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Salary/rate question
Here’s my situation…
talented Avid editor with five years experience…
been freelancing…CUTTING 50-minute cable shows, heavy with re-enactment…highly effected…very intense and excellent shows…with the same company for two years.
the company is in a small town in georgia…but the shows are for a major cable network (not “primetime” cable, one of the spin off channels…) and has claimed that they can only pay $1000 a week up to this point.
now they’ve fired the composer and also expect the editors to edit their own music (using license-free music) with very sophisticated music cuts…it is VERY time-consuming. all the editors have to work 50-60 hrs a week and on multiple weekends to deliver a show…with NO overtime of course, because the project/week rate is set in advance.
the company is reluctant to even offer $1300 a week now that we’re cutting our own final music. and as freelance, they do NOT pay benefits or anything….
my question is….are they BS-ing us??? obviously we don’t know their post budgets…but I just don’t think $1300 a week for seriously good, highly involved editing for a cable tv series is too much to ask…
their rebuttal is…this isn’t L.A.any suggestions? i’m trying to get an idea of what is a reasonable to ask from a small cable production house in georgia (they’re small, but the series is fairly well-known…)….AND doing the music edit (not pro-tools work…but scoring in the Avid)…
any ideas??
thanks, friends….
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9 Replies
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I wouldn’t give a rat’s ass if it wasn’t LA. $1000 for all that is INSULTING. That is a lot of work…a TON of work. I’m not sure of the cost of living difference, so I can’t say what a good thing to ask for is, but $1300/week shouldn’t be an issue. It doesn’t matter WHERE the production company is located, these shows have set budgets. The same show would have the same budget if it was shot in LA or Georgia. Well, it might be slightly lower…they might take into account cost of living.
But I will say that the average rate in LA is $2500/week. And people that have to do what you do, and do it well, command more.
Finding someone who can cut that type of show, well, is a challenge. That kind of talent is rare. If you have any leverage at all…like getting another job offer…some way to say “pay me more or I will leave,” without causing you to actually be out of work…would be something to explore. You’ll be surprised at what that can do. I will work on jobs that pay bare minimum… might have had to take them because I have nothing else. But if something else comes my way, I can either give notice and leave, or use that as leverage to get a raise. Typically I get the raise…because it takes time to train someone to work on their show…to know the show style, know what the producers are looking for. Plus that is a very demanding job that not all editors can do. It might take them saying to you “OK, see ya” to you and getting someone to replace you to figure that out.
Look for something else. It’s a win-win situation. If you find something better, you can leave. If they want to keep you, you get the raise.
Shane
GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
Thanks, Shane.
Those were my gut instincts anyway…which is why I wrote the post…
I was assisting in L.A….but moved back here because it was a chance to edit long-form TV and prove myself beyond all the music videos and short films I was editing. I’ve cut 20 long-form cable shows now and I’m thinking about moving back or just going to a big market anywhere…it’s sad that this kind of low-balling forces capable and hard-working post workers to move around all the time. If they have the budget, they shouldn’t be SO stingy…it just creates animosity with all of this negotiation…because it makes it appear that they consider us fools.Especially when they get rid of their composer and ask us to score our own shows…not with temp music (which we were already doing quite well)…but for the final output. I don’t know what they’re saving on getting rid of a composer…but he’s got to be making more than a $900 to score a single show (which is what I asked to be a music editor also.)
I was making $1,000 a week. I asked for $1300 a week plus $900 to score as the music editor. They came back with $1100 a week for everything. To me, that’s just crazy.
Thanks for your help. Will start getting my reel together ASAP.
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Harsh reality.
You’re going to hate this idea, especially in such a market in ‘difficult times’. Quit. They’re clearly cutting back. Is it because the owner wants more money? Or doesn’t think music post is viable? Or knows that his editors won’t bitch? Or can hire kids out of school and who cares if their work is good? Or the owner has a drug/ex-wife/porn star/Charlie Sheen problem?
It doesn’t matter. They’re not going to give up more money- they let you know that when they fired the composer and didn’t hire someone else. The fact that it takes you longer to do the work? Yeah, you can bitch about it, but it’s not going to change.
Really angry? Go talk to an employment lawyer. If they’re hiring you freelance, but you work a full week for nobody else (and so does everyone else there) they may be violating your state laws on employment.
But none of it is going to get them to spit out more money, regardless of how ‘reasonable’ is sounds.
Sorry man.
Best,
Jeff G
Apple Master Trainer
Avid Cert. Instructor DS/MC
Avid & Color Videos Vasst.com
Compressor Essentials Lynda.com -
Dude…when you crunch the numbers, you could probably make more working at Starbucks…and probably get benefits, too.
It just ain’t right.
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$1,000 a week for a 40 hr week is only 25/hr.
I made a little less than that as an assitant editor years ago.
Yes your being taken advantage of and the only way to fix it is to
not ask for a raise, but tell them how much you will work for and be
prepared to walk if they don’t want to pay it.Scott Cumbo
Editor
Broadway Video, NYC -
[Scott Cumbo] “$1,000 a week for a 40 hr week is only 25/hr.”
Sounds like he’s being asked to work significantly more than a 40 hour week…50-60 hours, including weekends….hence my Starbucks comment. Seriously, its nuts…I don’t care what market it is.
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Thanks everyone for the advice…
I have agreed to a $1200 rate…of course, now that I’m asking for $200 more per week to do ALL of this work (final music edit, 50 hrs/wk, at least two weekends during the project duration, and so on), they will schedule me (I’m freelance less) and put more on the shoulders of the staff guys.
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That’s still a very low wage for what you do. They sound like slave drivers in the worse way. 50 hours a week for $1200? LESS for the staff people. I’d seriously consider another job.
Shane
GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
Dan,
For someone with your experience and track record you should definitely be making more than that,
especially with the added duties of music editing.I ran into a similar situation a couple years ago and told the client I needed a raise in order to continue. They denied me the raise so I left. I was replaced immediately but they called me back about a week later because they realized I was much faster. I knew their workflow, their storage and operational protocol, approval process, deliverables, and so on. With tight deadlines looming, it’s funny how the budget all of a sudden increases. In the long run it is cheaper to pay someone who is fast and efficient at a higher rate.
Good Luck.
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