ISO advice for shoot now-pay later deals

[mystico]

I am currently working on a partnership with a photog. He is well-established in a rather low-budget environment. While this would not be my favourite way to boost business, working in conjunction with him will give me loads of footage usable for demos, increase my experience, and give me exposure--as well as potentially a somewhat decent amount of income. I have a dilemma though. Contrary to the way most event videogs (and photogs) work, this guy tends to take jobs where people purchase (or not) after the work is done. He recently shot some sort of internat'l powerlifting championship and had the sort of setup where lifters could view their pics on laptop soon after lifting then purchase various packages. He reportedly got quite a bit of business. Don't know whether the word "profit" could be used but he seemed quite happy with it.

Anyway, he recently proposed that we jointly shoot an upcoming hair salon competition. Salons from neighbouring cities will compete, including their models being in some way showcased. So far I've only gotten a brief description from him. Details to come. He, of course, will be able to shoot, get paid, and deliver on spot. With an elaborate display of former photos as part of his set-up, as well as models and stylists being able to see the product just before purchasing, I'm sure he'll score on this one. I, however, am a one-man operation and cannot churn out same-day edits yet. My "spread" would likely consist of a laptop or small DVD player looping demo videos (set-up close to his display to give that "this is what we do" feel). My idea is to take orders with pre-payment with a promise to deliver at some determined date (keeping in mind that I have a host of projects already in line for editing). The package options I have in mind so far are as follows ...
*I will shoot stylists doing their thing. Styling, talking trash, etc. Candid interviews with stylists talking about their planned style, history in the competition, thoughts about the competition, comments on their particular model, etc.
* I will get some statements from models about their previous work, how they were chosen for this job, career goals, etc.
* Modeling footage, perhaps some unofficial modeling offstage, then of course the official competition modeling.
* All of this will be edited using a Ms. America meets MTV style of editing.
* PKG 1: Entire documentary including all salons and models.
* PKG 2: Salon/Stylist & Model focused reel--for those who are only interested in their own work.

What are your thoughts on this? My fear is that I'm setting myself up to do lots of work, then have people not want to pay without being able to walk out with the product. I also refuse to severely undercharge--which may become a problem considering his tendency towards the low budget market. Please give me your thoughts on jobs like this in general, working with photogs, and the predictable "what do I charge" question.

Thanks in advance ...

 

[Ming]

That's a defining difference between photo and video event shoots. Photographers are able to show proofs pretty much johnny on the spot whereas videographers make promises. You're not going to get paid on the spot for something you can't deliver- not generally anyway. I make a lot more doing photography than video for that exact reason. That said, if you're truly the enterprising type you'll take the opportunity to build clients. You've basically got to sell them their featurettes beforehand and have an arrangement, and that's hard to sell on the spot. It takes time to sink in, primarily because let's face it, it costs a hell of a lot more (not to mention is more stressful in general to even think about) for someone to buy a video featurette of themselves than a few headshots. Instant cheap gratification vs delayed expensive, and these are models. Hook up with their agency and sell them deals- now we're talking.