Getting Paid on a feature

[Jarin Blaschke]

I was curious what the typical rate is for DPs shooting a low to mid budget feature - with say, a budget of 1 to 3 million. Does a day rate still apply? If so, how much is standard? For a film of this size, what are the rates for pre-production versus production versus post-production days/weeks? Also, at what budget range is it essential that a film be entirely union? Also, is it even possible for a cameraman to even work at this level if it's his/her first feature as a DP - given that the director wants him/her and production has agreed to it? Would the completion bonds folks ever go for that?

[David Mullen ASC]

I was curious what the typical rate is for DPs shooting a low to mid budget feature - with say, a budget of 1 to 3 million. Does a day rate still apply? If so, how much is standard? For a film of this size, what are the rates for pre-production versus production versus post-production days/weeks? Also, at what budget range is it essential that a film be entirely union? Also, is it even possible for a cameraman to even work at this level if it's his/her first feature as a DP - given that the director wants him/her and production has agreed to it? Would the completion bonds folks ever go for that?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

If the producer agrees to hire you, then I don't see the bond company saying anything as long as you pass your physical. But it depends on the bond company.

 

If this is a union (IATSE) production, there are standard rates listed, but if it's under the Low-Budget agreement, the DP will have to negotiate his own rate, so just make sure it is higher than what they have to offer to the operator and keys, which are listed rates.

 

You might negotiate a weekly, a daily (specify what a standard "day" is and if when overtime kicks in, etc. -- again, following the union guidelines for the other crew members is a good idea), or an hourly. This is stuff your agent should be handling. You generally want some minimum payment clause in case they shut down or fire you. You might want a kit rental, per diem (if shooting out of town) etc.

 

$3000/week (5-day work week) salary is not unusual at that budget range. You'll probably be offered $2000/week but then it's likely that you're not making any more than the lowest possible union rates offered to the operator, gaffer, and key grip.

 

Now if it's non-union, then everyone across the board might be offered lower rates than guild minimum. "Northfork" was a 1.5 mil budget and everyone got paid only a $1000/week across the board, including me. But that's not typical.

 

How much prep you can negotiate to get paid for is a crapshoot. I'm currently working on a union feature that starts shooting in 2 1/2 weeks. My deal is for four weeks of prep for a six week shoot, but in truth I'm actually working about six weeks of prep, so two weeks of it I'm working for free -- but then, these aren't long days yet, and it's better to be prepared than not.

[Jarin Blaschke]

Thanks, David - a few other things:

 

Can a 2 million dollar feature be non-union? Can a 5 million dollar feature be non-union?

If a shoot is designated as union, can a DP be non-union if all crew is union? If not, what is needed to join and be able to work?

Are daily and weekly rates typically the same for all three stages of production?

[Brad Grimmett]

Thanks, David - a few other things:

 

Can a 2 million dollar feature be non-union? Can a 5 million dollar feature be non-union?

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Technically, any size budget movie COULD be non-union, but it's very unlikely that a feature with a budget of more than two or three million dollars could stay non-union throughout the shoot. If they didn't sign a contract before the shoot then they'll probably turn union

[David Mullen ASC]

Sort of depends too on what city you are shooting in as to whether the union comes after you. I'm working on a union film right now but in the production office, there was a smaller 1.5 million dollar film using the same building that had to sign with the union in their last week of production. So salaries went up in the last week and the crew got their health and welfare pension contributions for all the previous work. But we're talking about Los Angeles.

 

I don't know what the deal is if a film has to sign an IA contract but the DP is not a union member -- you might have to join the Local 600 as a DP, which will cost you $10,000, payable over a two year period I think. Plus pay dues. Or maybe they would have to hire a standby union DP, but then the producer would probably wonder why they are paying for two DP's...

 

Maybe nothing would happen -- all that would happen is that the producers have to pay into the pension fund for the union members on the crew?

 

When the budget is that low, it all gets rather negotiable. If enough of your crew is non-union like yourself, if there is a work stoppage, the producer might just fire all the union members (if they had walked off on their own volition) and replace them with all non-union people and tell the union to take a hike. If enough of his key people are non-union, then the union might not hold much sway. Trouble is that a producer isn't really allowed to deliberately hire only non-union people as a way of avoiding this potential problem, in the sense that, legally, membership in a labor union can't be used as an excuse not to hire someone. People have a legal right to be in unions.

 

"Pulp Fiction" (10 mil budget) and "Dances with Wolves" (16 mil budget) were non-union films, by the way.

 

Anyway, if you're going to be doing more of these two to five mil features, I'd suggest joining the union -- you'll find that there's a lot of benefits to working on union productions. I'd certainly be happy if I didn't have to do anymore non-union features...

[Phil Rhodes]

Hi,

 

I've stated my opinion on this enough in the past, but Jesus! You can actually end up with people having to leave a production because it's "gone union?" that's insane!

 

Phil

[David Mullen ASC]

I've stated my opinion on this enough in the past, but Jesus! You can actually end up with people having to leave a production because it's "gone union?" that's insane!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Actually most people are brought into the union when that happens. I haven't heard any stories of crew people being fired. On my last show that went union about halfway through the shoot, I think one-third of the crew were non-union and they were still there when we went union, so I can only figure either there was a waiver or they joined up. It may be that part of the deal when signing the contract between the union and the producer is that current non-union crew members keep their job. In fact, I don't think the union even has any legal power to get someone fired anyway, now that I think about it.