Goin' Professional? And the ChurchOfDave

Hey fuckmooks,

I've been approached about shooting a promotional vid for a Dutch cheese company. Yes, I know. It is a dream of all filmmakers to shoot in-house promotional vids for cheese companies. And dreams really do come true!

All kidding aside - I really have been approached and it would be nice to get a little extra moolah to try and pay down some of my debt (mainly accrued while I was out of commission last year with the hospitalization.) I've decided to give everyone all the details so that we can look back later and see where I can improve upon things for the next time I get some kinda 'real' (ie, paying) video work.

Truth be told, I don't particularly WANT to do a promo vid. But, then again, I don't want to get people ketchup either. So we suck it up and do what we can to keep the bill collectors at bay, right? I had done something similar back in 2005 for Stella Artois (the beer company). It went over pretty well until I shot Part II and they no longer speak to me. Some people just don't dig the Loquesto stylee sometimes I guess. Also, working for other people in the video field is a HUGE pain in the ass. They're like, "I LOVE your work! Can you do a video for us?" And then as I try to do one of my kick-ass vids for them that I thought they love so much, they proceed to alter and 'improve' upon it so much that by the time I am finished I have ulcers and the video is nothing like my original intention and I don't even wanna put my name on it. Having learned this lesson, I decided that if given COMPLETE creative control I will gladly work as cheaply as possible. But if you wanna insert your $.02 then I am gonna charge you out the ass. You're basically paying me to listen to your bullshit and compromise my artistic leanings. That, my friend, is gonna cost you a pretty penny. I already have a job that I dislike and keep merely to 'pay the bills'. I have no desire to turn something I am passionate about (ie, video making) into such a job. Sure - I'll gladly sell out. But I am starting to get a better idea of my worth as a video maker and, sir, you will pay me what I am worth.

I already have a great outlet for my art with GTC. So I don't really need to do anything for free just so I can get 'exposure'. Those days are long gone. So pay me. And pay me well.

Here's the poop: The cheese company is trying to increase their presence here in the States and they would like to have their big event they're doing in Grand Central Station videotaped and edited into an in-house promotional DVD. I would show up at 11am on Weds. and videotape their press conference. The conference is then followed by a chef preparing different dishes with the cheese. This is then followed by a tasting/cocktail party. I will basically be filming off and on from 11am til about 8pm. I then have to run to my computer and get everything digitized and edited and press 5 dvds by noon the next day. Yes, I will basically be working non-stop for 24 hours straight.

A lot of people are uncomfortable discussing money. I don't particularly like it either, but I find it frustrating when I am reading about other people's job experiences and they leave it out. I'm like, "How am I supposed to learn what other people charge for this sort of shit if I ever get the opportunity to do it myself?" So I'll tell you all of the factors that went into my quote and then I'll tell you what I asked for and we can then discuss if I lowballed myself or not.

Now - right off the bat I know that videographers that do weddings and bar mitzvahs and shit up here in NY get about$2K-$3K to video a four hour event and press a dvd. I know this because I went online and researched it. However, they use much more professional equipment than I possess as well as the fact that people are quite used to being raped on the pricing for the special events in their lives. I figured I would charge them a grand to come and film. I am going to use my Crappy Canon™ and no lights or microphones which should take a little offa da price. Plus I get to eat and drink like a king and hit on all the big breasted 'cheese girls'. That should definitely be worth a little sumpin' sumpin'.

Now, an average film editor gets about $50/hour. I figure I'll be home by about 10pm and will have to spend about 12 hours editing. Factoring in overtime I would charge $700 for the editing.
Also, dub houses (the places where they do video transfers) would tack on $300-$500 for the overnight rush.

Taking all of those factors into consideration I could realistically quote them something like $3500 and it wouldn't be out of the normal consideration for this business (matter of fact, had I better equipment, the price would still be considered a little low.) So I'll tell you - I quoted them $2K. I opted to go a little low for the following reasons:

1. My equipment is basically shit and, while I will give them a professional looking finished product, there will be a lot of extra work involved due to my having to correct with my computer the shortcomings of my camera. This isn't the client's fault.
2. I am being given complete creative control on the finished product. Not having some suit breathing down my neck telling me all the shit I'm doing 'wrong' is definitely worth a coupla bucks to me.
3. I could use the moolah. I wanted to quote a large enough figure that it would be worth the lack of sleep (who couldn't use an extra $2K?) - but I didn't want to go so high as to price myself out of the job entirely.

So what do you think? Some of you might be of the mind that I should have started higher and then allowed myself to be negotiated down possibly securing more money. Normally I would agree, but in this instance there is no haggling. The event happens in two days. I give them a price and they give thumbs up or thumbs down and YES I will probably kick myself a little for not asking for more if they readily agree to my quote. That's why I made the quote large enough that I will be satisfied with the payment. $2K will help me a lot at the moment. If I went too high and they said NO then I would kick myself for pricing myself out of a job. Working in a business where dollar amounts are almost entirely subjective can be a little frustrating, huh?

Would love to hear y'all's thoughts.

THE CHURCH OF DAVE

I found this guy on YouTube. He's frickin' hilarious. Here's his Mother's day video. You should pop over and check out his stuff. (Especially his Dove Soap song contest entry).