How long is a piece of string?

[Grinner Hester]

I average about 500 hours per one hour documentary in post, fwiw.
If it’s just cuts with bites and some b-roll, it can be done in as little as a week but I suspect thats not the case. Your best bet is to not quote a flat bid at all on this and just stay hourly. This way, their creativity stays o their dollar.

[Gary Alan]

If you don’t have a script, at least have an idea in your head with a plan. An old trick I learned at ABC from the old pros was to ask your questions with the answer you want inside the question. Such as “so, you don’t know the exact number of people unemployed in your area?” Nine times out of ten they will answer, “Yes, I don’t know the exact number of unemployed people in our area”.

And stop the interview after you have what you wanted to get. If you get into a situation where you are not getting the answers you need, go off on another area and come back to that question later when the the person seems to talk more freely and is comfortable with you.

Gary