What to charge for 1st FCP editing gig?

Jack Daniel Stanley

Jack Daniel Stanley

Moderator
Staff member
OK so work is pretty thin here in New Orleans for an adjunct (part time/no benefits) professor with all the universities closed down etc.

But good news is I think I got my first shooting gig! Shooting somekind of wrestling match in Baton Rouge on 12/17 for $200 for the night. First shooting gig done and done (knock on wood).

But here's my question ... I think I MAY be up for a FCP editing job here locally and I'd like to know how much to ask for -- now this is the kind of question that usually prompts outraged responses from people saying "we don't know enough about your situation to answer your question -- what is it you are editing -- is it a flat fee or hourly, etc."

Well I don't know ... I'm just asking how to play my next move ...
HIS ADD SAYS COMPENSATION: OPEN

I responded to this guys ad saying that I would do a portion of the work on spec (I'm willing to do like 2 hours worth) so that he could evaluate my abilities before he paid, and I think that's what got me a response .

Here's the only thing I could find online about him:
http://www.txdirect.net/users/dmangels/gaynor.htm
Paul Decorte Productions

I have no professional training, no professional experience. Looks like he does infomercials and industrials. He's may have seen my short, but has definately been to my website:
http://frenchquarterfeatures.com/

So wacha think guys -- what's my rate?
00000013.gif
 
There is actually a law out there that forbids independant contractors from discussing thier rates with each other.. im not kidding.

Anyways, I think a better angle is to see if budy has a consistant level of work.. it might be better to take a cut on your hourly rate (lets say $60 an hour) to get onto his good side so he keeps hiring you. Say, $300 a day discounted, and if your a good editor (which we all have seen) you should be able to get alot done in that day.

Good luck.. we all know your gonna be a superstar in 5 years, so dont forget about us little peeps when your off shooting the next backstreet boys video.
 
lol I know some people that worked on the NSYNC video where they are toys an break out of their boxes
cb_1.JPG

Thanks for the heads up on discussing rates ... so nobody tell me what you get paid
-- just what you think I should ask for --

Man I can't imagine asking for $60/hour and keeping a straight face ... wow!

That just scares the **** out of me!
 
Jarred Land said:
well the choppers at Sony Studios get $300 an hour, what makes you less special?
Click to expand...
Mostly because I don't know WTF I'm doing -- I'm just making this poo poo up as I go along. My training is in directing for theatre and I've worked a lot as a sound designer for theatre and I teach acting for camera, acting, and sound design .. as for FCP? I bought the software just like a bunch of other yahoos out there.

There is a cost of living thing here too ... $30K here is like $50K other places, but on the other hand that scale tends to apply less and less the more specialized the profession -- like editing, or teaching acting for camera, etc.

But that $60 gives me a good gauge, though I would be real happy with $40, Ok with $30, and then it would start to get a little tedious below that level of pay.
 
Jarred Land said:
As a good guide, look up Television studios, they usually have rate cards on their websites. Same with university media departments, like here:

http://www.yale.edu/mediaservices/video/fees.html

http://www.wtvp.org/images/ratecard.pdf

After digging you should see that $65 for an editor is a pretty good deal.. of course, if you are cutting on your own system, you can add $20 or so per hour for the use of your machine.
Click to expand...
Oh -- ok that's a very cool thing to know -- will do.
thanks.

Dood it's like 5:45 AM here -- how'd that happen -- I sent Barry G a PM like 4 hours ago saying it was just a quick note cuz I had to go to bed .... damn ... later
snoring.gif
 
Better off with a higher rate, but take off hours when you are "fumbling around". Ultimately, the producer will care how much the project cost him (rate x hours), not the hourly rate. Instead of two hours free, I would try to identify a tiny project (half day??) and do that at regular pay. Then you can learn how he is to work for (very iimportant). Is he organized, or does he want endless revisions? His web page raises lots of warning flags to me. Links don't work, no "home page", not his domain name, etc... Be sure you get paid.
 
jdanston! Don't sell yourself short. You DO know what you're doing. Editing is not just knowing which buttons to click on in an editing program. It's having a sense of dramatic rhythm, understanding how to combine images for dramatic effect. It's directing all over again, after all the actors have gone home. I watched your short. If you edited that, you have a very very good eye for editing, and that's worth a lot of money. Trust me. A lot of people don't know what to show, and what not to show, or how long to show it.
 
