How much to charge for a documentary contract

CClub wrote on 9/27/2010, 11:45 AM

For those who produce work for cable companies: I've completed a documentary on a Holocaust survivor, and I was just notified by a cable channel out of NYC that they're interested in the documentary for their On-Demand channel. They informed me that typically they contract to have films run 4-5 weeks at a time, 2-3 times/year for two years, so it would be available via their On-Demand channel 6 times during the contracted run. I'm assuming they have standard amounts they offer for something like this, but for anyone who has produced for outlets like this, what would be a range so I don't appear totally new to this realm (which I am!). It's an hour & 20 minutes recorded in 1440 x 1080 24p, likely to be shown in 720p; they may request to cut it down. Took me about 1400 hours of production (not that I'll likely be compensated for all of that... Much was done to honor the survivor, but I'd obviously prefer to recoup what I can).

Comments

Jay Gladwell wrote on 9/27/2010, 11:57 AM

Chances are it'll be their way or the highway. You won't come anywhere close to recouping much of anything, not from a cable company.

CClub wrote on 9/27/2010, 12:06 PM

Probably not... it's for The Jewish Channel out of New York City which covers New York City and extends into several other states in New England also... not the Discovery Channel but beyond the standard local cable access.

Jay Gladwell wrote on 9/28/2010, 5:16 AM

In that case, we'll be interested in hearing how it turns out. Do keep us informed.

Laurence wrote on 9/28/2010, 7:47 AM

I would let them show it regardless of whether or not you recoup your costs. Publicity is publicity, and at least you know it will be seen by people that are interested in that sort of thing. It's not like you are giving them exclusive rights to the work.

ushere wrote on 9/29/2010, 12:53 AM

agree with laurence entirely....

yes, it's great when you make money from a pet project, but getting such exposure is worth a lot in kudos, looks good on the cv, and could well lead to other work....

Dach wrote on 9/29/2010, 4:52 AM

I agree about exposure, but in this day and age "any" revenue from a project is a plus. If you come to an agreement, it would be good learn what they approximately paid, just for our learning purposes.

CClub wrote on 9/29/2010, 9:17 AM

Great feedback all. I would let them show it regardless of whether or not you recoup your costs. Publicity is publicity, and at least you know it will be seen by people that are interested in that sort of thing. It's not like you are giving them exclusive rights to the work.

Very helpful, Laurence. As was mentioned above, it's not likely to recoup a significant amount of funds, but enough to cover some costs and legitimize doing another would be awesome. I'll keep you all in the loop as far as how this plays out.

Xander wrote on 9/29/2010, 11:35 AM

I would find out how much the company intends to charge customers to watch it. This will range from free to about $6 per title. As long as it is not free, you should do a revenue share, i.e, get x % of each customer who pays to watch it.

Former user wrote on 9/29/2010, 12:13 PM

I know nothing about this type of marketing, but a lot of times on the FREE on demand shows that I watch, there is a sponsor. Have you asked them about you inserting spots from a sponsor of your own so you can make the money direct?

Dave T2

CClub wrote on 9/29/2010, 1:34 PM

Dave, you're thinking like I am. I actually have a small group of individuals who've agreed to help fund this project if necessary, as it's important to them also. I'm going to wait to see the On-Demand agreement/funding, and if it's low, I'm going to ask that very question you asked: Can I also place the names/companies of these 4-5 sponsors at the beginning of the film. I got the idea from when I watch PBS documentaries; when you see the documentary start, it'll say something like "funded by a generous grant from..." and then lists a few companies or foundations.

Between the two funding prospects, my goal is only to raise enough funds to make another project worthwhile (along with some amount to throw a bone to the wife to keep her off my back when I buy more equipment or I'm editing into the wee hours of the morning!).

I already have a group of high schools and colleges in the New England region interested in showing the documentary, and I just received a request from a high school in Kansas who had heard about it. If I can show that I have sort of a version of the documentary "Paper Clips," I'm hoping I can continue building interest as I show it to schools each year.

Jay Gladwell wrote on 9/29/2010, 3:35 PM

"... a high school in Kansas who had heard about it..."

Now that intrigues me! How did that happen?

CClub wrote on 9/29/2010, 4:34 PM

Astute observation to pick that up, Jay. I didn't want to get my previous posting sidetracked, but here's how that connection came about: the high school teacher in Wichita, Kansas had read a book entitled, http://www.amazon.com/Liberators-Americas-Witnesses-Holocaust/dp/0553807560/ref=sr_1_1?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1285802594&sr=8-1The Liberators[/link]. The book focuses on the stories of soldiers involved in liberating the concentration camps. One of the soldiers was a soldier from NYC, who liberated the young survivor, Sidney, who is the focus of my documentary. They ended up becoming good friends and the soldier sponsored the survivor to move to the US.

The teacher read of this survivor, tracked him down in Connecticut, and sent him a picture to sign/return for his classroom wall. I stopped in about a month ago to visit, and Sidney asked me to clarify for him what the teacher wanted. I did so, and I sent the photo and mentioned my link to Sidney via recording his story. The teacher and his principal are very interested in it being shown at their school.

Crazy connection, eh?