OT: - what/how do you charge for work?

FrigidNDEditing wrote on 4/13/2006, 10:56 AM
I'm just kinda curious.

I'll get the ball rolling here, and tell you what and how I charge my rates, but I'm curious as to the rest of you folks here (for commercial rates).

I offer my clients 2 ways that I can bill my work.

1) $100/hr for shooting and $50/hr for editing. (this generally does not include travel times, however there are some exceptions where it is over X number of miles to travel)

2) $800 per finished minute - this is more popular with folks that need to have set rates in place for their acct. departments.


Corporate videos I generally just charge by the hour, or make a bid based on workload.

Dave

Comments

JackW wrote on 4/13/2006, 1:50 PM
Our company charges a $205 minimum, which includes setup, tear down and two hours shooting with a single camera; $80 per hour after that. Minimum for a two camera shoot is $250, $160 per hour after that. One camera day rate is $645, two camera day rate is $1300. Editing is at $75 per hour. We're about to raise this to $100 per hour shooting single camera and $80 for editing.

Our contracts handle billing in two separate parts. Shooting is billed by the hour and is payable at the conclusion of the shoot. At that point the raw footage becomes the property of the client, who may or may not choose to have us edit the tape. Editing costs are given as an estimate only. Most clients elect to have us do the editing, but from time to time the editing will be done in-house.

To contextualize this, most of our work is for corporate/business clients and for private clients who have shooting and editing needs. No weddings.

All of our pricing may be found on our company web site.

Jack
winrockpost wrote on 4/13/2006, 2:49 PM
Flip flop your rates fridge and its around what we charge, unless they want a "winrock' producer in the edit, then it doubles.
FrigidNDEditing wrote on 4/13/2006, 5:42 PM
you charge more per hour to edit than shoot?

Dave
johnmeyer wrote on 4/13/2006, 7:57 PM
Some previous long threads on the subject:

a how much would you charge question

OT: What would you charge?

OT: How much to charge for promo video?

What would you charge for this?

what to charge

... and that's just in the past year!
FrigidNDEditing wrote on 4/13/2006, 10:16 PM
eh - I don't want old info - I want current info, and I see that you didn't post yours :)

Dave
winrockpost wrote on 4/14/2006, 6:32 AM
you charge more per hour to edit than shoot?


most definitly , lots more.
standard rate for shooters in my area is 300.00 per 10 hr day , so add 200.00 for dv cam or hdv cam, and its about 50 an hr.
johnmeyer wrote on 4/14/2006, 12:39 PM
eh - I don't want old info - I want current info, and I see that you didn't post yours :)

I can't charge what I'm worth, so I don't charge at all for most jobs. However, if I were advising someone (which I guess I am), I would advise having a strategy that makes sure you make all your money up front -- tough to collect later. Also, explore with the client what cost upsets them less. I actually do charge occasionally (usually to limit what I have to do). I have found that some clients don't want to pay your for production time, but WILL pay you for the time you spend shooting. Others don't mind paying $20-30/copy for dups, but don't like paying for shooting. This is especially true if they are going to distribute the copies themselves and are essentially spreading out the cost. In these situations, I charge them cost for the shoot and post, and then charge them a lot per copy -- with a certain minimum due up front (i.e., they pay for the copies before they get them).

ALWAYS put a lot of value into the packaging. People rip off your DVDs, now that burners are everywhere, but if you have nice artwork and disk labeling, and if you use "exotic" media (like Taiyo Yuden) that isn't easily available at Walmart, you can often reduce the piracy somewhat, and recoup additional revenue on the back end. If you deliver a disk with a Sharpie label in a plain unlabeled jewel case, the piracy goes up a LOT.
Jayster wrote on 4/14/2006, 1:13 PM
How does Taiyo Yuden media help reduce piracy? I'm afraid you lost me there.
johnmeyer wrote on 4/14/2006, 2:05 PM
How does Taiyo Yuden media help reduce piracy? I'm afraid you lost me there.

Sorry -- I have the relatives here and I was typing on a computer in the kitchen while talking to them.

The concept is admittedly somewhat tenuous, but the idea is to make sure your client and everyone else knows that the media you use is "special" and will play on more players; will likely last longer; and will result in a better pictures (because the likelihood of dropouts or failure to play is lower).

