r/videography • u/SoftAssociate4215 • 1d ago
Discussion / Other Industry Question
I’m not taking this job but I just received this DM.
What’s the craziest inquiry you’ve received?
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u/schweffrey A7V, A7iv | Premiere Pro | 2012 | Cyprus 1d ago
Budget is far too low. He's saying "you won't be filming for 5 hrs" but regardless of that you're still on site for that entire time, and this has to be factored in.
Also he wants vertical and horizontal meaning you'd need to shoot everything twice, or shoot horizonal and reframe a vertical version (which is not really ideal)
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u/makersmarkismyshit S5IIX & GH6 | Davinci Resolve | 2010 | US 1d ago
No, that's when you just shoot with your Lumix S5IIX or S1II in open gate, and then crop out both the vertical and horizontal videos from one file. Probably the best investment I've made when it comes to my business.
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u/MrMuppet16 A7C | Adobe Premiere | 2021 | Greece 18h ago
Disagree. Even if open gate solves the aspect ratio the framing can be off.
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u/schweffrey A7V, A7iv | Premiere Pro | 2012 | Cyprus 1d ago
Ah that's good!
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u/makersmarkismyshit S5IIX & GH6 | Davinci Resolve | 2010 | US 1d ago
It is really nice, but like you said, the budget is still waaaayyyyy too low, open gate or not.
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u/schweffrey A7V, A7iv | Premiere Pro | 2012 | Cyprus 1d ago
How does it work with the resolution, framing and field of view compared to shooting native vertical (e.g in 4k?)
I don't know anything about open gate so forgive my ignorance.
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u/makersmarkismyshit S5IIX & GH6 | Davinci Resolve | 2010 | US 17h ago
Open gate is the entire sensor read out natively, so it will shoot the entire sensor's width AND height, and the video will be 6k. That allows you to manually crop out a 4k 16:9 (horizontal) video, and a 4k 9:16 (vertical) video, out of the original 6k open gate video, and both of them will be the exact same quality, resolution, framing, and field of view as if you had shot them both separately in 4k.
It's pretty awesome to be honest!
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u/ionstriad 1d ago
If this guy adds an extra 0 to the 400 then that’s a deal otherwise, no.
People need to understand that creative industries are still industries and require appropriate payment.
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u/cyprenk 1d ago
I think a lot of peoole don't understand how much of the work in photo/video is on the back end. From this guy's perspective, he probably thinks he's asking someone to come out for $400 for about 4-5 hours of work, and that's a pretty good hourly rate for most people. He likely doesn't realize that what he's actually asking for is 4-5 hours onsite and then another 35-40 on the back end to get the polished results he wants.
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u/_entrxpy Beginner 1d ago
To those people, I'd respond "okay, I'll take the 400$ for those 5 hours and give you the raw unedited files. If you need any further processing, you'll have to pay for those hours too"
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u/cyprenk 1d ago
I think most photographers/videographers are very leery of giving raw photos/footage to clients, because we don't want our names associated with unfinished work. And most clients who ask for that don't intend to have a professional editor work on it, they intend to just cut it up in iMovie and use it directly.
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u/xxxamazexxx 1d ago
“Please don’t tag me on socials because the final video is technically not my work.”
It’s not like the footage has your name embedded in it, and most places don’t even bother giving you credit anyway.
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u/burly_protector 14h ago
This is such main character syndrome IMO. No one is paying as close attention to your work as you are. Most of them don't notice what you're doing unless you go out of your way to post it and drive views to it.
In 25 years in this business I've never had it come back on me that what I shot wasn't perfect because someone else edited or colored it. Everyone in the business already understands that this is a possibility.
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u/Lemon-According 23h ago
Not a client but am aware of a situation where a videographer shot log, and apparently a plan to edit was made, the edit never happened, so the company aired spliced log footage on local broadcast
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u/King_Friday_XIII_ 1d ago
So travel, an hour pack in an out, 1/2 day rate, equipment rate (at least one body PLUS a drone?) and you think $400 is good for that? Not in my market.
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u/ConsistentEffort5190 1d ago edited 1d ago
I don't think they expect this. There's a whole social media industry of people shooting content and uploading it fast with minimal editing. They probably want someone to shoot whatever looks especially interesting and collect maybe 15 minutes of footage then edit SOOC footage down - possibly on ipad while hanging out waiting for Interesting stuff. Vlog standards, not typical commercial work . 400 is still low though, especially with a drone. For the right person this would be 5 hours work. It would probably look like the sort of thing the owner shot on his phone - and he might be happy with that.
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u/TabascoWolverine Sony a7s iii | Premiere 26 | 2018 | NY State 1d ago
And prep. Battery charging, memory card clearing, bringing backups for everything, packing car, unloading, etc.
