What's a good rate for a freelance editor?

[bluedemon]

I'm gonna start working on an independent short film. The bulk of my work has been "favors" for friends, and someone has actually offered to pay me. (Cue the singing angels and rays of heavenly light). So, what is the standard hourly rate for a non-union freelance sound fx editor? I am so used to working for free for so long, I've almost forgotten people actually get paid for this.

I'm thinking maybe $15 an hour. Is this too low or too high, or just right?

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks, and merry Christmas to everyone, I hope Santa brings everyone a new HD3 rig!
[img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[Dean.M]

Merry holidays to you. I guess my first question to you would be, are you using your own gear, if so I would say that price is low. We have to be careful not to price ourselves right out of business. I find when I'm doing idependant stuff its usually better to charge my prospective client a rental fee for use of my gear than I can tell them I will throw in the editing work for free, by using this method I've found I can actualy charge more than if I try a flat rate for the service, and the client is happy because they feel they are still getting something for nothing. This way too you can phone pro audio-video rental companies for ideas on rates, plus many idependant film makers have to rent cameras etc and these items can be expensive to rent, hence making it easier to charge more for your services. This ofcourse depends on the type of system your using, your own skills etc, and like I say, you are a business, so don't under value yourself.

[AG]

How much you're worth depends on your background, education and experience. How much you'll get paid depends on the budget.
Keep in mind that non union gigs can pay a lot more than union scale.
The last time I had to rent an editing system it was about $350 per day and four days was the same as weekly. This included the video stuff too. I was pleased with the company; Advanced Audio 818.985.6882.
$3000 (total) per 48 hr week, will place you well under any signatory editing house.
Reiterating the most important factors; how much are you worth and what is the budget?
Good Luck!

[bluedemon]

Well, it's like this.

I graduated a year and a half ago from DePaul University with a BS in Sound Engineering. After a summer of monitor mixing, I moved to L.A. to intern at Danetracks Inc. in West Hollywood, hoping that by some stroke of God they would hire me.

Because I had to work full time to support my family, I was not able to work for free everyday, all day, so alas, I was not hired. I did, while I was there, cut FX on an independant short. I also did some work on 13 Ghosts, as well as a ton of field recording.

I have now been approached by 2 seperate people to work on their films. One is an independant short, which I don't think has a ton of money to throw down; and the other is an independant feature that the soune supervisor called me to help him out. Neither of them have said, "we will pay x amount". The independant short people have asked what my rate is, and since I have never actually gotten paid for my work, I said "negotiable". I have a feeling that the feature will probably dictate what they are willing to pay, and I can negotiate from there.

I do not own my own system. Both of these projects will be done on someone else's system. However, I do have an extensive sound fx library that I have recorded myself.

So, I have some experience, but not a lot. Enough that I know what I'm doing, but not so much that I can demand a certain amount of money based on a huge list of credits that I don't have.

I have a feeling that I should start high, and work my way down.

Any advice from those seasoned veterans who have taken the time to read this?

[dr sound]

Bluedemon,
You have little experince, no system and want to get paid? When you get a chance to work, Jump on it! Meet people, get experience, get better, get lucky! You have the right attitude, now do the work and use it as a calling card to get you the next job.

[bluedemon]

That is what I figured. I am DEFINITELY NOT going to turn down anything that offers money. Actually, I probably won't turn down anything...withing reason. I do have a day job, and a wife and kid. I don't plan at staying at my day job forever. So, once I start making a living off of this, I can quit my day job.

What I really want is to get enough money from these jobs to at least get a digi OO1 system. I know it is not the best, but I have used it before to do some hefty stuff (it helps to be creative).

The thing is, they are asking me, "What is your rate?" and I want to make some money, but at the same time, I don't want to give them to high of a rate. Also, I don't want to go too low, as to avoid under-bidding other editors. Too many people do that here in L.A., and it has screwed me out of a few jobs. I don't want to do that to someone else.

Not having a system has definitely hurt me in the long run. My day job pays just enough to cover the bills, and I haven't been able to afford a system yet.

[Boom Chic]

Who's system will you be using, and what kind of rate will they be charging? Usually the person with the system determines the rates they will pay an editor. It's kind of a package deal for post. I've been hired directly by filmakers, but I have a system and I am the editor/mixer/composer. Will the film be FX heavy i.e. sci-fi or action or is it talking heads?

I would think that an experienced editor could make anywhere between $25-$50 an hour, but there are so many factors like budget, your experience/reputation.

I don't know how much of an FX library you have recorded on your own, but having a basic FX library is a MUST. They are not cheap either.

Maybe this is not good advice, but ask the filmaker what they can afford to pay you. Maybe they will give you a lump sum for the whole film, then you can keep track of your hours and be prepared to give a rate for the next project.
Take whatever they'll pay you just for the experience!

[bluedemon]

I'll have to find out what they are paying the supervising editor for the independant feature. I am getting the vibe that, at this point, I should take whatever they offer, which, honestly, is what I was probably going to do. If they ask what my rate is, considering that I don't have my own rig, I'll probably say $15 and hour. If they balk, I am willing to go down to $10 an hour. I would be reluctant to work for free, considering how my free time with my family is valuable to me, and I don't want to be taken away from that to work for free. They may not be the right attitude, but that is how I feel about that. I have spent the last year doing free stuff for people in my spare time, and I am kind of getting tired of that.

[NuBus]

Originally posted by bluedemon:
I'll have to find out what they are paying the supervising editor for the independant feature. I am getting the vibe that, at this point, I should take whatever they offer, which, honestly, is what I was probably going to do. If they ask what my rate is, considering that I don't have my own rig, I'll probably say $15 and hour. If they balk, I am willing to go down to $10 an hour. I would be reluctant to work for free, considering how my free time with my family is valuable to me, and I don't want to be taken away from that to work for free. They may not be the right attitude, but that is how I feel about that. I have spent the last year doing free stuff for people in my spare time, and I am kind of getting tired of that.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Well 10 to 15 is about the same as working for free with your own rig [my nephew made $10.10/hr at target for the holidays] and if you let them low ball you, it will be harder to get more next time and from what i have encountered is the less they spend the more they want. Some clients think if they are spendeing more they are getting more you have to learn to be profesional in other words learn to bull **** them that's what this is all about!!!!

And looking out for myself I could run into a client you worked with and I'll here I've been paying $10/hr and I want $75???? It could hurt all of us not just you!!! Imagin a client of any of ours reading the DUC and seeing this!!!!!! [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img]

[bluedemon]

Point taken. I definitely don't want to screw myself, or anyone else in the long run.