So its just one copy of the play----for internal uses not to be duplicated and sold? THe problem here is that the high school should know that there are major copyright issues--in fact, most of the companies that sell rights to schools to do plays, musicals etc are very firm when it comes to taping performances. Hate to be the naysayer but you should be very careful about this.

TLT, Rex is right. The folks at Samuel French (or where ever it came from) can/will nail your hide to the barn door, along with that of the admin at the school, if they find out.

Mutt, I charge by the hour, for what it's worth. Usually, I'll try to get as much info from the potential client as I can. Too, often they simply say, "I want you to shoot a half-hour video. What will that cost?"

I try to explain that that's like saying, "I want you to build me a house. What will it cost?" I ask them, "How many bedrooms to you want? How many baths? Is is woodframe or brick? One-story or two? And so on. They get the picture pretty quick then. Then I ask, am I shooting one person delivering a presentation in one location, or am I shooting multiple subjects in multiple locations? Where there be sound? What exactly are the requirements?

You may bid $1,000 on a 10-minute video only to discover it's going to take you 30 days to shoot, post, and deliver the final piece!

The more information you can gleen from the client the better chance you have of submitting an accurate and fair bid.

I know what most of the "big" productions companies here in Miami charge. I undercut them to the point I'm still comfortable with my profit. Most them have large buildings and full-time crews to support. So based on that alone, I can save the client a bundle of money, because I don't have any of the massive over-head.

I know if anyone underbids me, it's the guy's brother-in-law with his tiny camcorder and Windows Movie Maker!

My but I do ramble!

J--

Firstly try and vary angles and close ups between the two performances, so you have alternatives for editing.

Two evenings setting up and shooting - maybe 8-10 hours of your time.

I've no idea what your local market is like, but divide what you think you're worth per week by forty and you have an hourly rate - don't forget to factor in the cost of buying shooting and editing equipment. How much is this? Well no definite answer, but maybe start with how much, on average, you spend on video Hardware and Software, including updates, each year. Divide this by fifty, then by 40 and you have an equipment factor to include in your hourly rate,

Editing - capturing two performances then a sort of two camera edit, except that they won't synch up, so a bit more fiddly, but basically an easy edit as everything's already in sequence. Maybe a coupla days?

Add at least a couple of hours for titles/credits.

Now there's rendering to MPEG 2 and creating a DVD Menu system.

Add the cost of the tapes/discs you've used.

You don't have to approach it this way, but at least it's based on your time and other costs. If you're providing a DVD master, it sounds like they'll be making their own copies, so make sure you get a fair reward for your part.

Good luck

I make $500/hour. Just wish I could work more than one hour a week : )

Seriously, though, Tom, if you have a day rate or half day rate, charge that for the shooting, then charge hourly for the editing. After you've done a few, you'll have a better idea of what you're in for, so you can charge a flat fee, perhaps, but you will have all kinds of issues pop up with a scenario like this.

I would definitely make sure you can legally do this, because I'd bet that you can't. To "tape it for the school" would probably not be a big deal, but to copy and distribute it to parents will likely be a copyright problem.

Ray, you're only getting $2K for those videos you're doing? Should be getting a lot more...