Miscelleanous TIPS and TRICKS an

Link	PcMechanic's Tips and Tricks for optimizing your system - And MORE - Need to speed up your broadband ? Open more than two download windows in Explorer ? Ghost your drive ? Use PowerTweaks ? Run gpEdit ? Check out these tips from PCMechanic - they are pretty interesting and can really help you tweak your system.

	How Much Do I Charge ?
Link		How Much Should I Charge
		Link - Corporate work
		**newer link - According the the Motion Picture Editors Guild, base starting pay for any film over $8 miliion is $2899 US a week for the editor. Editors are generally "on call" and don't get overtime. Starting pay for an assistant is $1708 for a 45 hour week gauranteed plus overtime. A complete avid system rents for an average of $900 a week for feature films. Unities with 8TB of storage go for $1000 week. Each additional 8TB is an extra $1000 a week. What you can negotiate above those rates is always based on your experience level and what you can bring to the film. I've worked for an editor who made just over base pay on an independent film one year, and the next year he pulled $25k a week on a film with a budget of $90 million. In my experience, on films over $8 million, the editor general makes 1% of entire the budget (production, post, above and below the line costs). as of 1-1-05 - Ballpark (means nothing other than rough guidelines) For Corporate - $25 - $50 / second $1500/minute - $3000/ minute or $ 150/minute - not a lot of edits or $ 750/minute - a lot more editing or $ 100/hour - at whatever ratio is right - probably 150:1 to 250:1 - meaning a 10 minute video would by 150x10/60=25 hours or $2500 a 10 minute video would be 250x10/60=41 hours or $4100 For a video Montage - pictures, music, transitions: $40 - $60 per finished minute For a Wedding/Non-Corporate Video - $2,000 for a 6-7 minute video (that takes 30+ hours to complete - or 4+ hours a minute to edit (a 240:1 ratio) or about $60 - $75 / hour). Talent adds more, as does music rights and scripting

Link	Are there any forms or contracts to use ?
		NOTICE This event is being photographed and/or video taped for non-commercial promotional purposes Your presence constitutes consent that your image may be used, without compensation or legal recourse. No images will be used in any form to promote third party commercial enterprises.
		Here is a great set of complete contracts from Write Brothers that will get you through almost any situation. It's good practice to not assume.
	Starting Up a Video Business
		Link
Link	Wedding Videos
		One guy - 2 cameras (1 stationary), Pre-Wedding shots at wedding site, Ceremony, Reception (2 hours) and a 3 minute montage out of shots (or photos supplied - up to 20 - early child type) - with final DVD at about 1 hour - $2000

Link	Licensing Music for your commercial Video

Pricing

Hey Mark,
On this side of the pond I typically sell video for $40 to $50 per second with a ten second minimum per shot. You can do the financial conversion to see what that could mean for you. Good luck on the sale.

Pricing A Clip to be used in Television

steamage

Posted: Dec 14, 2004 - 07:19

I have been asked to contribute some footage of a steam train to a TV programme being made by an independent company for broadcast (hopefully) on British regional TV (ITV in the English midlands) early next year. Mention has been made of a fee, and being an amateur cameraman, I haven't a clue what to ask for. Is there a "going rate", based on duration used, time spent shooting and/or number of airings? I plan to ask the producers to donate the fee to a railway preservation society that I support.

I took the footage for my own enjoyment with no thought of selling it, and I'm chuffed to be asked. Also, I'd maybe like to do the same again in the future. At the same time, I'd like my railway to receive a reasonable donation.

Any advice, suggestions for places to read further, etc? I started by searching this board for "fees" or "royalties", but didn't turn up anything useful.

Jim Carswell

Posted: Dec 14, 2004 - 11:54

JimJulian

Posted: Dec 15, 2004 - 06:51

One of my many jobs at my TV station is archivist. We sell to Discovery, HBO, ESPN, E!, along with independent film makers. Rates vary from $50 to $25 per second depending on usage. After 1 minute, the rate of $50 starts to drop. Terms are also important. Words like Pertetuity, Worldwide, All Media known and not known tend to raise the price a bit.

steamage

Posted: Dec 21, 2004 - 07:43

Many thanks for your contributions. I've made an agreement with the production company that covers 2 transmissions on British regional commercial TV (ITV) only. I retain all rights, and can use the same footage any way I like in future. A licence for anything else would be subject to another agreement. They will pay £120 for up to 60 seconds and £2 for each additional second, plus a nominal sum for expenses (for the tape and p&p).

I know that this is much lower than professional rates, even for archive footage, but after all, I'm still an amateur, and it gives me a chance to learn what's involved. They agreed very quickly - maybe I should have asked for £4/sec?

If they come back for more in the future, then the price will go up a bit.

BTW - I found the National Union of Journalists' Freelance site very useful, with descriptions of copyright law, hints on negotiating, sample contracts, etc.

NOTICE