Need advice on shooting promo video

Mcph55

Mcph55

Active member
Hey guys,



Im a student in films school, but i also work at a summer camp over the summer and i teach kids how to make movies. I'm really good friends with my boss (who is a producer) and have been helping him make his camp business grow in the past few years.

i recently had a great idea to make a promotional video for the camp that we could run on the website and possibly on tv and stuff to gather more interest.

now i would be doing everything from start to finish on this video... im using my dvx100b and im going to edit in FCP 5 and possibly use motion and after effects.

WHAT I NEED ADVICE ON is im not sure how much to charge....


i don't want to charge too much seeing as he has been a really fair and good boss/friend over the years and given me allot of opportunity, but i will be working hard and i would like to make some good money.

i would like the communities opinion and insight on what the normal rate would be for that kind of thing and what you think i should charge.... should i go hourly or by flat rate... im not sure because i have never really done this before...


any help would be amazing,


Thanks,
 
First thing I would do is look at similar video production companies in your area and see what they are charging, because hourly rates vary across the country. Don't short change yourself...make your rates competitive.

Once you get that far, I would tell him that you would reduce your normal rate in exchange for advertising yourself through the camp. That way, it looks like you are giving your friend a break, but not shooting yourself in the foot later on by fluctuating your rate. The money you make from this will be good, but the exposure and opportunities that may come along in the future will be worth much more.
 
ok thanks so much for the tip... but im not sure how i would even go about finding that info out... any tips?

and i know you said the rates are different across the country but what would be like a really rough ballpark figure 400 bucks 2000 bucks ?
 
Mcph55 said:
I'm really good friends with my boss (who is a producer) and have been helping him make his camp business grow in the past few years.
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OK so, the person that runs the camp happens to be a producer in your market. You are good friends with this person.

Why can't you have an open an honest conversation with your boss?
"Hey I have a great idea for a promotional video is this something you might be interested in?". If your boss is interested you can move on to the particulars like the budget.

i don't want to charge too much seeing as he has been a really fair and good boss/friend over the years and given me allot of opportunity, but i will be working hard and i would like to make some good money.
Click to expand...
If he's been fair all these years what leads you to believe he won't offer a fair price for your efforts? Honestly, if he's interested in a promo video and he's an experienced producer he won't have a problem telling you what his budget is. Soliciting opinions from other markets is a futile excercise. What's the budget? I don't know, ask your boss.
 
well im actually at that point he knows i wanna do this thing for him and he is all for it... he asked how much i would charge... i said i would get back to him because i have no clue as to what range i should even be considering... so i figured i would ask some pros on here who know from experience
 
Open the Yellow Pages and start calling area production companies to find out their rates. Just say what is your rate for shooting a promo video for a local summer camp. Make sure you have all the details because they will ask you a bunch of questions like how long does it have to be, what tape format? Do you want it shot on film? etc, etc. You have to sorta make yourself the client when calling other production companies. You don't want to tell them you work in the same line of work and you will be competition to them! LOL!

How long do you think it will take you to shoot it? How many days? How long to edit? Once you know that info then you can come up with a reasonable rate but like what was said, dont short change yourself either. Make sure this camp has a budget and can afford something like this before you even get started. It would suck if you worked on this and delivered a really cool project and they tell you they don't have no money to pay you for your services!

Do your homework before you shoot!!!!
 
Short answer:
Assuming no additional crew, gear rental or other expenses (music licensing, craft services, etc.) - calculate the number of days you expect it will take by your day rate. Example; 3 days of shooting, 5 days of editing, 2 days of motion graphics at $250/day. 10 days x $250 per day = $2500. This "short answer" is far too oversimplified to be practical.

Long answer:
Search this forum for topics labeled, "What do I charge?" or "How much should I charge?", etc. This question has been asked and answered many many times over. So many times the mods should make it a sticky topic.
 
I usually guess how many days it should take shooting, editing, graphics and DVD burning etc. Then I divide it by how much I think my time is worth per hour or week and come up with my total... then I double it and that's what I charge.

I used to have a tendency to way under charge and feel all weird about how someone will choke at the total I give them, so when I double the price I estimate, it always comes out much closer to reality. I've also started getting more work. I realized quickly in the beginning that even if I give a discount price nobody wants a discount final product.
 
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