soundslikejustin Posted May 24, 2012 Report Share Posted May 24, 2012 Nope, they just ask for a day rate. Most ops I know quote 10hrs on their rate card as their day rate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Tirrell Posted May 24, 2012 Report Share Posted May 24, 2012 Apologies Australian compatriots, I've always based myself around the MPPA (Motion Picture Production Agreement) which is based around a 5 day, 40 hour week, thus if I'm doing a 10 hour day it is 8 hours at normal rates and two hours of O/T. As I'm from a Film background I thought both Film and TV production were based around the MPPA Agreement, but I must be wrong. Don't production people ring you up and ask for 8 for 10 deal? Nope this is probably how it started and I knew a couple of old timers who did what you are talking about until perhaps 5-8 years ago but things have shifted to a straight 10 portal to portal which usually works out to be about if the job is planned well. Nope, they just ask for a day rate. Most ops I know quote 10hrs on their rate card as their day rate. Yes but I am seeing more producers out of la and now some from new york that think a normal day is 12 and can't understand why I am still quoting on a 10 hr day? None in the last couple of months but I had a huge rash of them last year. Enough so that I had to check in with a number of the other local ops to see if I was going crazy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soundslikejustin Posted May 24, 2012 Report Share Posted May 24, 2012 Well, I hope that doesn't make it down under. I have no interest in a 12 hr standard day. To clarify, most 10hr day jobs I do are not portal to portal inclusive, either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDirckze Posted May 24, 2012 Report Share Posted May 24, 2012 Well, I hope that doesn't make it down under. I have no interest in a 12 hr standard day. To clarify, most 10hr day jobs I do are not portal to portal inclusive, either. Never portal to portal. With peak hour in Sydney it would make our working days only six hours long. Wouldn't that be nice! --- I am here: http://tapatalk.com/map.php?t4djzk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_bollard Posted May 24, 2012 Report Share Posted May 24, 2012 I've done shows and films where the standard (negotiated) day is 12 hours; plus meal break so pushes out to 13 hrs. More money guaranteed out front but definitely not worth it in the end. Days are just too long and no real time at home to decompress. When I'm asked for my daily rate I always give my 10 hr rate and if the day turns out to be 8 hrs then I'm a winner. There seems to be rate pressure across the board. In tv land the word is that the networks have cut budgets on even high rating shows by 10%. Crew wages are always seen as the first place "savings" can be made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris McCallum Posted May 24, 2012 Report Share Posted May 24, 2012 Seeing more flat offers of $xxx dollars for 12 hour days from some of the bigger production companies here and I decline. I counter with my standard rate for 10 and often I am told the job is unlikely to go for more than 10. My response to that is to quote my OT rate after 10 and stick to it. 12 hour days are not a healthy thing to be agreeing to in my opinion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fieldmixer Posted May 24, 2012 Report Share Posted May 24, 2012 If I'm offered a 12 hr day I add two hrs of overtime to my 10hr rate. Simple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rainier Davenport Posted May 25, 2012 Report Share Posted May 25, 2012 Never portal to portal. With peak hour in Sydney it would make our working days only six hours long. Wouldn't that be nice! Wouldn't that be the bomb! Imagine doing ten hours door to door in Sydney, you would almost, like, have a life! You could probably do it if you had a Hover Car or a Helicopter. I get stuck with an hour twenty to hour half commute either way and it ends up being a 14 hour day. It's like sitting in the car for a whole day. That is why the 8 hour day should make a return. You still do a 8 hour day if you work for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Not that many people do anymore. --- I am here: http://tapatalk.com/map.php?t4djzk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Wielage Posted May 26, 2012 Report Share Posted May 26, 2012 Had a pleasant experience today: went out for a half-day job, all went well, came back and discovered an email from the producer: "of course, we'll pay you your full daily rate." And that was without me asking for it. This was a extraordinarily easy job, low pressure, very nice people, which made it even better. But those are rare... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAudioSynthesist Posted May 29, 2012 Report Share Posted May 29, 2012 I'll give true half day rates to my regulars but always charge full day for gear. Even though I can't book another half day gig on the same day and make it work perfectly my thinking is: "at least I have a half day off". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prahlad Strickland Posted November 3, 2014 Report Share Posted November 3, 2014 also just did a shoot a couple days ago, 2 hours shooting, 2 hours prep / driving, 4 hours, full day rate, yipee, went surfing, best possible day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afewmoreyears Posted November 3, 2014 Report Share Posted November 3, 2014 There is NO half day rate..... Period... The race to the bottom is fast enough...