A fair monthly rate for basic lighting/grip package + truck?

C

Craig_Tarry

Active member
Hello, I’m developing a 90min. character driven feature to be shot at one location, a farmhouse, about 45miles from San Francisco. Although actual production is a long ways out, I’m trying to get some ballpark budget figures down.
Lighting/Grip is not my dept, but I can tell you it's at least two-thirds interior, day and night, some day and night exteriors, and minimal dolly and steady-cam, but no crane or special effect shots.
Can any of you give me an idea of monthly rates for an electric/grip truck, loaded with the basic package? Like I said, at this point ballpark figures will do.
Thanks - Craig
 
Why not call a few places near you, less mileage to pay for, so you have a ballpark figure.
But I would also sit down with the director and DP as they would have a better idea as to what you would need to pull it off.
They may figure you would only need an inexpensive 1-ton kit, or 3-ton as opposed to a full 5-ton pkg.

As a side note, it's been a while since I worked on a project that had the budget to shoot for a month straight or longer.

Good Luck!

Dave
 
Better yet, why not have someone experienced put together a budget for you for the entire film? It might cost you a bit in the short term, but in the long run you could save thousands of dollars by knowing what you're getting into beforehand, and not going into huge budget overruns. Also consider student and volunteer labor for entry level production positions. I'm not familiar with colleges on the west coast, but there are a few colleges on the east coast that offer degrees in film production where students are trained on actual productions with real film equipment. In order to get their foot in the door they often volunteer or work for low wages compared to union professionals.
 
do what David said, fine 4-5 places in your area, or area that you plan to shoot and ask for quotes. Asking for quotes without your DP's involvement is a bit sketch as you don't know specific lights you might want to get. low budget ballpark $6-10k/month
 
Thanks guys. Yeah, I probably should call around in my area, near San Francisco. And yes, it's for grip and electric both.
 
Call up Arthur Freyer lighting and talk to Dave. You shouldn't have a problem getting them to do 3 day weeks for one of their 1 ton trucks, which is 175 bucks a day+mileage. I honestly wouldn't bother too much with any other small trucks in the area...DTC has a 1 ton sprinter, but it doesn't have half the stuff that the Freyer truck has, and there's also a sprinter through little giant, which could be useful to you as it has a little bit more stuff, but it's an extra 50 bucks a day. There's also a few other guys like Favaro lighting, Rebel sun (if you're looking for a three ton)...and yeah, there's a bunch more. Those are just the few that come to mind. I do also have a good friend of mine who can get you pretty good deals on HMI's, kinos, and tungsten lighting.

If you need any help putting together a package or anything, feel free to message me. I'm based in the bay area and work part time at DTC, so I've got a pretty good knowledge of the rental houses in the area and their strengths/weaknesses.
 
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RyanT said:
Call up Arthur Freyer lighting and talk to Dave. You shouldn't have a problem getting them to do 3 day weeks for one of their 1 ton trucks, which is 175 bucks a day+mileage. I honestly wouldn't bother too much with any other small trucks in the area...DTC has a 1 ton sprinter, but it doesn't have half the stuff that the Freyer truck has, and there's also a sprinter through little giant, which could be useful to you as it has a little bit more stuff, but it's an extra 50 bucks a day. There's also a few other guys like Favaro lighting, Rebel sun (if you're looking for a three ton)...and yeah, there's a bunch more. Those are just the few that come to mind. I do also have a good friend of mine who can get you pretty good deals on HMI's, kinos, and tungsten lighting.

If you need any help putting together a package or anything, feel free to message me. I'm based in the bay area and work part time at DTC, so I've got a pretty good knowledge of the rental houses in the area and their strengths/weaknesses.
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Very cool! So, if I understand it right, the $175 a day + mileage is for the truck itself, and then lights and equipment are tallied up and added on depending on just what you need? Like I said grip and lighting is not my department.
 
yes, that's for the truck with gripology. lights are extra. thus you need to talk to your DP to see what kind of lighting package he might need.
 
Craig_Tarry said:
Very cool! So, if I understand it right, the $175 a day + mileage is for the truck itself, and then lights and equipment are tallied up and added on depending on just what you need? Like I said grip and lighting is not my department.
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Yeah, that's right. All those trucks are just grip. It's not always like that though, a few of the trucks I've rented in LA come with lights and grip.

As patryk said though, you really need to find out what kind of lighting you need. The truck is honestly the smallest part of the lighting budget, all the lights, dolly/jib stuff, and distro stuff is what's going to cost you the money.
 
Thanks, I'll call around and get some figures. Guess you can't tell until you start adding up equipment. Thanks again - Craig
 
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