Thanks, galt - unofortunately I already sent a PM saying "I could do a portion of the work on spec... sot that [he] can evaluate before paying"
galt said:
Is he organized, or does he want endless revisions? His web page raises lots of warning flags to me. Links don't work, no "home page", not his domain name, etc... Be sure you get paid.
Click to expand...
... yeah those broken links and things would be a red flag except that that that kind of thing is sort of normal here and he might not even know that site is still up an running -- he didn't point me there I dug it up -- but point well taken :thumbsup:
sean90291 said:
jdanston! Don't sell yourself short. You DO know what you're doing. Editing is not just knowing which buttons to click on in an editing program. It's having a sense of dramatic rhythm, understanding how to combine images for dramatic effect. It's directing all over again, after all the actors have gone home. I watched your short. If you edited that, you have a very very good eye for editing, and that's worth a lot of money. Trust me. A lot of people don't know what to show, and what not to show, or how long to show it.
Click to expand...
Ha! thanks very much! Yeah I would hope I have SOME aesthetic clues aobut how to tell a story visually by now -- just zero pro experience doing so with FCP :)
 
The problem with setting your rate too low is that good customers won't deal with you, because they know what good editors get so if you're cheap you must not be good, which means the only clients you'll get are those that are attracted by the cheap rates, and those kind of clients are far more likely to stiff you anyway.

Set a competitive rate and do a great job, and all your angst will go away.

And I say forget hourly, hourly is just a pain for both you and them. I say tell 'em your day rate (if you don't have one, just say $400/day) and then tell him how many days it'll take you. Now, you may find that it takes you a lot more days, but stick with what you told him. As you get experience you'll be better able to judge how long it takes you to do these jobs. But say "My rate is $400/day, this particular job will take two days, and I should be able to get to it next week." Of course you start working immediately so you have plenty of wiggle room, but then you deliver a great product exactly when you said you would, and you charge exactly what you said you would, and you do not hand over the final version until he pays in full of course...

... if he wants changes, that's when you start talking about hourly rates. Little changes, $60/hour. Lots of changes, lump it together and call it another day at $400/hr. If it's really minor stuff you do it for free so he'll see what a great guy you are and wants to keep coming back to you, but if he starts to take advantage of you then you just hold the line and say $75/hr.
 
Barry says it well (as always). As far as "spec", what I do is offer a guarantee that they do not have to take the work or pay for it if they are unhappy. But then I watermark the demo copy until they have agreed to pay me. If you did not define what "spec" meant, maybe this will work for you. To some people, getting work done on spec is the same as "free". But I think just seeing what you can get done in x hours is a recipe for failure. It is about managing client expectations and meeting them. If they don't have the right expectation going in, you can't ever win. So you have to have a process, a defined deliverable, and clearly defined expectations. No matter how small the project may be. Good Luck. Let us know how it comes out.
 
yes you gotta be careful with the dont pay untill your happy. Ive gotten into some sticky situations with that, and they can just keep nitpicking.

In the old days when i did Flash work, i loved it because i could encode with actionscript in the flashfile a time based switch that if i didnt turn off the video would shut down after a certain date... so if they didnt pay and think they got away with it, they get a nice surprise.
 
what is a typical editing day as far as hours go ? I understand obviously work as long as it takes to get it done ,but when telling customer 1 day or two days how long to you plan to work on it in a day
 
on average about 9 hours.. sometimes ive been out in 6, sometimes 14.

I find its best to encourage the Director or producer to be there if they can.. and make them feel like you cant edit without their input. That way the director/producer dictates the day length and they know your not just screwing around. It also makes you actually get things done, i work alot faster when someone is participating because i find it way to easy to wonder off to DVXuser.com when im by myself and kill a few hours.
 
SilverWolf said:
Does that include rendering as well ?
Click to expand...
Where I work, you're not done until you can actually watch the finished project so yeah, we charge for rendering time. But if it is a long render (we've had renders over 5 hours long and then some) then we just charge for 1 hour or so. But that was when we had 3 Avids and could move to a different project if the render was taking way too long. Now, with only one working Avid and a FCP system, i don't know what we do. I better look into that really soon...we have a big conference coming up.
 
jdanstan said:
Mostly because I don't know WTF I'm doing -- I'm just making this poo poo up as I go along.
Click to expand...


(whispering)
Hey...jdanstan... dont' tell anyone else but... we're all making this **** up as we go along.


:)

Good luck with the gig.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top