( Clowns) offering half day rates only make that race faster.... What's next guys... Keep it up.. No boom ops, 12 hr days on and on... Producers will continue to ask as long as the fish are biting.. WE all need to be smarter than that... If you can't be at a "full day show"... because you are on a half day show, you have seen the light..even if that full day does not exist.... You must simply say that rate structure does not exist. Its really that simple.. They expect to hear that and hope they don't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Gilchrist Posted November 3, 2014 Report Share Posted November 3, 2014 Actually uttered by a new-to-the-business coordinator: "Twelve hours, that's half a day isn't it?" The person quoted came to doc production from the public radio news stringer world and didn't last long, spending the entire time in the business in a blind rage over what crews were getting paid. Best regards, Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Feeley Posted November 3, 2014 Report Share Posted November 3, 2014 Actually uttered by a new-to-the-business coordinator: "Twelve hours, that's half a day isn't it?" Brilliant! (says the producer in me). Terrifying! (says the mixer and human in me). The person quoted came to doc production from the public radio news stringer world and didn't last long, spending the entire time in the business in a blind rage over what crews were getting paid. Semirelated: A friend who spent years at WGBH, a big-deal public broadcasting station here in the US, used to separate staff into the craftspeople who really knew what they were doing and some other staffers who appeared to be part of a full-employment program for the underachieving children of Boston brahmins who didn't really need the money anyway... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Perkins Posted November 3, 2014 Report Share Posted November 3, 2014 Brilliant! (says the producer in me). Terrifying! (says the mixer and human in me). Semirelated: A friend who spent years at WGBH, a big-deal public broadcasting station here in the US, used to separate staff into the craftspeople who really knew what they were doing and some other staffers who appeared to be part of a full-employment program for the underachieving children of Boston brahmins who didn't really need the money anyway... I worked on a doc with a few NPR types like this: Ivy Leaguers with big ideas about the public worth of their work who were stunned and outraged that I, an unwashed blue-collar type, would be attempting to make a living working on that production and ones like it. They viewed me as an overpriced, lazy, conniving, union-loving featherbedder. So I did my best to live up to their expectations! Their tune changed a little when they got into technical trouble around a concert recording--I guess they hadn't shown up for the "portable recorder" class at Harvard! p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stacysound Posted November 3, 2014 Report Share Posted November 3, 2014 I tell them that if they can book the other half of the day for me, then I'll do it. I will do half day on the end of a full shoot day(s). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomBoisseau Posted November 4, 2014 Report Share Posted November 4, 2014 I tell them that if they can book the other half of the day for me, then I'll do it. I will do half day on the end of a full shoot day(s). I've said the same thing. It doesn't exactly make you many friends however. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikewest Posted November 4, 2014 Report Share Posted November 4, 2014 Questions I ask myself Is it a regular client Do I want the job What do they need How much can they afford Will they come back By coincidence had a booking today 1hour tomorrow and 1 hour the next day Fine thay are friendly so keep them happy So I quoted $1000.00 (NZ) for the two days I'm happy so are they mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prahlad Strickland Posted November 4, 2014 Report Share Posted November 4, 2014 Questions I ask myself Is it a regular client Do I want the job What do they need How much can they afford Will they come back By coincidence had a booking today 1hour tomorrow and 1 hour the next day Fine thay are friendly so keep them happy So I quoted $1000.00 (NZ) for the two days I'm happy so are they mike yeh, i agree, it's more about the money, if they are paying close to full day pay, and it's really and truly a half day, all good. i've only had a few half days in my history in location sound Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninjafreddan Posted December 2, 2014 Report Share Posted December 2, 2014 I don't do half-days, because no matter how much the producer tries to keep them under 4-5 hours, they always turn out to be more than five hours of work. Haven't done half-days in over ten years, clients still try me now and then but most just accept my day rate or find someone else. Often it's short notice, so I get the job anyway. :-) Cheers Fred Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Reineke Posted December 2, 2014 Report Share Posted December 2, 2014 I will occasionally do a half-day for a 'known client', but only in conjunction with other days. For instance; Mon, Tues, Wed. AM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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