Questions as I'm New to TV Editing at DVinfo.net

William Bloodworth · October 13th, 2006, 08:30 PM

Hi, I've posted once or twice regarding rates and starting in general over the past few months. After working around in freelance for a bit (and experiencing the many lulls associated with starting out), I've come across a job proposition for a bit more of a long term basis.

One of my clients has approached me with the position of post production editor for a television show he plans to start work on in the near future. He says it will most likely be run on cable (I don't know if it's basic or extended) and would like me to quote him a rate for how much he'd need to budget me for.

Now, aside from the fact that he seems to be seriously jumping the gun as he hasn't even spoken with networks yet, I don't even remotely know what figures to give him. My work has been primarily short projects (commercials, promos) and corporate training videos, so I have no experience in the business aspect of television production.

I guess my main question is as follows: How do series editors generally bill for their services? Do they bill by the episode, by the day, or set a project rate spanning a set number of episodes? For that matter, are there any resources online or otherwise that would give me a feel for the rates used for such a scenario?

I'm not currently considering this job given the client was formerly very unprofessional and the fact that he's approaching me to take on a television series when my long format experience is next to nil suggests he's looking for cheap rather than quality. Still, I'd like to at least have an idea of what to do to enter this field of nonlinear editing, so any answers or resources you could share would be most helpful. If I'm asking for something too vague or too relative, any suggestions as to where I can look next would be great too!

Thanks for humoring me through this long post and I apologize for asking something that I feel I should already know!

Scott Jaco · October 13th, 2006, 09:19 PM

How bad do you want to get into editing television? This could be something you could use on a demo reel. If you really don't care about TV style editing, just charge a deposit up front for each episode. If he can't pay in advance, just say you aren't interested.

October 13th, 2006, 08:30 PM	#1
William Bloodworth Tourist Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Raleigh, North Carolina Posts: 4	Questions as I'm New to TV Editing Hi, I've posted once or twice regarding rates and starting in general over the past few months. After working around in freelance for a bit (and experiencing the many lulls associated with starting out), I've come across a job proposition for a bit more of a long term basis. One of my clients has approached me with the position of post production editor for a television show he plans to start work on in the near future. He says it will most likely be run on cable (I don't know if it's basic or extended) and would like me to quote him a rate for how much he'd need to budget me for. Now, aside from the fact that he seems to be seriously jumping the gun as he hasn't even spoken with networks yet, I don't even remotely know what figures to give him. My work has been primarily short projects (commercials, promos) and corporate training videos, so I have no experience in the business aspect of television production. I guess my main question is as follows: How do series editors generally bill for their services? Do they bill by the episode, by the day, or set a project rate spanning a set number of episodes? For that matter, are there any resources online or otherwise that would give me a feel for the rates used for such a scenario? I'm not currently considering this job given the client was formerly very unprofessional and the fact that he's approaching me to take on a television series when my long format experience is next to nil suggests he's looking for cheap rather than quality. Still, I'd like to at least have an idea of what to do to enter this field of nonlinear editing, so any answers or resources you could share would be most helpful. If I'm asking for something too vague or too relative, any suggestions as to where I can look next would be great too! Thanks for humoring me through this long post and I apologize for asking something that I feel I should already know!

October 13th, 2006, 09:19 PM	#2
Scott Jaco Major Player Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Sherman Oaks, CA Posts: 471	How bad do you want to get into editing television? This could be something you could use on a demo reel. If you really don't care about TV style editing, just charge a deposit up front for each episode. If he can't pay in advance, just say you aren't interested.