How Much $$$ Should a Filmmaker Charge
Let’s talk about what you should be charging as a filmmaker.
Let’s say you already have a camera and some gear, got a business license, and a nice little reel put together. So how much should you charge for a video? When you’re first starting out as a videographer or filmmaker, it’s really tough to know what to charge. To make it a little simpler, let’s look at this in two ways. The two ways are Project based and Day-rate/hourly rate. In a project based scenario, a client comes to you with a request and you need to figure out how much is it going to cost to produce, direct, shoot, and edit this project. Do you need to hire out an assistant or need to rent gear? Do you need an audio person on set? Do you have feed everyone on set? All of these questions make project based pay difficult because you need to be sure that you have all the necessary areas covered so that you don’t end up under bidding. Project base pay is difficult to get started on because you will make mistakes and have unexpected random expenses. A great way to protect yourself from random expenses to have a contingency item in your budget sheet. This is where you add an extra a 5-10% to your overall budget so that if you need to hire another person or purchase camera equipment, you can still be able to make money from the project.
Recently I had a live show recording project where I had 6 people hired to help cam op. Something I didn’t realize till the day of was the food situation. I had totally forgotten to set time aside for a dinner meal or break. Luckily when the shoot was over, I had some buffer in my budget to where I could take everyone out to a dinner meal and not worry about losing any money on the shoot. So always try to keep a contingency line item in your budget sheet. You never know what’s going to happen on the day of the shoot. This is to just protect yourself and also your crew.
Now if you’re one man band most of the time, similar to me, you still have to account for all the roles which include all of these right here (producing, directing, cinematography, editing, audio, hiring other helpers, materials, etc.)
We have project based rate and then we got day rate or hourly rate. On a day rate basis, you got paid by the day! A typical production day can be between 8-10 hours. Sometimes it can go up to 12, but in general it’s around 10 hours. This is a much simpler method of getting paid because you’re not having to produce the project. You’re there on set to fill in one roll, and that could be the roll of director, DP, or producer. For example as a 1st AC, you could be making between $450-$650/day depending on your experience and the region of the country that you predominantly work in. If you’re a DP, you could be charging maybe $1000/day. So a day rate is day by day pay for every single day that you are on set and working. If you’re traveling or have off days, you could be getting paid a half day rate maybe depending on the production. Day rates are fantastic, because you get paid for however many days the project goes on. In project base pay, if you didn’t calculate the right amount post production time, you could be working way more hours than you thought.
On a day rate basis, you can also add a rental fee if the production company is going to use your gear on the shoot. So if you have a camera body, lens, and a few lights, you could add an extra couple hundred bucks to day rate. So if your day rate for shooting is maybe $700, you could add another $150 a day for your gear to get used on the shoot.
When you’re first getting started, you have to fill in all these positions but as you become more experienced, you’ll start to get hired for specific roles such as DP, director, gaffer or horse wrangler. Day rates may sound like a lot of money but you have to keep in mind that the money you get paid needs to fill in all the other days that you’re not working during month.
A typical day rate for a director can be anywhere between $2k-4k and for a DP it could be between $1k to $3k depending on your experience and portfolio. I’ve got an article attached below that my friend Jeremiah Warren wrote, and he gives some accurate numbers on what professionals in the film industry typically charge for their day rates. (https://medium.com/@jeremiahjw/know-your-worth-what-your-peers-charge-for-commercial-productions-f28d9ed739d3). There are directors and DPs out there that charge $10k a day. Day rates are usually less on the music video side but once you start getting into commercial work, budgets go higher therefore day rates go higher too. That’s a ton money. That’s like what I hope to make a year, and these guys make them in 8 hours.
So how should you go about charging per project? Well when I first got started, I always made the mistake of underquoting because I would want to get the job. For example, I would do an entire music video for $1000, because I would think “WOW! I’m going to make $1k in one day?” But obviously I was naive, and didn’t take into account the other 3-5 days I would be spending editing the project. So I would get frustrated because I would have frustrating days where I’d be like “GOD! I’m not getting enough for this!” So I started quoting clients not only for shoot days and edits, but also keeping in mind the length of the project. If the project was going to last two weeks from start to finish, then I need to keep my schedule somewhat open so I attend to the project. I’ve had seasons of overbooking, because of my feast or famine mindset, and getting myself overwhelmed with not being able to deliver projects on time. When you’re not able to deliver projects on time, you start having dissatisfied clients and that can lead to getting less work. So make sure to account for the length of the project as well.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to say that you shouldn’t work hard and put in your time. If you truly enjoy working all day every day then do that! If it brings you joy, then do it. For me, I love spending time with my wife, friends, playing sports, reading books, cooking, and shooting reverse trash can shots. At the end of the day we do what we value!
If you disagree with the rates that I shared, then I’d encourage you to just ask around and see what your friends are charging. Rates are different based on the region of the country or part of the world that you live in. When I first got started I would charge maybe $300 for a small promo video, but since my portfolio has grown, I’ve gotten opportunities where the producer literally tells me to charge more which is crazy.
Again, knowing what you charge is difficult. Understand your value. What is your time worth? If you’re just getting started, start low and as your portfolio grows increase your rate. Do free work when it’s appropriate, but don’t only do free work. Your skill is valuable. You are valuable. Plus you’re doing this to make money and take care of your squad. So I hope all this was helpful! See you soon!