Hi all,

Got an offer to do wildlife filming for a serious international production company.
How much is the "standard" rate? How do I charge - per day? Per minutes of footage? etc'
Also, they would like to keep all the rights so I guess this should effect my fee.

Anyone with some real experience - please drop a few lines.

Thanks!

Ofer Levy Nature Photographer (http://www.oferlevyphotography.com)

Hi Ofer,

That's a tough one, I've worked as a specialist cameraman for broadcast for peanuts, and yet worked on DVD's for fantastic money. I think it depends on your outlook and how much you want the actual job, I took the peanuts for the prestige of working on that particular project for that particular company. There are also other variables to consider, such as what equipment you are using - obviously the more expensive the equipment, the higher the day rate, by the way, as a freelancer I normally charge per day - I would accept a lower day rate for a longer job i.e. guaranteed work. There are also external costs to build into any quotation, such as transport, accommodation, food, tape stock, fuel, wear and tear on your equipment, insurance (equipment and personal liability), extra purchases, hire equipment costs etc.

How about asking them how much they normally pay for that type of work - if they are an established company they should have their own standard rates plus expenses.

Hope this helps

Cheers
Pete

Thanks Pete!