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Starting Again


MWSound

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Hey, first time post. I'm bracing myself for feedback.

 

I'm considering getting back into production sound. I started there, took a one-man-band corporate employee position for several years, and now I'm back on my own. I'm in a fairly small market (there are two or three sound guys who work steadily) and I'm trying to avoid overlapping with their gigs.

I'm looking to do small docu-style corporate jobs with a sit down interview and maybe a walk-and-talk where a highly experienced mixer is overkill. I'm thinking about billing myself as a sound/grip swing to bring more value to productions where a dedicated sound mixer would be sitting around for half the day. Non-union, of course.

 

Rates and Kit
$550/10; 1.5x/12; 2x/14; .5x Travel
$250/day kit with SD MixPre-3, Sennheiser 416 on a K-Tek KE79CCR boom, 2 channel Lectrosonics SRC/SMQV wireless with Sanken COS-11D lavs.

 

For now, I would rent the wireless systems from a local rental house with a little markup on it until I can purchase my own. The MixPre and 416 are mine.

 

I should probably get coffee with the other sound mixers in town so I don't hack them off as new competition. I've worked with them on projects in the past as an AC.

 

Does this seem sane?

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Meet with the other local mixers, charge what they charge, and good luck. Nobody likes an undercutter, and clients won’t respect you either, and will likely try to hack down your rates further if they see you are charging less. Just play ball and be a good rep for your area and you’ll do fine, assuming you are pleasant to work around and do a good job. 

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Thanks folks!


KGraham045: Yeah, you're probably right that I need to up my rate a bit. Probably $650/10 for starters.

Jonny Karlsson: I've found full day rates for travel days hard to get accepted where I'm at. But, duly noted and I'll definitely try for it.

JonG: The last thing I want to do is hack off the other local guys by undercutting them. I have too much respect for them.

Max Futterman: Good advice. I'm meeting with a couple of the local sound guys in the next week or so to get my head on straight.

 

I'll report back in once I've had those conversations. Thanks again!

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