How to split profits between Director and Producer/Editor?

Ferret Lady

Ferret Lady

Well-known member
Let's say you are doing a low budget music video. You are the production company, so the producer of the video, as well as the editor. You are using a very small budget, and after paying all crew like camera operator, assistant, dop, equipment rentals, etc, you are left with $1000. You will be doing a one day shoot.

The only people left to be paid are the Director, and you. You being the producer/production company, and also the Editor of the video. What percentage of that $1000 do you think should go to the Director? (he does not have a set rate)
 
scratchpatchfilms said:
Let's say you are doing a low budget music video. You are the production company, so the producer of the video, as well as the editor. You are using a very small budget, and after paying all crew like camera operator, assistant, dop, equipment rentals, etc, you are left with $1000. You will be doing a one day shoot.

The only people left to be paid are the Director, and you. You being the producer/production company, and also the Editor of the video. What percentage of that $1000 do you think should go to the Director? (he does not have a set rate)
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Not enough information for us to be of much help. Perhaps the Director worked 100 hours and you've already been paying the cast/crew sizable sums. In that scenario, I'd say the Producer isn't entitled to a cut.

Then there's the possibility of residuals, product branding, etc. It's unclear by your supposed $1,000 split scenario, who would get royalty payments or apportioned split.

Hopefully this wasn't a loaded question... If you want us to chant, "ALL TO THE PRODUCER", please let us know - wink!

Good luck, Michael
 
oh no it wasnt a loaded question.. ha ha... the video hasnt been shot yet. the director is organizing the crew (but i'm paying the crew), and then directing the music video on a one day shoot. there will be no royalties or anything like that, this isnt that major. i'm the producer and i'll be editing the video. so i GOT the client, through my company, which i pay to advertise using my website, flyers, newspapers, etc. i meet with clients and keep in constant contact with them to make sure they get what they want in the video... and i'll probably spend many many hours editing it afer it's shot. yes, i feel i should get a higher percentage than the director.. just wasnt sure what would be fair or not cuz he will be doing a lot of work that day and is very important obviously..
 
scratchpatchfilms said:
oh no it wasnt a loaded question.. ha ha... the video hasnt been shot yet. the director is organizing the crew (but i'm paying the crew), and then directing the music video on a one day shoot. there will be no royalties or anything like that, this isnt that major. i'm the producer and i'll be editing the video. so i GOT the client, through my company, which i pay to advertise using my website, flyers, newspapers, etc. i meet with clients and keep in constant contact with them to make sure they get what they want in the video... and i'll probably spend many many hours editing it afer it's shot. yes, i feel i should get a higher percentage than the director.. just wasnt sure what would be fair or not cuz he will be doing a lot of work that day and is very important obviously..
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Thanks for the details. Then I'd pay the director a fair cut - I gather since this is more of low-key Indie with emerging crew, your rate might be in the range of $20-50 per hour for "real work." And hopefully you'll be able to keep most of the balance since you'll be doing most of the work. But typically the producer is responsible for the profit/loss and gets his/her cut last.

Have fun, Michael
 
Director ideally for his work should get a lot more money, but I'm going to be sort of a dick and say $300. The production company / producer presumably found the client. It's something on the director's reel, you did the editing too, even 70/30 is unfair to you because an editor puts in as much time as the director, and then you're also producer and production company. But at the same time less than $300 isn't fair to the director. Even that low of an amount is sort of an ouch, but you said only $1,000 left over so...
 
I think it's hard for you because you aren't thinking about yourself as three people. Based upon the scenario that you described there would be
Production Company
Producer
Director
Editor

It's easier to figure out payment splits when you don't think of paying yourself but instead think if I had to pay someone else to do the job.

The production company should get 10%-%20 of the budget ( in addition to the budget )
so if the budget was $1000 to shoot the video then the production company would get $200 bringing the total to $1200 for the budget

The producer should get (day rate)x days

The Director should get his Directors Fee. I would say at least $500 depending upon how much the crew was paid.

The Editor should get whatever the editor charges to cut up the video.

Truthfully if anyone should take a hit it would be the production company. Since you are playing all three parts I would pay yourself $400 and give the director $600
 
Generally, the production company/producer should get the last of the money... is this something that will have royalties int he future? Or is it a one time payment from another company?

