-
How to budget for international work
I saw a job listing in my area to shoot footage in several African countries. Here’s the ad:
https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/doc/crg/4271111966.html
It asks to budget for airfare, hotel, meals, a French translator, at least 3 days of filming in each country, and a 3 minute film from each country about an insecticide that kills mosquitos that carry malaria.
I’m interested in applying, but how do I budget properly? I could look up hotel rates and plane trips in each country, but what else should I consider? Is this as straight forward as it seems? And how many days should I plan for in each country? I’ve never shot something like this so even though it can seem kind of straight forward, for someone who’s never done it, I want to know the potential pitfalls.
Thanks.
-
3 Replies
-
sounds interesting, looking forward to the trip report already 🙂
just a few things you didn’t mention:
Health – Injections for typhoid, cholera, yellow-fever and of course Malaria. You may have to start these treatments before you even know if you have the contract.
A Carnet for your equipment.
Power may be available – but what voltage etc. do you need plug converters?Visa fees? perhaps if you are filming you may need a special type of visa?
-
[Angelo Mike] “https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/doc/crg/4271111966.html”
This does not sound like a one man production. I know it says film maker in the brief, but the tasks do like you are going to need a support person to help you with your equipment, such as setting up the sound or lighting. Video productions typically involves carrying cameras, tripods, sound gear, a basic lighting kit, plus your own editing system to ingest and show the raw footage. And this is before you add your clothing and personal effects. In the FAQ, it also says, “Many applicants are U.S.-based, although this contract is not exclusively for U.S. companies.” They use the word companies. Whilst one person could be a ‘company’, this job does look substantial.
The filmmaker will be paid per deliverable based on the list of the four deliverables, regardless of the number of days or hours needed to complete them
I would be careful about this. If the client is super picky, you could be in for a LOT of unpaid work. They request 3 drafts which means 4 potential editing sessions for you. They also include this statement which I find concerning as it is quite subjective, “we reserve the right to not pay you if you turn in a sloppy product.”
The advertisement remains silent on who is developing the script. This is a significant body of work and can make or break a project.
We hope to start filming in February. The final films will be due the first week of April
Sounds like you have an uncertain start date but a firm end date, which could mean the difference of 2 weeks in the edit. It won’t matter to them if you start filming on Feb 25 through to Mar 6, but it will matter to you.
I don’t mean to be a naysayer, but this client sounds quite demanding and could be difficult to work with. I could be wrong.
My system specs: Intel i7 970, 12GB RAM, ASUS P6T, Vegas Pro 12 (x64), Windows 7 x64 Ultimate, Vegas Production Assistant 1.0, VASST Ultimate S Pro 4.1, Neat Video Pro 2.6
-
It definitely sounds demanding, but they leave so much open to the filmmaker who I don’t think could know ahead of time, unless they’ve filmed on this subject in these countries before, how long he should take. They say it’s up to the filmmaker to decide if they want to budget for 3 days of filming or up to 30. How can I possibly know that ahead of time without being irresponsible? I wouldn’t know what length of stay in each country to pick other than some mid level number to ensure I get a lot of footage.
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up