Commercial Videographer costs.

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I've been flying and shooting as a hobby mainly but lately have been getting offers for money to shoot aerial video. I decided to take someone up on it and they told me to just shoot them a quote and they will take care of the rest(good friend of mine). This will be all indoor flying in a warehouse which ive done plenty of times so no problem there but I have no idea on the cost of something like this. What to charges etc... I am not a master at video editing but I would say I am intermediate and I can do some advanced stuff but just takes me longer. Anyone have any advice on pricing? I know it kinda depends on location and everyting. I was thinking about quoting $400 for a 4ish minute video with several cuts to flying through corridors and the warehouse etc...
 
I've been flying and shooting as a hobby mainly but lately have been getting offers for money to shoot aerial video. I decided to take someone up on it and they told me to just shoot them a quote and they will take care of the rest(good friend of mine). This will be all indoor flying in a warehouse which ive done plenty of times so no problem there but I have no idea on the cost of something like this. What to charges etc... I am not a master at video editing but I would say I am intermediate and I can do some advanced stuff but just takes me longer. Anyone have any advice on pricing? I know it kinda depends on location and everyting. I was thinking about quoting $400 for a 4ish minute video with several cuts to flying through corridors and the warehouse etc...
Photographers often charge per hour, 4 hour minimum, then sell the images.

Video is much more complicated. You really need to get your arms around what the client is expecting. When I was producing corporate video years ago, I would interview the clients extensively. It's like asking your contractor how much it costs to build a house. So many variables. From there you have to figure out how long it's going to take to produce it, then attach a value to your time and materials, if any.

Your biggest hurdle may be the certification required (Part 107) to operate your drone for compensation. If you already have your Part 107, you're good to go. If not, you may wish to consider turning the job down. Tough call considering the current economic climate.
 
Photographers often charge per hour, 4 hour minimum, then sell the images.

Video is much more complicated. You really need to get your arms around what the client is expecting. When I was producing corporate video years ago, I would interview the clients extensively. It's like asking your contractor how much it costs to build a house. So many variables. From there you have to figure out how long it's going to take to produce it, then attach a value to your time and materials, if any.

Your biggest hurdle may be the certification required (Part 107) to operate your drone for compensation. If you already have your Part 107, you're good to go. If not, you may wish to consider turning the job down. Tough call considering the current economic climate.

Yeah I figured it would be hard to answer I will have to just feel it out I think and base it on how long I will be flying and working. This will be indoor flying only and wont require a 107 as FAA has no regulation for indoors. Thanks for the feedback. I have been doing a bit of digging around but it varies a lot.
 
Yeah I figured it would be hard to answer I will have to just feel it out I think and base it on how long I will be flying and working. This will be indoor flying only and wont require a 107 as FAA has no regulation for indoors. Thanks for the feedback. I have been doing a bit of digging around but it varies a lot.
Oh cool, I missed the entirely indoors part. Yup, you're all set. If at all possible, ask the client if he can provide a video as an example of what he's looking for. Good luck.
 
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If i'm not mistaking the Part 107 is for commercial and doesn't exclude indoor commercial jobs. You may want to check with the FAA on that one to make sure.
 
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I've been flying and shooting as a hobby mainly but lately have been getting offers for money to shoot aerial video. I decided to take someone up on it and they told me to just shoot them a quote and they will take care of the rest(good friend of mine). This will be all indoor flying in a warehouse which ive done plenty of times so no problem there but I have no idea on the cost of something like this. What to charges etc... I am not a master at video editing but I would say I am intermediate and I can do some advanced stuff but just takes me longer. Anyone have any advice on pricing? I know it kinda depends on location and everyting. I was thinking about quoting $400 for a 4ish minute video with several cuts to flying through corridors and the warehouse etc...

I generally charge $100/hour with a 1 hour minimum. This doesn't include film industry work, which is a completely different billing package. My invoices are "portal to portal" which means the clock starts as soon as I walk out my front door and doesn't stop until I'm back in my office. If I have to take time to get permits, they pay for that, too. Why hourly and not hard bid? Because the customer never knows what they want. I charge $100/hour for video editing. So if they just want raw footage, I'm paid to fly and paid to deliver the footage. If they want a finished, polished video, they pay for editing. Finished commercial real-estate videos generally invoice out at $1500 - $2000 for a 1 - 2 minute video, which assume about 10 - 15 hours of editing.

One client wanted me to do everything, which included script, voice-over, aerial, ground footage, editing, producing and on and on. I invoiced that one @ $2500 + tax, which was a very good deal. I probably should've charged closer to $4K, but this was my first "fully produced" video. So I was easy on the invoice.

Worth noting: Aerial was shot with my Phantom 1 and a Hero 3+ camera on a DYS gimbal.

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Beware the sales tax monster...

I charge tax 90% of the time. But if the customer doesn't want to pay tax and just wants to write me a "quick-n-dirty" check or pay in cash, I'm fine with that. But some customers, ESPECIALLY Real Estate, will come at you toward the end of the year with their accounting department wanting your tax information. At that point I give them the option to either pay the tax retroactively, or back off. Some back off and others pay the tax. I started this practice after I was audited by the state twice the first and second years of my drone business. They went back 7 years both times, demanding retroactive payment for every lawn I mowed, music gig I did, every network I set up, every old lady I helped across the street...EVERYTHING. Needless to say I learned the state tax system inside and out REALLY quick. So now I only pay what I have to (what they can track) and not a penny more. But I digress...

Good luck.

D
 

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