There is also a certain amount of marketing "hype" involved here as well. Basically, you're making sure that everyone knows that, because you are a professional, using better equipment, better software, and better media, your product will perform better than the pirated stuff.

This obviously will not stop someone who doesn't get this message, so it is important that you vigorously promote this idea (possibly including a short paragraph in the packaging itself). In addition, some pirates could care less about quality and will just simply copy the disc. Nothing you can do about that. However, depending on your customer base, there really are people -- even those who are ethically challenged -- who will be willing to pay $20 for your copy rather than $1 for a pirate version they make themselves, if they are convinced the quality is better, especially if it is something that is important to them, like a wedding DVD.

db wrote on 4/14/2006, 5:33 PM
commercial DP 2500 10hr day - equipment extra .. if it's a project i don't like then i can be bought for 10K day ... travel days are 1/2 day .. there are no 1/2 day shoots ...
Jim H wrote on 4/14/2006, 6:34 PM
as a specialist (insert coughing sound here) I work for free but only take jobs in exotic locales. You need only cover T&L and misc. expenses for the days of the shoot plus 3 days. I currently seeking work for the summer months only.
TimTyler wrote on 4/15/2006, 6:54 PM
$600 for 10 hours to shoot.
Add $150 for DVX package and small light kit
Add $250 for HDV package and small light kit
Add $400 for BetaSP package and small light kit.
Kino's, HMI's a la carte

I don't edit professionally enough to have strict editing rates, but I'm usually happy with $40/hour.
ken c wrote on 4/16/2006, 4:35 AM
interesting re media choice to reduce piracy, agree, that probably does help re image and perceived value.

one interesting tactic that some major info-producers did with their VHS tapes, was to have a title screen saying "due to a special anti-copying process used in the production of this VHS, attempts to make unauthorized copies may damage your VCR" ...

now that may have worked years ago, a bit, but likely people won't fall for that ruse in trying to protect current DVDs ... but worth thinking about, eg this was used routinely by the multi-million dollar selling info marketers.

ken
Steve Mann wrote on 4/17/2006, 1:19 AM
"one interesting tactic that some major info-producers did with their VHS tapes, was to have a title screen saying "due to a special anti-copying process used in the production of this VHS, attempts to make unauthorized copies may damage your VCR" ..."

Good way to lose clients - insult their intelligence.

I get paid to shoot, edit and deliver DVDs. If the cllient wants me to make more DVD copies, then I'll do it for a reasonable price. Cheap enough to discourage copying.

If your business model depends on selling copies to make your profit, then you are so last century.... That paradigm doesn't work any more.

I laugh when I see still photographers go apoplectic when they discover that the client copied and printed their own copies on an ink-jet printer at home. Some of them even talk about suing their clients who do this.

Copying is a fact of life. No amount of posturing, copyright assertion, threats or technology is going to change it. Deal with it.

Now, to the original question. I shoot theater and sports events. I charge $250 for a two-hour event (one camera) and deliver an unedited DVD at the end and five edited DVDs a few days later. If they want additional DVDs, they are $20 each delivered, or they may copy the original DVDs themselves.
apit34356 wrote on 4/17/2006, 2:27 AM
n19093, I think your right about pricing the copies in a reasonable price range. Make sure the deal covers your cost + profit+ making a min. number of dvds that the client can buy.

I was asked to do some Big10 work, did some highend work,( 3d tracking, posters,....) when into the conference, show them what they wanted, and passed out "discs" so they reproduce needed materials. Telling the ADs to make their own copies without charges was like walking on water, but I never planned on mass producing "discs".
Plus I view that "content" was paid for, its theirs and they can claim Mickey mouse or Disney or ILM or whoever did it.
TimTyler wrote on 4/17/2006, 10:08 AM
> Good way to lose clients - insult their intelligence.

Exactly what I was thinking. I prefer clients who recognize and appreciate the value of what I have to offer and pay for it because they want to, not because they're scared or uninformed.
corug7 wrote on 4/17/2006, 10:14 AM
"Insult their Intelligence"

Not to mention this is a blatant lie and one that could get you labeled a liar. Bad news spreads much quicker than good news.