Hey fuckmooks,
Just giving y'all a quick update before I head out to fetch da ketchup today.
I was supposed to meet with the Cheese Guy™ last night, but he pulled a no show. That's not to say he blew me off entirely. He did leave a message for me that my price wouldn't be a problem (oops - guess I shoulda gone higher), but it seems that they don't have the necessary permits to film inside of Grand Central Station. The City has recovered pretty well from 9/11 and, other than the days when we go on high alert and there are military guys standing around with machine guns, it is sometimes easy to forget that I live in a prime terrorist attack location. So - he is working today to try and secure me some permits and will call and let me know the dizzle.
J - you were right. I shoulda quoted higher. See - this is why I posted all the gory details. So that in the future I will not repeat my mistakes.
Steaz - When I was younger, I often mistakenly made the same jump in reason that you did. $2000 is a lot of money for one day of work. But this isn't actually ONE day of work. It is THREE days of worked crammed into one 24 hour period. It actually comes to less than $100/hr per time worked. Which in this business is nothing to write home about. You've heard the expression, "Nice work when you can get it", right? See, the reason it HAS to be nice work when you can get it is because you never know if you're gong to get more of it. So you MUST charge a sufficient sum of money to try and carry you through til the time when you get another job. Basically, this job has to subsidize your existence til you get that next one.
DAve - If this job comes through, I will definitely take you up on your offer to make me a "Cheese Song". I'll do a 'directors re-cut' of the vid to post to my YouTube account. Plus, the guys doing this are pretty cool (though Dutch) and they might get a kick out of it. Either way, I wouldn't show it to them until the check clears...
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Monday, May 14, 2007
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:
Would love to hear y'all's thoughts.
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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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).
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Can I Top It?
Hey fuckmooks,
After I complete each episode of GTC, I am often at a loss for how I will be able to top myself. I really want to stretch the limits of what "amateur video" is capable of. Eventually, of course, the show is gonna jump the shark and I will just plum run out of ideas. But today is not that day, my friends!
Sometimes my plans are deliberate. Like, the massive episode where I had people from all over the world participating or the last episode where I killed off Remy. I had decided to test the limits of the violence people would tolerate with an amateur show as well as try some aesthetic changes to give the video a 'grittier' feel. Both of those episodes (I am relieved to say) went over like gangbusters with our audience.
There are other times when I get an idea that I think might be cool, but the idea is born of necessity and not really a clear plan on my part. My next episode is going to be pretty neat I think and the idea for it came about because I will be unable to coordinate a shooting time with my actors before one of them leaves for six months. There are a couple of hints in the image above. Not gonna give too much away. It's gonna take me awhile to put it together so in the meantime I think GTC will feature some of my favorite response videos of our fans in the meantime.
After I complete each episode of GTC, I am often at a loss for how I will be able to top myself. I really want to stretch the limits of what "amateur video" is capable of. Eventually, of course, the show is gonna jump the shark and I will just plum run out of ideas. But today is not that day, my friends!Sometimes my plans are deliberate. Like, the massive episode where I had people from all over the world participating or the last episode where I killed off Remy. I had decided to test the limits of the violence people would tolerate with an amateur show as well as try some aesthetic changes to give the video a 'grittier' feel. Both of those episodes (I am relieved to say) went over like gangbusters with our audience.
There are other times when I get an idea that I think might be cool, but the idea is born of necessity and not really a clear plan on my part. My next episode is going to be pretty neat I think and the idea for it came about because I will be unable to coordinate a shooting time with my actors before one of them leaves for six months. There are a couple of hints in the image above. Not gonna give too much away. It's gonna take me awhile to put it together so in the meantime I think GTC will feature some of my favorite response videos of our fans in the meantime.
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