Help with deciding project rates

John Rivers

John Rivers

Active member
Hey everyone,

I'm beginning to get into videography, and could use some assistance deciding how much I should be asking for. What is the average rate for projects, and how do you determine how much I should charge?

My equipment is:

Panasonic AG-HVX200 w/ 8GB P2 card
Vinten Vision 3 Carbon Fiber 2 stage tripod kit

and then the usual accessories (batteries, case, Panasonic MQ tapes).

I'm pretty good with a camera and have run a film organization at my college as well as directed several short films, but I don't have any experience with the whole "film for pay" thing yet. I edit on my own and have much experience with this as well. I also use a Powerbook G4 laptop and LaCie external hard drive so I can do long studio shoots in HD if needed.

I don't wanna charge ask too much and turn away potential jobs, but I don't wanna ask so little that I seem amateurish and people assume by the price I have no experience with a camera. Any clues? Thanks everyone. :)
 
The first thing I would do is call around to the different businesses in you are and ask them for a quote to see what they charge then charge slightly lower than them. It also depends on the area you are because some places get more and some get less for the same work. I charge 500 for a full day and 250 for a half day. I also charge them if I have to go outside and 20 mile radius. I charge for tapes as well because I don't reuse tapes for clients. Also I require half up front when I show up to shoot. Once I start getting lots of clients to the point that I have to turn some away I'm going to start having people pay the deposit at the time of reservation.
 
I charge by the finished minute, with a ten minute minimum. Plus expenses like mileage. I have a philosophical problem with charging by the hour. It's fine for factory work, where if 1 hour=10 widgets, 2 hours=20...but in creative work, it rewards inefficiency.
 
powerdog said:
I charge by the finished minute, with a ten minute minimum. Plus expenses like mileage. I have a philosophical problem with charging by the hour. It's fine for factory work, where if 1 hour=10 widgets, 2 hours=20...but in creative work, it rewards inefficiency.
Click to expand...

That's a very good thought. What do you do with things like event footage that you don't have to edit ? Do you go back to hourly ?
 
It's built into the per minute rate. You can figure in anything you want. Mostly I like this approach because it's understandable to clients, and they like paying for what they'll actually get.

I can charge extra for long delays that aren't my fault. Might charge an hourly rate in 15 minute increments for waiting around.
 
For full soup-to-nuts, including planning, developing a tentative script (for documentary), shooting, editing, etc, I generally aim for $300/min. That's compared to the average national industry rate of $1000/min. Where I live, that kind of price would eliminate most projects, but the contrast sounds great when I mention it to clients. Suddenly they see me as a bargain.

If I know I"m dealing with a big PITA factor, I raise the rate and don't mind if they say no. I want to be paid for my anguish.

In Maryland, the market might bear a higher rate.
 
I charge a daily rate for shooting and an hourly rate for editing.

Charging "per minute" around here will lose you your *ss very quickly with the way some produers work.
 
mcgeedigital said:
I charge a daily rate for shooting and an hourly rate for editing.

Charging "per minute" around here will lose you your *ss very quickly with the way some produers work.
Click to expand...

What's you daily rate and Hour
 
mcgeedigital said:
For DSR500 shooting $950/day with lights/wireles audio and mixer
For DVX100 shooting $600/" "
For editing $175/hr.
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Your dvx rate is pretty close to mine. Your editing is a lot higher then mine.
How do you find the majority of your clients
 
SilverWolf said:
Your dvx rate is pretty close to mine. Your editing is a lot higher then mine.
How do you find the majority of your clients
Click to expand...

THey found me through other facilities I used to work at before I left.

When I left, they came with me.
 
Originally Posted by mcgeedigital
For DSR500 shooting $950/day with lights/wireles audio and mixer
For DVX100 shooting $600/" "
For editing $175/hr.


That sounds good, but how do you charge for shoots where you have 3-4 additional people rigging equipment, setting up lights, etc. Do you handle the shooting, lighting, and audio for $950? Also, do you determine how many days of shooting for the project? Thanks,
Eric
 
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