.
Leonardo DiCaprio portrayed American entrepreneur Jordan Belfort, who was famed for his extreme taste and uncontrollable spending, so it’s little wonder that his brokerage cost an eye-watering $10,366,694 to run each year.
3. The Bold Type – $9,829,433
The Bold Type is orientated around a trio of sophisticated women who work for the women’s magazine ‘Scarlet’.
Based in New York City, the fictional office ranks among the most expensive in film and TV, costing an estimated $9,829,433 a year to run. If we attribute a year to each of the five seasons, the bill stacks up to almost $50,000,000 across the full series.
4. The Holiday – $9,321,074
The Daily Telegraph building in the seasonal rom-com The Holiday has earned its place among the most expensive fictional offices in film and TV, ranking fourth overall.
The workplace of the dedicated columnist and hopeless romantic Iris, the newsroom would cost around $9,321,074 in upkeep per year, thanks in part to its Central London location, which is by no means cheap.
5. The Devil Wears Prada – $2,880,807
Thought to be loosely inspired by Vogue, according to the experiences of original author Lauren Weisberger, The Devil Wears Prada follows the editorial team at the popular fashion magazine ‘Runway’.
While the film focuses on the happenings of editor-in-chief Miranda Priestly and her assistants Andy and Emily, hundreds of people work at the fictional office. As such, the annual running cost of Runway would come in at an astonishing $2,880,807.
6. Bridget Jones’s Diary – $2,602,782
Romantic comedy Bridget Jones’s Diary was released in 2001 and has since become a cult classic of the genre.
The titular character Bridget Jones works at a publishing company in Central London, headed up by the outrageous Daniel Cleaver. With all factors considered, including the city-center location, the fictional office would come with estimated annual running costs of up to $2,602,782.
7. Ugly Betty – $1,154,022
Ugly Betty follows the story of an unstylish 22-year-old who lands a job at trendy fashion magazine ‘Mode’, based in New York’s Manhattan area.
With over 100 employees featured throughout the show, the office is of a reasonable size. All things considered; the fictional office would cost $1,154,022 to run annually in today’s market.
8. Suits – $368,305
While the fictional law firm Pearson Hardman may have had several different names over the course of the series Suits, the New York City office building’s running costs remained consistently high enough to place it among TV and film’s most expensive.
In fact, running the office would cost the firm $368,305 per year. And if each of the legal series’ nine seasons is considered a year in real-time, that’s nearly $3.5m to manage the office for the entire length of the show.
9. Mad Men – $322,644
Advertising agency ‘Sterling Cooper Advertising’ is the central focus of the popular drama Mad Men.
Based in New York City, the series follows advertising genius Don Draper and his charismatic quest to reach the top of the industry. The show might be set in the 60s and 70s, but the same fictional office would cost $322,644 to run in the present day.
10. The Office – $242,347
The Office is a lighthearted mockumentary depicting the everyday lives of typical American office workers, set in the unremarkable Pennsylvania city of Scranton.
However, despite the uninspiring setting and seemingly average lineup of sales reps, accountants, and warehouse staff, the running cost of the show’s fictional location, Dunder Mifflin, would come in at a staggering quarter of a million dollars per year ($242,347). This works out at nearly $2m over the course of the show’s run time.
11. The Politician – $52,615
Centered around a New York University student running for a seat in the State Senate, the fictional office in the dramatic comedy The Politician appears relatively low maintenance compared to some others on our list.
But with that being said, the main character Payton Hobart would still be forced to fork out $52,615 annually in office running costs, which is an incredible amount considering his student status.
As you can see, running an office can be an expensive and time-consuming effort, which makes it important to take a load off your plate at every given opportunity, –ssuch as making use of Live answering and virtual receptionist to answer all of your incoming calls.
With our 24/7 365-days-a-year service, our team of talented and expert phone operators can help address any questions your customers have, meaning you can focus on where you’re needed most with minimal interruptions.
Get in touch to find out more about what the team at VoiceNation can offer your business, and don’t forget to visit our blog for more articles like this one, such as our history of small business, phone answering policy and procedure tips, and the impacts of bad customers service on businesses.
Methodology
To determine the most expensive fictional offices, we analyzed a series of well-known locations from popular films and TV shows. For each office, we recorded the number of people who featured in the film or show, the office’s location, and the cost per square foot per year in each location.
As a rule of thumb, featured offices required 100 square feet of space per employee. So, for each location, we multiplied the cost of 100 square feet (one employee) by the number of people who feature. This gave us the annual cost of rent per office.
We then worked out how much a typical office spends on employee supplies, such as laptops, monitors, keyboards, mice, desks, chairs, etc, which equaled out at $1,523 per employee. Then, for each fictional office, we multiplied this figure by the employee count, to give us the total cost of office supplies.
Finally, we combined the two figures for each fictional office, to give us the overall running costs before each office was ranked from highest to lowest running costs.