Video University: Video University Forums: Marketing & Business: A little help on pricing my services . . .

VideoUniversity.com
Home	Free Library	Store
Free Catalog Please support VU by making your B&H purchases and links through this B&H ad. Doesn't cost a penny more.

See The New VU Postcard Catalog

To post in the forums see the Forum Guidelines.

Join or Renew Today.
New Benefits for all VU Members

Forum Guidelines and FAQ
Main Index	Search Posts
Who's Online	Log In

Home: Video University Forums: Marketing & Business:
A little help on pricing my services . . .

captaincrunch
Novice

Aug 20, 2004, 1:11 PM

Post #1 of 9 (3033 views)
Shortcut

A little help on pricing my services . . .	Can't Post

I'm just beginning in the video business. Still a novice. Using a Win2k based NLE system and DXC327 Hi8/mini DV cam.

I've been asked to shoot/produce a weekly Golf show on a local leased-access, one county Cable station. I'm doing it for a friend (and the experience). We have "Basics" segment for teaching; a "Playing lessons" shot on the course; an "Email" segment to answer questions; and a "Talk" segment for him to discuss golf in general.

Here's what I do:

go to his place and shoot him teaching a lesson. DV cam, shotgun mic (lav coming soon). Sometimes 3 or more takes.
shoot him talking about golf; different putters, balls, tournaments, course etiquite, etc.
follow him during a round of golf shooting different golf shots, the how's and why's, etc.
I've created the graphics/overlays
edit it all together for a 30 minute program (24 min with breaks)
put on DV tape and DVD

Now, my question is . . .
What kind of fee would be fair for this? I know there is no correct answer, I'm just looking for general numbers. I want if I should be charging $10,000 per episode or $100 per episode?

I'm new to this forum. I'm glad I found it.

grinner
Novice

Aug 20, 2004, 1:46 PM

Post #2 of 9 (3027 views)
Shortcut

Re: [captaincrunch] A little help on pricing my services . . . [In reply to]	Can't Post

Nobody can tell you what your worth. There is no template for this.
Just calculate your hours and multiply by what you think your worth an hour. Obviosly there isn't a big budget for this sort of thing. Ask for a grand per show then haggle from there.

captaincrunch
Novice

Aug 20, 2004, 2:05 PM

Post #3 of 9 (3024 views)
Shortcut

Re: [grinner] A little help on pricing my services . . . [In reply to]	Can't Post

Thanks for your quick reply.

That's all I was asking for . . .
Now I know which arena I'm playing in.

This could be fun.

videobear
Veteran

Aug 20, 2004, 2:54 PM

Post #4 of 9 (3019 views)
Shortcut

Re: [grinner] A little help on pricing my services . . . [In reply to]	Can't Post

Depending on your geographical market, an EFP (electronic field production) package with camera, audio, lighting, and tripod, plus a shooter, will rent for (roughly) $500 per day. Some shooters have a half day rate for short sessions, or for overtime in excess of two hours.

Editing can vary widely, but renting an edit suite and editor runs maybe $50 to $80 per hour. Lower rates are sometimes charged for time spent capturing and rendering, when only the computer is busy.

But before taking any numbers, either mine or your local competitors', as gospel, read "The Fallacy of Market Pricing" by David Chandler-Gick, at http://www.fastforwardclub.com/...y-Market-Pricing.htm

Or you can take another tack. Work for a percentage of the gross. How much is the producer selling the show for? Or, if he's supporting the show by selling advertising time himself, how much is the show bringing in?

I'm sure I don't have to tell you this, but you should maximize your efficiency by building a "donut", a template of the show, with lead-in, cut-to-length placeholders for segments, standard music beds, transition graphics, etc.. Then all you have to do is minor changes to graphics and a little editing of the individual segments, instead of having to create everything from scratch each time.

Regards,
Doug Graham
Panda Productions

captaincrunch
Novice

Aug 23, 2004, 4:22 PM

Post #5 of 9 (2961 views)
Shortcut

Re: [captaincrunch] A little help on pricing my services . . . [In reply to]	Can't Post

Yep, Yep . . . that's what I'm trying to do. My biggest problem now is that new segments vary in time than the old ones and I have to move everything around to fit.

I need a battery operated, large LED display, countdown timer that I can set to the desired time (say 4:00) and start it when we begin shooting. That way he knows how much time he has to talk and stop appropriately.

don't you think?

videobear
Veteran

Aug 23, 2004, 10:24 PM

Post #6 of 9 (2937 views)
Shortcut

Re: [captaincrunch] A little help on pricing my services . . . [In reply to]	Can't Post

A good idea.

Most shows for broadcast have strict limits on segment length, down to the second. You either need to script them out, and time them during the shoot, or edit for length...usually both.

Regards,
Doug Graham
Panda Productions

Frantz
Novice

Aug 26, 2004, 10:45 AM

Post #7 of 9 (2849 views)
Shortcut

Re: [videobear] A little help on pricing my services . . . [In reply to]	Can't Post

Doug, what percentage of an advertising buy for a small local market commercials would be appropriate as a fee for producing a 30 second spot?
David Frantz
DVD Video
www.DavidFrantz.com

videobear
Veteran

Aug 26, 2004, 12:31 PM

Post #8 of 9 (2837 views)
Shortcut

Re: [Frantz] A little help on pricing my services . . . [In reply to]	Can't Post

In my local market, commercial production is very difficult...because the stations offer it for free, if you buy airtime. Of course, the production values are terrible, but it's hard to convince a small business that spending some money on a good commercial (in addition to the airtime) is worth it.

Regards,
Doug Graham
Panda Productions

captaincrunch
Novice

Sep 1, 2004, 2:01 PM

Post #9 of 9 (2681 views)
Shortcut

Re: [videobear] A little help on pricing my services . . . [In reply to]	Can't Post

In the south Atlanta Metro area of Henry Co., a local leased-access channel is offering $500 for a completely produced commercial. $750 to run commercial 36x per day for a month.

I think they will reduce the production fee to $350 if you have them do it + run it.