Fair reimbursement...?

Peer

Peer

Member
I few years ago I shot a 2 hour theater play (using at the time a high-end Canon XL2). I ended up shooting the footage from two different performances and at radically different locations -- so there will be quite a bit of editing to put this thing together (5 hours of footage, including interviews of the cast, audience comments, etc.). But at the time, my client and I never cut a deal, so the project was put on ice and I never got paid.

However, I was just contacted by the theater group who now want me to quote them a flat fee for finishing this project. Since I tend to spend quite a bit of time when editing (FCP) I'm hesitant to charge per the hour. Besides, this isn't a corporate film job (which I usually do) so I assume their budget is somewhat limited.

Any suggestions what would be a fair compensation for this type of job. I certainly need the money.

-- peer
 
What your time is worth per hour X the amount of time you think you will spend on it = your flat rate.

Something I do is include a line in my contract that says it could end up +/- 10% than the total, since estimating post work can be difficult. Also, start high and negotiate down if necessary. You'll be kicking yourself if you underbid, and it's certainly easier to come down in price than it is to go up.

I'd be a touch hesitant and even a little bitter since they didn't pay you previously.
 
Given that you didn't get paid for shooting (assuming that the reason wasn't simply that you failed to address what your fee would be in advance, in which case you would be largely to blame for shooting with no agreed-on price), you might want to consider asking for a portion, say half, of your flat fee for the editing up front (together with whatever you are owed for shooting), with the remainder payable upon delivery of the final project.
 
Caution also about copyright issues surrounding the performance. Unless the person who is requesting the video is the author/publisher of the play, the performance license the theatre company obtained usually would not permit any videotaping of the performance. As producer of the video, you could find yuorself in a pickle for copyright infringement. Also, do you have releases from everyone who appeared in the production?
 
If you give them a flat rate, just make sure you lay it out that you'll give them a rough cut, a fine cut, and then a finished cut, and anything after that will incur an additional charge...or something of that sort.

Work it out however you like, I'm no editor, but I know that they often get stuck in some sort of post-hell making all the changes the client wants, just trying to get the project "finished".
 
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