Commercial Assignments Checklist.I get a number of inquiries over the phone, with their question after
"Hello, is this Azhar Ariff?", asking
"how much do you charge for so-and-so assignment?"For your information, it's impossible for me to answer an ambiguous question without having any knowledge of what we're getting ourselves into. Hence I always ask them to email me their brief and we communicate from there, because you can say a lot more in written communications rather than a 2-minute conversation.
Generally, my commercial assignment charges follow the general International Commercial Photographers guideline, widely practiced in the UK, United States & Australia.
The basis of the total costs of the assignment consists of the sum of Professional Fees and Expenses:Fees1. Photographer's fee
2. Creative/art direction fee
3. Weather Days (fees to be paid if I'm already on location, but can't shoot because of bad weather)
4. Space fee (location)
5. Re-shoot fee (if applicable)
6. Cancellation fee (if applicable)
7. Re-use fee (*Important: if the images are to be published in printed or digital media, each category where the images are being re-used, a re-use fee is applied. For example, my re-use fee is RM500 per use. An image for a furniture promotion appears in National Newspaper The Star, Berita Harian, The New Straits Times, Malay Mail and Laman Magazine. Therefore a re-use fee of RM500 x 5=RM2,500 is applicable)
Plus Expenses1. Assistants
2. Casting
3. Crew/Special Technicians
4. Equipment Rentals
5. Film/Digital and Processing
6. Insurance
7. Location costs
8. Messengers
9. Talent/models
10. Props/wardrobe (not necessarily when shooting fashion, food and product shoot needs props too, for example)
11. Styling
12. Travel/Trasportation
13. Telephone
14. Touch-up for pre-press
15. Media storage (hard disks and/or optical disks)
The next step is to determine what the project is all about: Prepare your brief.Now, for those of you who's interested in assigning me for an assignment, having a
brief would really help us out.
To come up with a brief, simply describe what would you like to be photographed: who, when, where, what, why & how?
Example 1:I need to photograph the board of directors, at the office lobby, from 9am to 11am, for our annual report.
Who: Directors
When: 9am to 11am
Where: at the office lobby at our HQ
What: Board of Directors shoot
Why: for 2009 annual report
Example 2:I need to photograph our product line of biscuits, at our factory in Shah Alam, during a full-day shoot, for our new brochure.
Who: biscuits
When: full-day and extend until complete line of biscuits are ready
Where: our factory in Shah Alam
what: photograph a line of biscuits
why: for new brochure
Example 3:I need to photograph our complete set of food, at our new restaurant, until completion at flexi-hour, for our menu and signage.
who: a line of menu (between 10-20 dishes plus 10 beverages)
when: full-day or extend if necessary
where: at our new restaurant, in Kota Damansara
what: photograph a line of menu (between 10-20 dishes plus 10 beverages)
why: for our new menu and signage
Example 4 (extensive brief, which is good):I need you to shoot for our print ad commercial, to be printed nationwide in Newspapers, magazines. We're doing a Hari Raya campaign, to feature our furnitures, in a Hari Raya scene with a set of Malay family with Father, Mother, Son, Daughter, Granfather & Grandmother having a Hari Raya meal, in Baju Raya & Baju Kurung, with happy smiles, with our furnitures featured. We need a few different settings/scenes ,possibly one at the dining area, and one where the kids ask for forgiveness from their parents with the grandparents around.
who: A set of Malay family: Father, Mother, Son, Daughter, Granfather & Grandmother
when: Weekday
where: In a traditional Malay House setting, indoors
what: Photograph Hari Raya scene
why: for furniture print ad, distributon nationwide in print media.
ConclusionI hope this information helps you as my prospective clients to be able to assist both of us in getting and giving the root answer to the original one-liner question of "How much do you charge?"
Should you be interested in assigning me for a commercial shoot, kindly email me with your brief and I'll see how I can assist you in achieving your objective(s), in the most efficient and cost effective way possible.
Best wishes. Cheers!
