yearly rate for editor?

[Rich Rubasch]

Give us an idea of the skill level you are talking about. And what market?

A grad student with 10 hours on FCP with a small student reel might start at about $34,000. A 2-3 year editor with a decent reel and a couple good references might get in the door for about $45000 (depends on market…I’m talking small to mid midwest market). Whereas a really good top editor in their market that can swap cuts with the best of ’em could ask $120,000. At that level, they might just start their own company and ask whatever they want!

Rich Rubasch
Tilt Media

[Kyle Lauck]

That sounds about right westcoast, I dont agree about a 10 hour FCP student getting 34k though, people seem cheap these days, A decent reel and refernce seems to get 35-40k which I wish was better.

[Bryce Whiteside]

According to https://www.payscale.com/ the average in the San Francisco Bay Area is $50,000 and ranges from $22,500 to $79,500.

You can go there and fill in your own profile.

Another resource is https://www.editorsguild.com/wage.asp#

To determine a yearly salary just multiply the hourly rate by 2 and add 3 zeroes. It also works in reverse–$50,000 removing the three zeroes at the end and dividing by 2 gives you $25/hour. You are dividing by 2000.

To determine a yearly salary from a hourly figure–$15/hour times 2 is 30 and add 3 zeroes. You are multipying 2000.

There are actually 2080 hours in a year for a 40 hour work week, but using 2000 for your calculations make the quick math in your head easier.

HTH,
Bryce Whiteside

[Bret Williams]

In the atlanta market I’d say those numbers are way too high. Or I’m waaaay underpaid.

Freelancers around here change around $50/hr, but that is going up. Real good ones charge around $75/hr. Now I’m talking TV and corporate. If you’re talking films, who knows. There’s only so much film and netword work around here, sans Turner and HGTV type stuff.

So if you figure $50/hr would be a $100,000 salary, you’ve got to expect to get a lot less as salary. So I’d say an awesome salary would be around $75,000.

I’d expect those right out of school to have to practically work for free for awhile. If they can score a salary job with no experience, I’d figure in the $25,000 to $30,000 at best.

A smaller market a couple hours from Atlanta and you can almost cut that in half. But when a 4 br house out there costs 100k, who cares?

[Bryce Whiteside]

I am assuming the $50/hr freelance rate is the editor only, without equipment right?

Inquiring minds…
Bryce Whiteside

[Walter Biscardi]

[Bret Williams] ”

In the atlanta market I’d say those numbers are way too high. Or I’m waaaay underpaid.”

As you know Bret, the Atlanta market is way under market here. It’s that whole CNN / Turner payscale the drives everything down. After five years at CNN I was making a whopping $27k/year and that was AFTER working on a national Emmy Award winner.

I would say the average starting salary for an editor around here would probably be about $25k.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.com

Director, “The Rough Cut”
https://www.theroughcutmovie.com

Now editing “Good Eats” in HD for the Food Network

“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters

[Walter Biscardi]

[Bryce Whiteside] “I am assuming the $50/hr freelance rate is the editor only, without equipment right?”

Depends on who is editing. Thanks to companies floating around super cheap HD cards (I won’t name names here) everyone and their mother has a High Definition edit suite now down here. So it’s near impossible to charge the correct value when all people around here look at is the bottom line.

Bob will edit for $50/hour with his gear and you’re $100/hour with your gear, well that’s easy, I’ll go with Bob since he has a High Definition edit suite.

So Atlanta is a REALLY cheap market. I always get double takes when I go over my rate package with folks, they can’t believe how cheap it is to do uncompressed High Def here.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.com

Director, “The Rough Cut”
https://www.theroughcutmovie.com

Now editing “Good Eats” in HD for the Food Network

“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters

[Tony]

Mark,

One major factor to consider is your actual cost of living in a specific market.

That will ultimately decide how much you really need to make to stay alive, eat, and sleep in your house not a homeless shelter running around with a powerbook in your backpack.

The larger the market the higher the real estate, food, cost of gas etc which results in higher pay.
Smaller markets will get less cause homes don’t cost 700K to one million like in LA.

Tony Salgado

[Stephen Hockman]

I am not sure of your career level, but I came out of the box from college with a reel more advanced than other students. And i am making 30k as a production assistant in the DC area. But, I don’t just do editing. I do dvd duplication, html coding, help out in a studio.

also, i learned FCP and this place only uses Avid.

[John Davidson]

Agreed Walter. CNN really messes up the payscale there. In ’98 they “promoted” me to editor from feeds for 24k. Granted, I was only 23 and had been out of college just a year before they made me editor, so I was pleased at the time.

Now I on occasion hire freelance editors, and even in LA most are pleased with $50hr. One friend of mine actually convinced a place here to hit a $1000 day rate, but that was for a one time gig and they were desperate. I’ve heard of places like WB hiring Predators for $850, but in the end they’re still saving flow so why not.

For a yearly rate, it’s always going to come down to location, experience, skill, how you handle direction, speed, and the ever important quality of being able to save the producers ass when he/she is at a loss.

Since you’re asking that question, i’m guessing you’re light on the experience side, so it might come down to around 50k. Don’t take offense to that, I could be totally wrong.

j