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How much should I charge to produce a documentary for someone?
Someone wants to hire me to film/edit a documentary about their life. I already know how my travel/food expenses will be covered. Equipment is also covered. But should I charge by the hour? Or make a grand total for the entire project? If I need to be anymore specific, please let me know. Thanks for the help!
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30 Replies
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Sebastian –
There are so many variables here, that it would be impossible to give you a tight answer, but things to bear in mind are:
Is this all videography, or will there be stills and document captures which will require either scanning or shooting?
How much do you currently charge per hour on a small job?
Has the runtime of the project been decided? Is there a script? An outline?
If it’s as open-ended as your initial description, you could stand to be working for peanuts. Generally, when I’m costing out a project, I either have a script or at the very least a rough outline, so I can figure out a guestimate of the hours involved. How many days of shooting? How many locations? Are there interviews involved? Stock footage? Licensed music? If so, get the details down.
Then start to piece together your puzzle of how much time you “think” might be involved, then add at least twenty-five percent to that for contingencies – (“Oh…I forgot to mention that we need to interview my great uncle in Fresno…we’ll need several shots of the New York Stock Exchange floor and exterior”), stuff like that. You want to allow for a good chunk of B-roll, unless you’re getting access to a big archive of photography and video. It could get deadly boring if it’s all talking heads and stills.
Sit down with the person, and discuss the flow of the project – try and develop an outline if there is none. Get a contract, and get it signed right away, so that if you get a “never mind…”, you can at least bill for your initial time spent trying to develop the concept to at least an outline. If it’s a labor of love, or a really fun project, and not just a job, you might want to cut out the 25 percent contingency fee and keep your quote reasonably low. Also get the travel/food/equipment expenses in writing, so that you know whether you’re getting a per-diem food allowance, with travel and equipment rental paid as incurred, or at the end of the project.
It’s a lot to think about, but you can give away the store if you don’t think about these things. Good luck with it…
Joe Bourke
Owner/Creative Director
Bourke Media
http://www.bourkemedia.com -
Thanks, ill get back for more details. But what would you charge for filming 1 hour of b roll? For example
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Not to be elusive, but it depends on experience, equipment, market area (LA rate is going to be much higher than Kansas City rate). If the equipment is covered, a 1 hour charge could be anywhere from 50 dollars an hour to 100 dollars an hour up. Do a search in your area for “production rate sheet”, and you’ll see a very wide range of prices. Some companies don’t even offer an hourly rate, since when you add the door-to-door travel, an hour’s time shooting is going to involve a half day. So they have half day and full day rates, the full day usually covering 10 hours. But as I said, if you’re a known entity in the production world, or in a major market, you can demand a higher rate. But there’s also more competition in a major market…
Joe Bourke
Owner/Creative Director
Bourke Media
http://www.bourkemedia.com -
Thanks
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What would you charge for filming an hour of b-roll?
What camera? What extras are needed-Lights? Autocue? Track? Jib? Is this for full ownership of footage? Microphones? Audio requirements? Location? Lenses required?
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I am just asking what you would charge per hour. All the equipment and everything is take care of. How much would you charge as a one man camera operator per hour to follow someone around and get basic b roll footage.
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Sebastian you give no indication of your skill set or experience. What kind of camera are you shooting with? Is it an HD camera or a lower end consumer camera? Where are you shooting? What state and location? Most people I know work for either a half-day or full-day rate. Also what’s your client’s budget?
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I think your making this more complicated than it has to be. I’m speaking pure labor.
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Sorry if you feel this is complicated, however you fail to answer the questions posed to you by people here. Look, are you a professional or just some guy with a camera? From the question you pose, you really have no idea how to charge a client. That leads me to believe that you’re not very experienced. So you shouldn’t be charging professional rates.
Look, how much does a hair cut cost? It depends on where you’re getting your haircut, is it a barber shop or a hair boutique? What’s the level of experience of the person giving you a hair cut. Did they just start out or do they have many years of experience? My camera people have about 10-20 years of professional experience, and shoot beautiful footage with high level Broadcast quality HD cameras. Should your rate be the same as theirs?
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I am a professional. I just haven’t done a documentary format before. I do weddings. Not sur what your problem is. Your the only one that is posing these questions. If you don’t actually have an answer its all good. Don’t be one of those people that thinks they are smarter than the rest of the world. Do you do documentaries? What do you charge for your own Personal labor.
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