Greetings Cinematography.com!
This is my first official post after a few years of creeping from a distance.
I am seeking advice for setting my rate for jobs, which I know is of course a very complex question with lots of variables. Bottom line, I'm looking for a rough ballpark figure that I should be trying to get when starting my negotiations.
A bit about me...
11 years professional filmmaking experience. Started out in my late teens as a PA on major TV shows and feature films (about 450 days towards DGA, but no thanks). Transitioned into regional commercials first as a PA again and then as a non-union AD. Took a full-time job for a few years as a coordinator and assistant editor at a regional edit facility. Went back to features for one year and ran basecamp on the Governator's comeback film, got taken to Santa Monica for post as the VFX PA. Decided this wasn't the path I wanted to be on and ran away. Spent a few years working for Cornell University as a video producer, which then bridged into shooting for myself for the first time. All during this time, I was hustling my own productions as a director and under that title I shot six music videos, a documentary and one short film.
Now, I'm in Boston and have been working as a DP for a local production company for the last year and a half. It started out with me solo or pair shooting corporate and industrial interviews primarily, but I've always intended to angle back into major production. I impressed the production company and when they have gotten larger jobs in the last year I have been their call. In that time I have now served as director & DP on eight commercials where I had a crew of 6-10 working for me. At this point I have a reasonable kit that includes camera (just a GH4 + lots of accessories to make it a faux-cinema cam), gimbal, slider, crane, lights (enough for a solid closeup), c-stands, flags and various miscellania.
So...
I am now looking to reach out to production companies and agencies here in Boston and to sell myself as a DP for either solo shooter situations or ideally larger crew shoots. Where do you think I should be starting my rate at for just my time, and what kind of kit rental should I reasonably ask for? Or should I include kit rental in my rate?
Any and all feedback and advice is greatly appreciated!