How much to charge band for video?

omega

omega

Active member
I did a video for a band recently, for free, and now have another band wanting a video done and they want a quote.

I have absolutely no idea what to quote them. I own all of the equipment. It will be a one day shoot and probably one or two days in editing. I am okay with doing it for cheap. The crew is me and a friend who will be helping with directing.

Also, any thoughts on how to split up the money between my friend and I? He just does a little directing and I do everything else. And all of the equipment is mine.
 
Haven't a clue what the going rates are....but how's this? I wouldn't take less than what I would make doing my "real" job. That's $35/hour + an extra 5% if I go past 6 pm, and an extra 10% if I work a Sunday.

So, estimate how much time you'll be using. Then maybe double it, if it still seems too low. :)
 
omega said:
That's an idea. But I'm hoping to charge them a flat rate.
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I think he addressed that by suggesting you estimate how long it would take...

GenJerDan said:
So, estimate how much time you'll be using. Then maybe double it, if it still seems too low.
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...then applying the rate to that time you can come up with a flat rate if you like. This will give you a base line to start at and tweek if you don't like the numbers you come up with.
 
i'm in the same situation and it seems $40 per hour is the low end for good, professional work. So just add up how many hours you think it will take. Make sure to add any additional costs, anything special they want that u need to get, and dont forget food.

As for splitting it with a partner, you need to decide how much help they are. Probably the safest way is to split the $40 with him for the hours he's on set. If he's not THAT helpful, try to schedule him for only the block of hours you think you'll need him for and try to invite him for just those hours.
 
To give a fair value to the band, follow a very simple pricing formula: Labor + Kit Rental + Materials.

Labor: Anywhere from $10 - $50+ per hour, depending on job responsibilities.
Kit Rental: 4% of the list price of whatever you use, per day (typically).
Materials: Tapes are $6 each, DVD's are .50 each, etc.

Estimate one day of shooting and two or three days of editing at the aforementioned rates. That's how you determine a flat rate.

This assumes it is a "performance" video. If there is a storyline, you'll need to determine a price for your ideas.

Just be realistic. This is a DV shoot.
 
I do not like flat rates, especially when working with bands. I've spent too much time waiting for drummers to show up and for the lead singers girl friends to get their man's hair "just right". If you quote a flat rate, make sure that it is contingent on specific time constraints.

Also, get money up front to cover your expensives and do not, absolutely DO NOT deliver a finished version of the video, in ANY format until you are paid the balance due. Trust me on this one. If I could get the money bands owe me for some of the music videos I've done, I'd pick up a COUPLE of HVXs.
 
omega said:
I did a video for a band recently, for free, and now have another band wanting a video done and they want a quote.

I have absolutely no idea what to quote them. I own all of the equipment. It will be a one day shoot and probably one or two days in editing. I am okay with doing it for cheap. The crew is me and a friend who will be helping with directing.

Also, any thoughts on how to split up the money between my friend and I? He just does a little directing and I do everything else. And all of the equipment is mine.
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All the suggestions here are good... but I really think you need to tell us a bit more about what you'll actually be doing, and what your equipment is like, etc. Also, where you are, and maybe a few local price points for similar work.

Is this a live shoot? Where? How many cameras? What kind of audio setup? What will the "director" do exactly? Do you or your friend have more experience and expertise? What level is the band at? How much post do you intend to do? Is this docu style, or highly stylized?

Etc.... the more you can tell us, the more we can help...
 
The thing to watch is to charge what your worth so to speak. If you have x amount of years of experience why sell your self short and charge someone a small amount? Maybe you could do that to drum up some business but you wouldnt want to keep your rates low for long. How about $400 for 4 hours of shooting or $800 for 8 hours of shooting then you would have to think about how much editing including color correction, digitizing video, output to dvd (dvd authoring) etc. You will have to come up with some sort of figure and add that to the shooting side of the rates to get a flat rate if you want to go that route or just charge them X amount for shooting and X amount for the editing. Make sure they pay you half of the money up front or whatever percentage you choose and the rest when the job is done. In some cases the money up front will sometimes go towards stuff you will need for the shoot.

Oh yea don't forget to add MILEAGE somewhere in your figures too! If you have to drive to another city or wherever to do the shoot...make sure you charge for mileage and gas too!
 
Great advice everyone, much appriciated... I have decided on a flat rate of $800 and will negotiate from there. DVX100Shooter, your suggestion to collect a percentage up front is a very good idea. I charge 30% up front for web projects to ensure clients don't forget about the projects.

Just out of curiosity though, if you guys don't mind. What are some examples of projects you've done and what you charged for them?

Thanks again,
Tommy
 
Just as an FYI, a typical recording studio around here charges these kind of bands about $1500 per song for a completed mix, includes studio time. I would think a video would be worth about the same at least.
 
galt said:
Just as an FYI, a typical recording studio around here charges these kind of bands about $1500 per song for a completed mix, includes studio time. I would think a video would be worth about the same at least.
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$1500 is pretty cheap deal for the whole thing edited.


My company charges $1,000 for a 30 second (all edited cced etc) advertisment as a minimum price for most places. But then we also script, pull strings, and create slogans etc.
 
I think $1500 is pretty cheap too, but better than $800. Bands typically don't have any money, so equating it to something they already know usually makes for an easier sale. And shooting/editing one of these is a lot easier than a corporate thingy.
 
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