What do I charge?

[The Guru]

Way,way way too little....

Cameraman @ £250 per day, sound/assist @ £150 a day, equipment @ £200 per day (on a semi-pro format) and your two days filming costs: £1,200 and that hasn't included travelling or expenses.
Now you have to add editing on top of that. £250 a day for an editor, £200 a day for editing equipment and you see how quickly you get over two grand.

You're not being greedy either since with these sort of jobs it's almost imposible to get paid for planing, preparation, research, collecting and returning equipment, and the 101 other jobs, phone calls and organising required on a video production. Most people simply don't realise what work completing a video project entails.

[slipperyid]

ahaar

thanks

lotsa money... i like it!

[The Guru]

Just make sure you deliver.

Those are the minimum prices for someone who can "do" the job. There's no point in chargeing any less, it just shouts "wannabe". If you're inexperienced then either do the job for nothing (seriously, that way you both benefit) or employ people who can do it.

People want a good product, if it's cheap and not quite up to standard, they won't say "not bad for the money" they'll just say "load of crap" and:
(a) won't pay the bill
(b) probably send you an invoice for wasting their time
(c) make sure nobody else employs you.

[B]

Hi,
I'm also having a sort of 'what to charge' or how much do I expect to be paid problem. I've been offered some work making performace music promos for bands, for a small record label. I wil be filming (with my own equipment, I think) editing and theres also the travel to the gigs involved but expenses are coverd. The thing is they have asked me to have a think about what sort of pay I would expect to receive and I'm not sure....any ideas?

Thanks.

[Mark W]

I just turned down a job like this (a one off) cos the aspirations of the customer were unrealistic (a one hour music dvd) and the 'payment' model was err, weak, like I get no money up front and negotiate a proportion of the dvd sales.

I wasnt convinced they has any sort of distribution model for the dvd. I also didnt think that I had the equipment or expirience to put together anything that was any good in the timescale available.

It was a case of buckel loads of enthusiasm and little else, oh and the music was hard core ragga stuff, actually that was the clincher really as I dont like that sort of music much.

Fisrt I think you need to ask yourself if you can do a 'professional' job after discovering exactly what thier aspiriations are, then you need to give them a realistic quote for the work.

As mentioned dont underquote. Work out the hours it will take for each job and then what you think you are worth.

Personally I aim to quote at my 'proper job' hourly rate (13 an hour). I am happy with that although it is far below industry rates but at present my overheads are low cos I am just starting out.

I explain this to prospective new clients when they are suprised at how 'cheap' I am.

If you have a body of existing work that shows your skills then let people see that. This will speak far more elequently than any amount of 'sales blather'; my last job came to me after a person in a local company was looking for video production companys. I was suprised as my currnet site is a very personal one www.zaskarfilms.com and not really aimed at getting corperate work.

Document all the work you do carefully, people like to know where their money is going when they see your bill.