Editor's paying rate?

abalex

abalex

Well-known member
Does anybody knows how much a pro editor usually charges for work, in case he freelances, is it better to charge by hour or by project, estimates please.
I work for a company editing by I get paid hourly, I want to know how much I should charge as a freelance editor.

thanks
a.
 
It's been said a million times before but the majority of it depends on your experience, location, job, and equipment. Low end, guy with a simple FCP or Avid Xpress set-up, is usually around $25 an hour. The high end, serious Nitros or Adrenaline Avid set-up and editor with 20+ years of experience, can demand as much as $150 an hour.

Don't undersell yourself but also don't try and make a grab at the big cash if you have a simple set-up and only a couple years experience. Anything over $25 an hour and I would want to see a pretty serious reel and know people that you have worked for before.

As an independent contractor it is up to you to make a business plan that will work for your situation. IMHO, the best way is to start your rate near the bottom while you build your client list and experience and over the years you can slowly raise your rates. Most returning clients won't balk if they come back to you a year later and your rate has gone up $5 an hour. The guys making the big bucks did not start out there.

My $.02
 
I charge per project personally. 30 second commercials take about 3 hours to 8 hours dependine on what they want. If i include voiceovers, (i am a semi pro at it) and the script i charge around 250 for it
 
i and the thousands like me charge neither hourly nor a flat project rate -- we charge a daily rate. and whether that's an 8-hour day or 10-hour day is neotiable. but depending on the budget (it differs between features, dvd/epk and trailers/tv spots) my rate ranges from $600/day to $1200/day). i'm also charging a weekly bay rental on top of that for another $1200/week.

of course, when i first started out, i was making $350/day. the lowest i've ever heard a paid editor getting was $250/day. that's low. many AE's make that much.
 
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I charge 30 an hour for my Photoshop work, and when the time comes, will be charging more for video work. It all depends really, on your involvemement. I have done jobs that were a three camera shoot wifh six hours of footage for each of three nights, and done it for around 1800. I have also shot, edited, finalized, goten the voice over, mastered the audio and edited the whole 30 second commercial from start to finish in one day of around 11 hours for 300 dollars.

I've found it depends mostly on the client. Some people will pay up to 1k per second of finished product for high end video/mo-graph work, some wont.

One problem with selling yourself for too much is people wont want to pay. The orther problem with selling yourself for too little is people wont take you seriously. It 's a bit of a balancing act.

25 an hour for editing is compeltely reasonable. But make sure you have a semi/very-accurate breakdown in hand before you approach them with your offer. People will balk at a project if you tell them you will do it for a thousand, but will be much more willing if you break everything down and explain why (through degrees, types of work involved as well as the time doing the project, and more) and ask for double that.

If your work is good, mayhaps start off a little less, at 20 an hour untill you have a few jobs under your belt for them and they are happy with it. Then, take it up to 25, and so on. People have a tendency to let themselves be underpaid. Good editing and other kinds of the work we do are not commonplace, so give yourself the pay you deserve.
 
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