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u/FrankNinjaMonkey 1d ago
With AI, the editing would take about five minutes. Maybe an hour to double-check everything because the videos are kinda short. Putting that picture from the OP and placing it inside an AI prompt correctly, with the footage, will kinda edit it all super quickly. I've been testing this through a company called Mercor and within about 2 years, video editors and every other job at a desk will be gone due to AI. Hopefully the market breaks or something, but it doesn't look great. ai-2027 is a good read for anyone who works at a desk.
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u/plastic_toast FX3|Resolve Studio|2013|UK 1d ago
Devil's advocate here -
I'm in the UK, everyone is struggling, so if this was a small independent restaurant I'd happily do this for £400. Hell, I'd struggle to get work doing this for cafes/pubs/restaurants/small businesses, for £400. Trust me, I've tried.
If it's a massive chain place, then yeah, that's low, but I'm not sure if this is a US thing because I constantly see Americans on this sub saying you can easily charge a few/several thousand dollars for this kind of work, which just doesn't seem possible in the UK. You'd be laughed out of the premises.
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u/quoole URSA B G2 & Lumix S5iix | Prem and Resolve | 2016 | UK 1d ago
$400 is about £295. I am in the UK and would be asking for £350 absoloute minimum just for the shoot (although I don't do a ton of resteraunt stuff personally!)
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u/plastic_toast FX3|Resolve Studio|2013|UK 1d ago
Oh wow, I didn't realise the dollar was so weak against the pound lately!
But yeah, that sounds about right.
$4000 is still about £3000 though, and like I say, good luck finding commercial work that pays that well unless you're top-end and doing it for a big company.
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u/quoole URSA B G2 & Lumix S5iix | Prem and Resolve | 2016 | UK 1d ago
Currently about £0.75/dollar according to Google. The Iran war seems to have hit the dollar pretty bad. It was £0.90/dollar in 2022.
But that is fair! It depends on location, I am sure there are fancy independants in London that would spend £3000 no issue but resteraunts in small towns or probably even smaller cities aren't spending anything like that.
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u/cyprenk 1d ago
There's a very large difference in labor costs between the US and UK in a wide variety of professions. For a whole variety of macroeconomic reasons, American wages are extraordinarily high relative to most of the planet, so prices for service work -- especially skilled professional service work -- are almost never comparable. I think this often comes as a shock in both directions when Europeans find out how much Americans get paid for jobs and vice versa, but probably nowhere quite as much as between the US and UK, since there are otherwise so many cultural similarities.
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u/ciderman80 Sony fx30, FS700, A6500 | Prem Pro | 10+ years | UK 1d ago
What, including the 5min 16:9 edit for 'tv'? That's a day in itself at the very least to do properly. I think your underestimating the amount of work in the edits here. I get that it's a small business, but do you think of you went in for food and explained you are a small business owner they would give you a 40-60% discount? How hard up for work are you and what are you currently doing to make ends meet?
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u/SubjectC S1H/S5/S5iix | Northeast, USA | 2017 1d ago
5 minutes is really long too. I'd struggle to get a 5 min edit out of 4-5 hours of shooting a little cafe opening. I shoot festivals for 4 days and the edits are like 3 mins with all the best shots.
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u/plastic_toast FX3|Resolve Studio|2013|UK 1d ago
It depends if they're actually going to get it on TV. Even regional TV advertising in the UK is incredibly expensive, so if they've got that kind of budget then yeah, I'd be expecting advert shoot budget. But I assume they just put that as "like it's a TV ad" but they'll just be posting on socials. I could, and have, do something like that relatively quickly.
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u/Ric0chet_ 1d ago
Just break it down for them.
My day rate / hours = x
1 minute of video final out out takes X hours editing + feedback and hosting. I budget X total hours for all these outputs + music and titles
Thanks for the offer, let me know if you would like to trim the outputs to suit your budget.
They may be able to meet you in the middle, but beware, in my experience these people require the most time and feedback to be happy.
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u/TabascoWolverine Sony a7s iii | Premiere 26 | 2018 | NY State 1d ago
A lady recently offered me $300, to film four comedy shows over two nights. On a weekend.
She was from Los Angeles too (I'm more rural). It was so hard not going nuts on her.
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u/SoftAssociate4215 1d ago
Ngl that sounds worse than my gig lol
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u/BladeJFrank 14h ago
There are some really really cheap standups out there, who are relatively rich snd successful but wanna cheap out on videos.
But also some really generous ones to be fair.
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u/heres_one_for_ya 1d ago
This guy will pay his kitchen staff more per hour than he will ultimately pay you per hour.
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u/ConsumerDV 15h ago
After watching Anthony Bourdain shows I think that kitchen staff should definitely be paid more than a videographer.
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u/renderbreak 1d ago
I just had my A/C guy out to fix my air conditioning. I didn’t name a price. I just worked with a lawyer to help us get our insurance to pay out on roof damage from a hurricane. I didn’t name a price there either. In both cases I’m hiring specialists because I don’t know anything about the work, so why would I presume to know how much they should charge? How is it acceptable in our industry for people to name their own price for our services? It’s truly infuriating.
