Price quote for commercial

L

lynx

Active member
Hello Everyone,

Client #1 - Just wanted to get everyone's feedback on some questions about giving a quote. I just recently had a meeting with a new client and they are interested in me doing a commercial for them. It will be a 30-second commercial for the web. It is for a luxury auto dealer (used & new). Not sure how I should be figuring out the cost to give them a quote for the 30-second comm.

They are also interested in me later on doing a video on each auto that they put up for sale. All luxury cars, i.e. Rolls, Porsche, ferrari, etc. Not sure also how I would price a project like this. How would you quote this?

I'm just starting my production business and that is why I need some feedback. I am also located in the state of Calif.

Client #2 - I have a client that would like a 30-45 second commercial done for his business (manufacturer). This will be for the purpose of the client's ability to send it via email to his customers. How would you quote this one?

Thank you all for the feedback. Should you send me some info on how you do your pricing, please let me know which state you do your work in. That may help me.
 
I live in Slc, UT. I have always priced everything pretty much hourly (unless its going to take me forever trying to do a good job or giving a homee hook up) But I charge anywhere from $25-35hr to film and $35-50hr to edit. I would say charge what you think your worth, dont sale yourself short. I did all my work for for the longest time charging basically pennies on the dollar trying to get a reel and experiance and it just turned into a giant headace. If everyone can afford you, your not charging enough haha

Both of the clients you are listing I assume they have money. It might also be a good idea to check your phonebook for local filming/editing companies and be a "prospect customer" to see what they would charge for this project.
I dont know if any of this helps you but good luck on the videos
 
The short answer is as josh said, charge hourly.
Walk away if the client says I have less than $1000 dollars to spend.
 
Well i doubt most clients will accept an hourly rate mon amie's

Normally its a fixed rate for the entire commission for delivery, clients are ususally suspicious of cam ops in the way that one might be for labourers and other tradesmen hehe.

So telling em' there going to pay an hourly rate (estimated or not) you might as well kiss your commission good bye!
 
fadedjosh said:
I live in Slc, UT. I have always priced everything pretty much hourly (unless its going to take me forever trying to do a good job or giving a homee hook up) But I charge anywhere from $25-35hr to film and $35-50hr to edit. I would say charge what you think your worth, dont sale yourself short. I did all my work for for the longest time charging basically pennies on the dollar trying to get a reel and experiance and it just turned into a giant headace. If everyone can afford you, your not charging enough haha

Both of the clients you are listing I assume they have money. It might also be a good idea to check your phonebook for local filming/editing companies and be a "prospect customer" to see what they would charge for this project.
I dont know if any of this helps you but good luck on the videos
Click to expand...



Ok I'm not trying to be rude, as a matter of fact this statement could benefit you and the guy who started the post. 25-35 dollars per hour is really cheap, especially for a market as big as Salt Lake City...not to mention it's a pretty wealthy place. I'm not saying to overly abuse that fact, but you need to bump it up. Even when I sub for other prodcuction companies it's 50-60 per hour, but for a client getting all my gear, labour, creativity etc...a shoot like this would be definately be above a thousand (probably in the 1,500 range.) I go by day rates rather than hourly...IT looks much better on paper to me, and I've not yet got any complaints by a client...stating "why not hourly?" So anyhow the market calls for professionals and professionals need to get paid...and keep rates up for the sake of everyone else making a living in the production realm. The more compromise the closer we get to becoming the "fast Food" production world. NO THANKS. So to sum it up get paid what it's worth for the craft.
 
$25-30 an hour seems low..In the Northeast here, $225 and hour for shooting and $125/hr. for editing is not outside the norm...Heck I just spent 25 grand on equipment to get into this game and that is probably on the low side...$25 an hour is NOT going to pay back that equipment, talent, insurance, taxes and on and on. That is really a rate that I would guess is for shooting a low end wedding or something..I am sorry, not trying to be smug here but clients respect you more when the rate they pay is more on par with what a professional should charge..Gives em that warm and fuzzy feeling when they are writng the check. Actually it does give them a feeling that they have hired a professional who has the equipment, experience and confidence to execute the project.
 
I believe there's a way to combine this.

Figure out how much you would want to be paid for hour wage, whether that's $35 or $350, up to you.

Next, figure out the budget of the commercial, all including rentals, insurance, food, crew so on and so forth.

Come up with how long you figure it should take, 1 day, 2 days, 1 week, blah blah blah.

Add it all up, and then add 10% contingency for possible unforeseen-ities, take that number slap it on the budget, paper clip it to a treatment, and kiss it with your best ruby red lipstick and spray a bit of your best perfume on it.

How could they say no to that?
 
People, don't go killing the market! Compete with other shooters based on creativity more than price, otherwise everyone loses.

Out here in L.A., a lot of shooters with just a basic HVX (no lights, 35mm adapters or external sound equipment) charge anywhere from $400 to $1,200 for a ten hour day of basic shooting. I would say the median is somewhere around $500/day. And if the shooter is also bringing lights and/or sound equipment, the price easily goes to the $800-1,200 a day range.

And the above does not include writing a script or putting together a commercial. It's just for basic shooting with the customer calling the shots.
 
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