PRICES

NOTE

All Prices are Negotiable, and largely depend on the budget of the film, the number of cuts in the film, and the runtime of the film.

Here’s the formula I use to calculate the starting price.

Definitions

RUNTIME

Runtime is considered based on the time between the first shot, and the end of the final shot. If there is no footage in the credits, then the credits do not count.

SHOT COUNT

Shot count is considered based on the amount of times that the camera cuts from one shot to another (Fig. 1) - this means that a shot-reverse-shot scene will count however many times the camera cuts back and forth, rather than just twice. Don’t worry - you don’t need to count the exact number of cuts in your film — an estimate is MORE than okay.

Fig. 1

Starting Cost: 100 GBP

Covers the time spent on briefing, planning, and any subsequent tweaks required. This cost is non-negotiable.

This flat rate is charged for films that:

Are shorter than 10 minutes in Runtime.

OR

Contain fewer than 50 cuts.

Longer Projects

For films that equal or exceed a Runtime of 10 minutes AND 50 shots, take the lowest result of these two calculations:

Runtime (in Minutes) * 10 = Cost in GBP

Shot Count * 2 = Cost in GBP

Tight Deadlines

I charge 25% extra if the project is urgent and has a tight deadline. I define a tight deadline as 3 working days or less per 10 minutes of runtime or 50 shots.

My recommendation is to leave 5 working days per 10 minutes of runtime or 50 shots, as this allows me time to keep working with other clients, and time for me to show samples of my work for critique and improvement.