Non-Profit budgeting

E

ebsseattle

Active member
What sort of budget would others charge to shoot and edit a 3 or 4 minute documentary piece for a large non-profit? The same for a smaller one? The shoot would require travel and be around a 3 day shoot and a couple days edit.
 
That would be your day rate times three plus travel. And anything needed for the production budget.

Nonprofit is meaningless in this context, unless you plan to volunteer. The budget is based on the content and not the client. There's no answer.
 
I guess more specifically what I'm trying to get an idea of is what are low/high day rates in the U.S. for an all in one crew (Producer/Director/DOP)? I know it fluctuates but am just trying to get ballpark figures.
 
You won't get it here. The rates vary by region, equipment, experience, skill, marketing prowess and plenty of other factors. If that's your question then you need to research, this doesn't cut it. Create a sample list oof producers in your area, and label them based on how they compare to you; same, lower end, higher end, bigger company, whatever else. Then you can get quotes from them for the same project- either get rates posted on their websites or pose as a potential client taking bids (don't use your real name if it can be connected to your services). Fill in the chart, and with that information you should be able to identify the curve for different types of producers and figure out where you stand compared to your competition. That should give you a good place to start.
 
in NYC area: $1500-2500/day for shoot, $750-1000/day for edit. So your small documentary is around $12-15k. But even those numbers are meaningless as you don't know if the video is meant to raise the organizations' next year budget of say $400k or just to show to potential interns... In first instance the video is of HUGE value to the organization (thus they would be willing to spend serious $$), in other case they wouldn't care if a high school student with a camera shot it.
 
Patryk, your answer is just what I was looking for. More than anything, a validation to the budget I worked up. I realize there are too many variables when it comes to budgeting projects like these (experience, equipment, travel, use of the piece, etc.) but really appreciate your time for answering. Unfortunately others felt sharing any insight (the purpose of message boards) was too much. Thanks again!
 
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