What it comes down to is, ask the director what his day rate is... How much money will it take to get him away from everything else and focus on your project for that day. If he has another job, how much does he get paid? You'll probably have to either match that or exceed it.. or if he's a newbie director, you can probably undercut it a bit since "you're giving him his big break."

If it's more than you can afford, find a new director and find one that you can work with.

Likewise, how much do YOU need to focus for the time you need to focus on? Usually the producers fee should be built into the budget ahead of time. If you work at a video store and get $100 a day, and you need to work on this project for 10 days... you need $1,000 to get you away from your other job and make up for money lost there.
 
SilverWolf said:
I think it's hard for you because you aren't thinking about yourself as three people. Based upon the scenario that you described there would be
Production Company
Producer
Director
Editor

It's easier to figure out payment splits when you don't think of paying yourself but instead think if I had to pay someone else to do the job.

The production company should get 10%-%20 of the budget ( in addition to the budget )
so if the budget was $1000 to shoot the video then the production company would get $200 bringing the total to $1200 for the budget

The producer should get (day rate)x days

The Director should get his Directors Fee. I would say at least $500 depending upon how much the crew was paid.

The Editor should get whatever the editor charges to cut up the video.

Truthfully if anyone should take a hit it would be the production company. Since you are playing all three parts I would pay yourself $400 and give the director $600
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Haha, are you insane?! So somehow the director deserves more than the guy who found the project, did the editing, and managed the production company? Best case scenario is if you can't afford to pay people, you don't do a video. I agree the director should get at least $600, heck even $1,500, but there's only $1,000 and the question wasn't in a dream world, how much should the director get. It's based on $1,000 left, and you can't argue the director is doing 60% of the work.
 
ya, it's pretty tough when working with such a small amount of money. this will be the last music video i do for such a low rate. but my rates are steadily rising so i really can't complain i guess. this is my first video that we're gonna try to get on tv (MuchMusic) so honestly, I'd do it for free if I had to.

The director and I agreed that with the left over profit, i'd get 60% and he'd take %40. it's not that terrible, really. but in the future it should be a lot more...

anyways thanks everyone for your input. interesting to see the different opinions people had. in the end, i could not pay the director a higher percentage than myself because i'll be doing more work, and he agreed with that, so it's all good. hopefully this video is a success!!!!!
 
JonathanLB said:
Haha, are you insane?! So somehow the director deserves more than the guy who found the project, did the editing, and managed the production company? Best case scenario is if you can't afford to pay people, you don't do a video. I agree the director should get at least $600, heck even $1,500, but there's only $1,000 and the question wasn't in a dream world, how much should the director get. It's based on $1,000 left, and you can't argue the director is doing 60% of the work.
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I'm not basing the director's pay based upon the percentage or work that was done. I'm basing it upon how much the other crew got paid. If they got their standard rates then I think the director should at least make more then the DP. Remember I don't know exactly how much the rest of the crew got so if they got 250 to DP then $400 isn't a bad slice at all but if the DP got $500 then giving the Director $400 is pretty unfair to me.

I definitely think the director should have stated a rate from the beginning then it wouldn't be a mystery what he was charging. My reason for doing the math the way I did was because at the end of the day the original poster underbidded the job or went overbudget and I don't think the director should be held accountable for that.

In the end it looks like they worked it out but I know that when my company produces projects if there are any losses then my company takes that hit not my crew because the responsibilty ultimately falls on me.
 
the director and i have worked together on many projects, mostly ones that didnt pay us any money. we help each other out where we can, and my company is just starting to become profitable. he doesnt have a set rate, which is why we were basing it on how much we made profit on this project.

but yes, he is getting much more than the other crew members. he is 2nd only to me. so.
 
Ahh. I see. Well the agreement seems like a fair one if the director is basing his fee off of profit created from the video as well as him making much more then the other crew members then $400 definitely seems like a fair deal.

My scenario would be best suited for you just hiring a director whereas your situation seems more like a business partnership.
 
cool. yeah, in a way it kinda is a partnership. anyways it's settled, so thanks for your advice. altho not all of it applied to THIS situation, i'm sure it's gonna come in handy in the near future!
 
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