Average/Normal daily or hourly rates?

Elmy

Elmy

Well-known member
I didn't really know where to post this question but I post mostly here so thought you guys could help. I'm starting to work with a new company and we have to come up with our hourly rate, there's three of us. The problem is I have no idea really how much to ask for. We're trying to start low so people will hire us but not too low. Also should rates depend on details of job? And should it be seperate rates for us all of just one large rate? I'm posting off my phone so details right now are limited but thought this could help a little.

Btw we do all types of things (videography, shorts, ECT...)
 
A few hundred dollars a day is low-ish for a one-man shoot (depends on his gear/experience). Why don't you try picking an hourly rate for you / your team ($20/hr? More?), factor in your transportation costs and see where that lands you - then you can round it off to a good number. A lot of people sometimes charge a half day rate and a full day rate, knowing they can only fit so many different clients in one day (so if a job will take you past 3pm or so, charge for the full day since you can't really get to another job at that point).

Above all, just try naming prices. You can always negotiate so start high and see how your clients react. It's good to know what the minimum you can afford is, too. Then just see where it goes!

I'm sure you'll get a good rate settled within the first few jobs.

I envy you, by the way. I've got dreams of starting a production company with people I know, it's just hard to get everyone's time and commitment. Good luck to you - FL's a competitive (yet busy) market!
 
Pick a rate. $20, $25, something in there is fine for principle people who are also involved in prep and post. A boom op should get a lot less, for example, unless it's also the guy supplying sound equipment. Then add in production costs- NOT how hard it is for you to do the project, but the hard costs involved. Props, extra lights, extensive travel, whatever. Modify the end price if you don't like it, and there you go.

If you charge too low you don't look serious. Undercutting never works well on its own. Doing good work and networking is what leads to more work. But keep in mind that your experience and equipment enters into this. If you've never used a camera before and your only equipment is a cell phone you should obviously charge a bit less.

To get a baseline, try calling your competition and pitching the same project to them for an estimate.
 
I try my best to charge a static rate for each camera/operator. At the moment I change my rates a little depending on who I'm talking to, that's just the nature of sales. Find out what your average cost is per hour (paying yourself the minimum you would work for, and your cost for equipment, supplies & wear and tear). Then mark up from there.

I'm having my hardest time quoting for editing/post-production. Some projects take forever long, some just a few hours... Anyone have some incite ?

thanks,
 
MadHMC150 said:
I'm having my hardest time quoting for editing/post-production. Some projects take forever long, some just a few hours... Anyone have some incite ?

thanks,
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I usually figure out how long the shooting took, or will take and divide that into a number that gives me an hourly rate.

I then half that and suggest that as a per hour rate, stating that the editing is cheaper per hour, but may take twice as long (basically the same price as the shoot, but not stated as such)

I don't like to do the edit, but if they pay, I will, or farm it out for 2/3rd's the price quoted.
 
Just FYI an editor I used to know earned ~$90/hour. This was for big contracts on a several thousand dollar job (commercials for TV) but just so you know.
 
Thanks for the info so far, big help.

Green Hornet said:
I usually figure out how long the shooting took, or will take and divide that into a number that gives me an hourly rate.
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When you reference how long the shooting took, I also find a big variation of how long I am there for vs how many min of footage I really took... ie. A music video vs a live concert. Editing a 30-60 minute concert vs a 3 minute music video.

I will be at the concert for 2 hours, where I might be shooting 8 hours x 3 days for a music video.
 
MadHMC150 said:
Thanks for the info so far, big help.



When you reference how long the shooting took, I also find a big variation of how long I am there for vs how many min of footage I really took... ie. A music video vs a live concert. Editing a 30-60 minute concert vs a 3 minute music video.

I will be at the concert for 2 hours, where I might be shooting 8 hours x 3 days for a music video.
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I don't base anything on actual footage time, it is based on actual time on job, sometimes with 30 minutes before and after for setup.

