Working For Day Rate Is Stupid–Here’s Why!
Photo by Pink Sherbert Photography
If you find yourself working on a film or video shoot that lasts less than a month, you might find yourself being asked what your day rate is.
For those who don’t know, day rate is when you get paid to show up on set and put in one full day’s worth of work. But here’s the trick. One day on set is supposed to be anywhere from 8 to 12 hours. Sometimes the day turns out much shorter than this and you get to go home after just three or four hours of work, but this is quite rare. What’s more common however, is when you show up to work for 8 or 10 hours and soon find yourself working close to 20.
The problem with working for a day rate is that no matter how many hours you put in, you get paid one flat rate. The more you work, the less you get paid per hour.
Many first time filmmakers start out working for around $150 per day. If you are working for less than that, you either aren’t very valuable to your company or your boss is simply screwing you (but I have to warn you, the former is more likely, so look at yourself before turning to your boss for a raise). Either way, let’s assume that you are working for a day rate of $150.
At this rate, if you work for 8 hours, you would be getting paid $18.75 per hour, which isn’t bad to start off. But the problem with day rate, as I’ve already said, is that the more you work, the less you get paid.
You see, if your shoot goes over by just 4 fours, you end up working 12 hours and are still only paid $150 for the day. At that rate, you are making only $12.50 per hour… and at that rate, you might as well go get a job at Starbucks, because you could make about the same amount of money and the work you’d be doing is a whole lot less taxing on your creative mind.
But just imagine if you were being paid only $150 per day and were forced to work a full 20 hours (which is way more common than you might think). If you were to work 20 full hours and you got paid $150 for all that time, you’d only be making $7.50 an hour. And at that rate, not only would Starbucks be looking like a Godsend, but Taco Bell would be looking like the Pearly gates of Heaven.
My point is simple: Day rate is a customary part of the business, but just because things are done a certain way doesn’t mean you have to play by the rules.
The next time you are asked what your day rate is, instead of simply saying, “$150 per day” I suggest you say, “It’s $150 for the first 8 hours. After that it’s $25 per hour.” Say it confidently, keep eye contact with the person you are talking to and believe in yourself. You’ll not only get the job, but you’ll find yourself getting paid twice as much as the people around you once your day on set goes into extra innings.
Other Articles Worth Reading
If you enjoyed this article, please leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to you automatically!
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment