How much should I charge?
 

Hi all-
I have a question about what to charge as a day rate for renting my GL2 in US$. I work at an ad agency that wants to use my camera/equipment for a "making of..."/behind the scenes video for a new commercial we are shooting.

Let me give you the details of the equipment that I have:

GL2
4 945 batteries
Libec M20 tripod
Sennheiser M66 mic
Sony Professional Headphones
Various Tiffen filters

So, my question is, how much should I charge for this? I realize, even though I am an employee, I have to put everything in writing (about the charges, days, etc.) Also, how do I get insurance for this? That price should be put into the quote of the fee, correct?

I will NOT be attending the shoot as it is in Japan and they can not afford for me to go. This is the first time I have ever been asked to rent out my equipment and also the first time someone other than myself will be operating it.

Are there any other issues that I haven't thought of?

I would appreciate any and all feedback.

Thank you very much,
Vito

I would charge several hundred dollars a day for an outfit like that. Anything less than $125 a day and your cheating yourself. The cost for damages is usually the responsibility of the renter and is written into the contract that way. However, normal wear and tear is your responsibility. So, if the camera comes back with a few scratches that do not affect performance, don't get upset.

and.....
 

and......have them insure your gear for full replacement value with you as the sole beficiary.

Most companies would choose to self insure. So, be sure and state that you want full replacement value for your equipment, should it be destroyed, in your rental contract.

A kit like that would rent in Vancouver for around $120us per day/$500/week.
I would make your employer insure it for full replacement value.

Great
 

thanks a lot guys. I really appreciate your input and will draw up a contract accordingly. I called a place here in NYC (Limon Video) and they quoted a price of $175US. I will go in a little under that, I think (just to make it attractive to them to rent my gear instead of outsourcing it, you know?)

thanks again,
Vito

Personally I would let them rent somewhere else for that amount
of money... But maybe I love my camera too much...

Vito,

I noticed your in NYC. In an effort to network and connect, what do you do both with your digital video work and your financial doings?

Cheers!

Derrick
NYC

Rob,
I couldn't agree with you more about them going someplace else for the rental but I am looking at this as a means to an end. the way I am looking at it, if I can start to make this a (semi) regular thing with my company, the money that I would make from them I would put into purchasing other (read: more and better) equipment that I would then be able to use for other projects. I love my camera but doing this might get me where I want to be professionally faster than me just relying solely on my regular income. Does this sound like a wise process?

Again, any sight is greatly appreciated.

Vito

Derrick,

Networking is key, isn't it? As a profession I am an Art Director at an advertising agency. I mostly work in print but lately I have taken an almost obsessive interest in working more on video projects for our clients.

Specifically, our clients who do television commercials with us require that we produce "RIPS" for them prior to any signoff on projects. In case you do not know what RIPS are, they are usually fake commercial comprised of stock footage to show the client what the commercial "could" look or feel like. What I am trying to do is, instead of using stock footage, I am going out and shooting DV instead. I then bring that into FCP (which I am just learning) and then put a rough cut together for them.

As far as non professional video work goes, I am always out and about shooting random things putting together a "my view of NY" for my own personal practice (on getting better with FCP and my GL2). Maybe at one point soon, we can get together for some beers and BS.

Talk to you,

Vito

Vito, if you are planning to get some more regular income etc.
with this then it might be an interesting option to follow. If you
are going to do this it might be interesting if this gets running to
insure your camera yourself and bill that to the client? You will
then have a garantuee that it will be insured and you can state
in the contract that the client will be fined for any damage to the
equipment... etc.