For the sake of arguement, if you did a music video for 2 grand, and you shot 3 days for 6 hours each, that is 18 hours. So you basically made $111.11 per hour.

I would bill the editing at $55.56 per hour for 36 hours, and either do it myself, or find someone to edit it for $1,320, and I would pay them out of the money I billed the client.

Or just let the client do the edit.
 
When figuring out how much you want to make, work your way backwards. If you know you need to make $1000 a week to pay bills and provide for your retirement, etc., then you need to make $25 per hour. HOWEVER, that is if you are billable for 40 hours. Not likely. More likely you're billable 20-25 hours per week. You spend time answering emails, learning trade skills, reading forums, calling clients, doing paperwork. Plus it's hard to be creative for 8 hours a day on a consistent basis. So then, you may need to average $50 per hour. Then of course you have equipment you have to pay for, software, hardware, training, etc. If you are spending $4000 per year combined for all that, then you have to add $5 per hour.

Personally, my top rate for editing is $75 per hour. Shooting is $300 per day.
 
my rambling 2 cents

my rambling 2 cents

must agree with trevor. work backwards from how much you want to earn.

i like to figure out what the minimum is i need to survive monthly without incurring any debt. i use that as my baseline...some clients are semi-pro-bono type jobs that either can't pay much or are a good opportunity for me so i'll cut them a deal. knowing my baseline allows me to know how low i can go.

basically, i figure out how many days a project is going to take me, divide that into 30 to get the baseline for the project. then i'll consider the client's ability to pay (what they expect to pay), the complexity of the project, whether the client will require lots of 'management' and also my level of experienece for the tasks involved. all those things will then bump up the price.

it really takes some time to experiment and get a good feel for what to charge.

compare to other shooters'/editors' day/hourly rates in your area.

i also agree with greenhornet and madhmc150...charge for the time that you are tied up in the project, not for timecode.

calculate your baseline hourly/daily from your baseline monthly income based on 40hrs/7days per week and then you can use that as reference. but by no means limit or underpay yourself by charging hourly for your services!!! this is important, because you need to pay yourself back for all the costs that trevor mentioned and all the project management time that is really hard to track.

as for post production, i pay attention to how much time it has taken me to edit a certain type of project, then use that with my base hourly to estimate a ball park sum. then i pad that for overhead and profit until it fits with the shoot price into a nice acceptable total for the whole project. don't ever worry about overcharging with this method; i find it really hard to charge too much...things almost always take longer than you think and you really do need to cover your time spent developing your skills, costs of equipment and time spent managing the client and the project.

one last comment about long event shoots vs scripted shorts:
i find that usually editing down a long live event to something shorter and concise that is worth watching ends up being a LOT more work than assembling something that was planned out well from the beginning. to edit 3 hours of footage you have to watch that 3hrs at least twice, for me, it usually winds up being more like 4-5 times by the time i'm done. the more you can figure out your editing process, the easier it'll be to guess how much time each phase takes.

eg: for 3hrs of footage
3hrs - transcode
1hr - quick review and sort clips into named bins
3hrs - detailed review and pull out best clips
2hrs - assemble rough cut
2hrs - rework rough cut, replace some clips
2hrs - finesse cuts/transitions
1hr - titles, graphics (can be much more if creating custom)
1-2hrs - color correct
1-2hrs - fx
2hrs - audio sweetening (after locking the edit)
etc etc...all the way to export, dvds, upload time

these numbers are probably low, but even so, you see that 3hrs shot needs at least 20hours in post. that's about 7X the length of your footage. 10X seems like a better round number.

this is just a rough idea of my process. maybe it helps?
 
I got to agree with everything you said, averan. And thanks everyone for the information.

I take it there is no simple way of calculating, and with time I will better know what to 'predict' for projects.

I like the idea of subbing out your editing - Once you know what you have to work with, you can hire someone for less.

Jordan Berry said:
From looking at how much you are earning you guys should look into the wedding industry! ;)
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Shhh... heh ( I just recorded my 1st hmc150 wedding! )
 
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