What would it cost to hire a DP for my first featu

March 9, 2005

Just to get an idea, what would it cost me to hire a DP for my first feature? This is hypothetical at the moment because I'm aiming for television at the right now and the people I have shooting for me are comfortable in video formats. But if the pilot I'm working on doesn't get bought, I'll probably turn my attention to a feature. [Even if we're picked up, I'm sure I'll be thinking about a feature to fill the downtime between sale and full production of the show.]

So if I do decide to do a feature (within the next 12 months), what would it cost me to get a decent DP? Format would be either 35m film or HD (I've used the Sony F900 on two of our shoots already but might not be able to use the DP who owned it for a feature), depending on how much money was involved.

Very little money is likely to be involved (unless the show takes off and it's easy to find funding), so the story would be written specifically for a lower budget. Both my partner and I come from a writing background, both of us having some degree of success (well, he does), so the material would be strong.

And it would be shot in Arizona with an Arizona crew, most of which I have access to already. Cast would also be local, though we'd try to attract a name actor or two, depending on how much money we could raise, or if we could hook them on the strength of the material (this is how we got lots of people to help us so far).

Pay would be minimal or nil for most of the crew probably, though I'm sure for key positions, we'd have to pay a decent amount.

I'm guessing about a 12 - 18 day shoot.

Anyway, based on these factors, what do you think it would cost me to hire a decent DP? I'm thinking someone up-and-coming, maybe some experience but not so much that I couldn't afford them. Or possibly someone fresh out of school who's hungry to do a feature who has lots of talent but little experience.

I also know a camera operator that worked on a few of James Cameron's films, but I don't know her well enough to broach the subject yet. Is that a natural choice for DP?

Anyway, this is just food for thought. I'm still focusing on TV right now.

Edited March 9, 2005 by razerfish