TV Ad/Promotional DVD -advice needed
 

Just need some advice from the great people here on how to proceed regarding this scenario..

My Chiropractor contacted me about filming / creating a :30 sec TV ad and a 10 minute customer introductory DVD for his office. He's recently seen some of our more recent wedding videos we filmed and was impressed enough with how fun they are to watch that he wants us to do these projects using similar concepts.

However, I am not sure what the normal rates are for this type of venture. Im thinking I'd probably have to develop the concept/ideas, storyboard, music and the actual filming.

Anyone here have this experience and went through a similar process?
Your advice is greatly appreciated.

What I now do in most cases like this is ask, "what is your budget?". Because really a :30 second spot can cost 50k on it's own - or you can shoot it for $500. It really is all about production value.

I recently had a client that I thought was looking for a low ball shoot to create a couple of 'viral' videos for their website - and when I asked - they said their budget was 4k. Which was about twice more than I expected. Still not high budget, but for the project it was good work to get.

I have another client I'm working with who keep adding stuff and it's just a straight $600 a day - 1/2 day minimum.

It's also about how busy you are (do you want/need more work) and how competitive your market is. I'm near Vancouver and while there is a ton more work there - there is also a flood of experienced production people. I've bid on a few jobs there and tend to low-ball them and still don't get the work.

I'm sure there are many more opinions out there but I think it's very important that you and your client have a crystal clear vision of the project before you come close to rolling tape. If you are doing the creative as well as the production then there is an additional element as well.

This is tough as you need to marry the :30 second spot, the 10 min. spot and the doctor's commitment and budget.

I would try to talk with the doctor and gauge their expectations of the finished work and how much effort they want to put into it.

If they want a snap of the fingers and it's done, well there is your answer. More than likely they want something nice but might not want to put a lot of time and resources in - the eternal squeeze.

Just decide what your low price as to not get hurt and make a bit is and do not go below this number in negotiations. As the money goes above this number, the project gets more and more involved from your end.

thanks for your helpful advice Ken and Tim !

A very important distinction you have to remember when budgeting for yourself, is that in the case of Wedding videos a huge amount of the production value is provided by the client.

I.e They provide the 'cast', the 'extras', the 'location', the 'art department', the 'schedule' etc. Generally it's in a lavish environment, with great looking people, and you are there to capture it.

With a TVC/Corporate production, for it to look comparatively as good then generally about as much money needs to go into what's in front of the camera as did for the wedding, otherwise they simply won't end up with a result that's 'comparable'.

Maybe something to discuss with your client before hand - if they want it to look amazing, then they need amazing things in front of the camera, and organizing that can wind up very expensive - just like a wedding - and if you are the one organizing it, then you need to be paid for the organization, just as a wedding planner would.

Very good point Craig,

I just went through a case where I had bid on a job where talent was required and I had a verbal agreement with the talent that I had used for the bid - only to have the talent renegotiate when it came time to sign and it cost me an extra $500.00. But all went well and it was well worth it.

Still things that you don't even think about at a wedding.

The other point is (as illustrated above) the difference between working with pros and amateurs is huge - whether it's voice-over work or on-camera.