What should I charge?

[TheChopsyWanker]

I've just been given the opportunity to do the soundtrack for a local indie short film and I have no idea what to charge. I would actually love to do this for a living so this should be a good way to get my feet wet.

 

I'll be doing everthing myself...the composition, the performing, and the recording. Being that I've never done this sort of thing before, do I charge by the hour? If so, what's the going rate for something like this? Or should I charge a flat rate? And then what about the rights...after I copyright everything (which I've dealt with before), should I charge extra and sell the rights? Or should I check into the whole licensing thing (which I HAVEN'T dealt with before)?

 

Aside from selling my own albums, I've never sold my music to other people for their projects so I'm a bit in the dark. Any advice will be appreciated!

[Kramerguy]

Indie has become such a vague term on it's own that more info would be necessary. If you are talking about being hired by a 2nd year film student still in college, you are probably going to be lucky to get $200 out of the kid, and you best copyright everything you compose (for any job, really).

 

If this is more of a backed production, for a corporation or just well funded, then you are talking in the thousand(s) area, but that usually involves a licenser or publisher, which if you haven't been actively soliciting them, you wouldn't be getting that kind of job anyways.. so back to what I said before that...

 

As far as licensing, you need an entertainment lawyer to draw up contracts that name you as teh copyright owner, selling usage and distribution rights, but have them insert verbage that ties additional royalties to the success of the production, if it has any.

Good luck

[Matximus]

Indie short? I'm not sure if there's a typical rate for this type of work. It depends on the filmmakers budget and your experience. Do you know how much he or she is making it for? Can't expect a fella making a $3,000 short to pay you $1,000, especially since you've never done this before.

 

You don't want to sell yourself short. But you should also be mindful that there are lots and lots of talented folk out there who can do film scores, and are dying to break into this field.

 

Here's free advice I found online from a frew years ago from a dude named Richard Kraft, an agent to big-time film scorers:

 

9. How many aspiring film composers are there?

 

Endless. Nowadays, almost all the major music schools have film scoring programs and the interest in being a film composer is at an all time high [cue Octopussy]. Besides writing hit songs, film composing is about the only lucrative job for somebody who composes music for a living.

 

10. Is it worth it to do projects for next to nothing just to get experience?

 

Absolutely. It's essential, as a matter of fact. The first few movies you do should be viewed like obtaining tuition to go to college. It's a learning process for you and having done three movies where you've lost money in the process puts you so many steps ahead of having no movies.

[daddymack]

Ask the filmmaker what his budget is.

He has to have a budget.

Whatever that budget amount is, undercut it by 5%.

(Filmschool and Media Management graduate here... with several years experience in Hollyweird)

[scarecrowbob]

I've worked recently on an indie recently, though not on the music.

 

I got paid some phenomenally low amount of money, like 85$/day to DP the the thing over three short days. But I shoot industrials, ads, and arty films and live in the sticks, and out of the crew of 20 I was the only person who was paid directly. So you take what you can get-- it was fun.

 

I also agreed to edit the piece, which ended up around :12:30. I got $500 up front and I'll get another 500 when I deliver, or, rather when they can scrounge up the money to pay me. I finished the edit two weeks ago.

 

But I also got 60 HVX-200 (an HD camera) rental dates, which has earned me some money so far, and will (if things work out) get me to my target $$ for September.

 

The guy scoring the film is a student who will be working in ?? garageband ?? I gave him a low-res timecoded copy to work with. Good thing it has TC because I suspect that the director would simply walk with it. I don't think that guy is getting paid. But he is a music student, and I think he is getting part of an independent study credit or something.

 

So some thoughts for you:

 

1. if you don't get paid upfront when you deliver the project, you aren't likely to get paid

 

2. you aren't likely to get paid, because if they had money they would find someone who does it more often and charges accordingly

 

3. since there is no money anyhow, a contract is pointless in these circumstances.

 

4. So are the copyrights-- your work on projects like these is for hire and they own it when they leave with the project. I mean, you can do differently, but see 3.

 

5. You might be able to get some money, but it will be far less than would make it really worthwhile.

 

6. There are other intangibles that you can get paid in, especially musical instruments or equipment-- my morning recording session today was in exchange for some plumbing work.

 

7. even if you do it for free, specific dollar values versus a number value on your time is a good thing when you are dealing with very low level, no-budget productions.

 

To me the only real reason to do it is out of love: do you like the project?

 

Since you are working post, you have the luxury of looking over the film before agreeing to do it: is it a "real" film, or a hobby/student/class project?

 

Further, since I do all kinds of media odd-jobs, I'd bid on it just like any other. I would quote an hourly rate with a conservative (i.e. this is the most it will take) number of hours. For me, that would be $50/hr, and be very dependent on the nature of the score.

 

But that's just how I'd do it.

[BlueStrat]

 

your work on projects like these is for hire and they own it when they leave with the project.

 

That's what I was going to say!.