how much should I charge?

[hoz]

Thanks for any help/counsel I receive...

I have been asked to create 5 - 5-6 minute shorts for a fund raising company.

This company wishes to raise aprox 2 million dollars for a nonprofit goal and wants to use my films to better target five distinct groups to pull in the money.

I own a dvx100a, my own audio gear - an octava and a sennheiser mkh415, and lighting gear.

this is to be my first paying gig.

i am to write 5 scripts, find actors ( of which i have a handful already ), find and use locations, shoot the films, and then edit them.

i have a boom op on hand as well.

what do i charge? 1- for my work 2- for the actors 3- for the boom op 4- for my gear 5- for anything i may have, and most probably, overlooked?

thanks for your help!

 

[Steve House]

Thanks for any help/counsel I receive...

I have been asked to create 5 - 5-6 minute shorts for a fund raising company.

This company wishes to raise aprox 2 million dollars for a nonprofit goal and wants to use my films to better target five distinct groups to pull in the money.

I own a dvx100a, my own audio gear - an octava and a sennheiser mkh415, and lighting gear.

this is to be my first paying gig.

i am to write 5 scripts, find actors ( of which i have a handful already ), find and use locations, shoot the films, and then edit them.

i have a boom op on hand as well.

what do i charge? 1- for my work 2- for the actors 3- for the boom op 4- for my gear 5- for anything i may have, and most probably, overlooked?

thanks for your help!

You haven't said where you are and the local labour market is part of the equation. Also exactly where the shorts are to be used - shown in local church basements would be one thing, run as PSAs on national network television or strung together to make a 30-minute solicitation infomercial on cable TV such as you see from organizations like the Christian Children's Fund and the like, would be quite another. But consider this as well - while the charity may be a non-profit I highly doubt that the fund-raising company is doing it for free. In fact they are probably keeping a substantial part of the "take" as their fee and I doubt Sally Struthers turned on those tears without a paycheque <grin>. No reason that you, along with the rest of your cast and crew, shouldn't get a fair share of that pie, charging the same as any other professional production company in your market would charge. Pay your talent union scale or close to it, pay your crew the going market rate for their skills in your area, as well as a fair rental rate for the equipment you provide, and add a reasonable profit for yourself as the producer/writer/director/editor. Oh, and don't forget to get it all in writing - not an inch of tape rolls until a binding contract is signed.

 

[grinner]

multiply the rate you want to work at by the hours it should take to do it.
Thats your bid.

 

[hoz]

You haven't said where you are and the local labour market is part of the equation. Also exactly where the shorts are to be used - shown in local church basements would be one thing, run as PSAs on national network television or strung together to make a 30-minute solicitation infomercial on cable TV such as you see from organizations like the Christian Children's Fund and the like, would be quite another. But consider this as well - while the charity may be a non-profit I highly doubt that the fund-raising company is doing it for free. In fact they are probably keeping a substantial part of the "take" as their fee and I doubt Sally Struthers turned on those tears without a paycheque <grin>. No reason that you, along with the rest of your cast and crew, shouldn't get a fair share of that pie, charging the same as any other professional production company in your market would charge. Pay your talent union scale or close to it, pay your crew the going market rate for their skills in your area and add a fair profit for yourself as the producer/writer/director/editor. Oh, and don't forget to get it all in writing - not an inch of tape rolls until a binding contract is signed.

Thanks for the advice!
... yeah i forgot to mention this will be shown at local meetings where these five groups of people gather ( like at dinners, sign ups, things like that - no TV or broadcast or such - these films will be shown to anywhere from 5 people to five hundred people at a time- i figure that will be up to the fundraising company as to where they wish to show them ). Oh, they also want to use the films on their website.
These films will be created and used for Eastern Long island, New York.