I have a modest 2 story home (3br/2.5ba), nothing fancy but great space and lighting. Received a request for a production shoot for an upcoming 15-episode horror series. My rates are listed hourly, never considered daily rates. I need help with how to structure pricing for this size production. What’s considered a full day (6-8 hr), additional fee for hours after listed times available, headcount, etc. Please read request below and ANY feedback will be appreciated.
I am a co-producer for an upcoming 15-episode horror web series. This is a low, independent production, and for that reason, I was wondering if we could work out a deal for a daily rate instead of an hourly rate.
The production shoot is from MAY 2021 - AUGUST 2021, but we wouldn’t need it for the entirely for three months. Only when it’s needed. Please let me know and thank you.
In fact, I’ll tell you the dates right now.
Episode 1: April 13
Episode 2: May 24
Episode 3: May 31
Episode 4: June 7
Episode 5: June 15
Episode 6: June 21
The dates above are fixed. Fo the rest of the episodes, we are not sure yet what exact dates is needed because they still have to be written.
But it will be within dates for sure:
Ep. 7: June 28-30th
Ep. 8: July 6-8th
Ep. 9: July 12-14th
Ep. 10: July 19-21st
Ep. 11: July 26-28th
Ep. 12: August 2-4th
Ep. 13: August 9-11th
Ep. 14: August 16-18th
Ep. 15: August 23-25th
Of course, we will tell the dates more in advance as the episodes are written.
We will have around 8 people. But I’m going to say 10-12 people to be safer side.
We could use the living area and kitchen the most. Once in a while it will be in bedroom and the backyard. but not as often.
Would you mind telling me what would be the daily rate?
Stacy, Congratualtions!!!
There seems to be nothing about you under your name ( location). To get a good idea about pricing, you should include a link to your listing. The seasoned professionals could give you an idea about price.
Things to consider since it’s not a continuous shoot- how inconvenienced are you going to be if your life is disrupted during times they are not shooting? Will you be able to rent out the space in between times? Will the equipment be removed entirely during non shooting times or will you offer storage ( and you should be charging for that and what about insurance should the equipment get damaged).
There’s been professionals on this site and there’s also been people who have cameras and call themselves professionals. Ask lots of questions especially since they will have your home for such a long time. Make sure you ask the questions on this platform and do not allow them to get you off the platform.
Good Luck!
A full day is usually 10 to 12 hours. I would start by calculating what your rate would be without any discounts. Let them know what that would be and then ask them what’s in their budget. Usually you can get that up a bit. Of course, if they have non-consecutive days, you should include a cleaning fee for the start of each period. But in the end, it’s a personal decision of whether they are paying you enough to make the disruption to your life worthwhile. Hope that helps.
I have a lot of luck working with the producer by asking what is your budget? Make sure you add a cleaning fee so that each day your have the resources to get your house back in order. You can also ask how much dressing of the areas used can you expect. I had a shoot where they completely redressed one bedroom and an adjacent big room 32’x20’) completely. I had designed the furniture designed so that everything moves easily to one end of the room allowing the use of about 2/3rd of the room. Since the room is upstairs, it saved a lot of work by not having to take things downstairs.
Thanks Geoffrey! I really needed this detailed information because I’m finding using the right verbiage and having good negotiations skills makes a huge difference.
These are great tips and I agree, my location and a link are important to include when requesting feedback. I got it going forward!
I just think my home is too small for a production of this size and I actually thought the same in regards to equipment being left here and would it prevent me from renting my space in between their requested dates.
Very sweet of you to respond to all of us. Personally, I prefer talking to people on the phone when negotiating rather than waiting for a reply. For me, seems simpler. Also, I suffer from massive impatience. LOL
Your hourly rate seems more than fair for the size of your lovely home and for a low budget production. I’ve had several low budget productions recently and my rate is $125 an hour (for smaller crew sizes) and I only negotiated to go down once to $100. Series and/or movie productions are usually 10-14 hours so maybe negotiate a 12 hr day at your normal rate. You definitely don’t want to lose this production since it’s so many days. Good Luck!