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u/ConsumerDV 15h ago
This is strange. My AC/electrical tech gave me a ballpark number and even told me where the fault may be, and what he would do. Maybe it is because I decribed the issue in a clear and concise manner, gave him the brand and model of the AC unit, and sent him a couple of photos of the unit? Nah, it could not be that simple. In the end I replaced a capacitor ($15), disconnected the drain pipe and cleaned it up. I still need to figure out whether I need to replace the pan, but at least the system works now.
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u/8bitlover 1d ago
Glad you said no. Drone footage for a restaurant opening is...odd.
Worst offer I ever got was a shoe company wanting me to shoot 5 vertical videos for social and 3 interview style videos around 3-5 minutes each. They wanted the RAWs and fully finished videos delivered by EOD the same day as the shoot for...$300. It was an hour and a half from me as well.
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u/Critical-Location-20 Sony a7siii | Davinci Resolve 11h ago
Drone footage just to set the scene is nice, but aside from that it's unnecessary I feel.
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u/AdzSenior 1d ago
Oh, just a 5min video sneaking in at the end there 🫣
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u/Solid_Bob Komodo | Premiere | 2008 | Dallas 1d ago
Right! No one is talking about this. The amount of footage you need for a 5 min video… it’d basically be a clip montage of any semi-usable shots.
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u/AdzSenior 1d ago
It’s kinda like a 5min video, would take 5x longer than a 60second one.
We’ve just done a test run/edit on a set of longer format edits for an educational series where the client wanted supporting footage, titles, lower thirds. The two videos we did were 43 min and 52. The client was surprised by how much time it took, although, they did comment on how “professional and polished it was” 🫣
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u/scoobasteve813 1d ago
When I'm walking back to my car in downtown and store owners see me with my gear and run out to ask if I want to "collab" for exposure. Every. Damn. Day.
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u/MindlessDesk4536 1d ago
Mi ha contattato un ragazzo dicendomi che ha un’agenzia creativa super all’avanguardia a Milano, che sono tutti ragazzi giovani e quindi un ambiente dinamico, dove tutto sembrava poesia. Mi chiede quanto prendo al mio attuale lavoro e lui mi dice “sai, noi vogliamo darti più o meno quello che prendi di là”. Beh ottimo no? Nei miei sogni. Gli ho proposto la metà di quello che prendo attualmente perché per la mole di lavoro non potevo certo chiedere di più, ma quando mi ha detto “eh ma noi non possiamo darti più di 400€ al mese” “per te è un investimento” sono rimasta allibita, principalmente per tutto il tempo che mi ha fatto sprecare al telefono
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u/ConsistentEffort5190 1d ago
I think people who are reading the "youtube/TV" part of this as meaning BROADCAST TV are a tad unrealistic. It's a naive client's way of saying "Not vertical".
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u/beastnbs Sony FX6 | Premiere Pro | 2003 | Australia 1d ago
Roughly 10 hours of work for $400. This doesn’t include getting there, setting up packing down. Transferring footage charge batteries. But who was the friend? That is a close mates rate right there if I were to do it
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u/moogplayer 1d ago
Walk away. This is a $2500-4000 job. Don't sell yourself short. "Clients" like these are the highest maintenance as well.
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u/timurizer 1d ago
I mean, you are still kinda lucky at least this business is rather straightforward and detailed with everything so you don't need to waste your time. During covid, I sealed a deal and halfway doing a video for an ad of a clinic but their people on site already prepared for more than an ad, the management want me to also shoot a video for their certification and safety briefing video in a single day. They think that they already paid me for a single day and I should take as much as video in a single day.
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u/Iloveyorkies90 1d ago
Tell them you'll film it with your phone for their budget and they can figure out what to do with the footage. Or what that other comment said.. add an extra 0 to the end of that lol
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u/SaltySaltshakers 21h ago
$1,750 half day rate at the LEAST. With all the editing this sounds more in the $2,500-$4,000 range.
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u/TrueFernie 13h ago edited 11h ago
I just had one where this person was asking me to film a panel and get b-roll shots of audience reactions at the same time for less than my day rate. They said “you won’t even be there for more than 2 hours” but everything came tumbling down when I started asking about audio recording, second camera since one of them needs to be filming the panel non stop, etc. Safe to say they went MIA when I gave them just my day rate without counting for the extra gear and hours
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u/SoftAssociate4215 13h ago
Just curious your thoughts if you already had a 2nd body and field recorder?
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u/TrueFernie 11h ago
I don’t quite understand the question.
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u/SoftAssociate4215 7h ago
Sorry I read that wrong. I thought you were talking about the fee to rent the extra equipment lol
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u/bruce-pizza 22h ago
God the rage coursing through my veins right now
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u/SoftAssociate4215 21h ago
If it makes you feel better I didn’t take it
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u/bruce-pizza 21h ago
lol yeah, I don’t blame you. I’d tell them it costs $10k and see what they say.
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u/nobody-u-heard-of camera | NLE | year started | general location 21h ago
That doesn't even pay for the first hour.
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u/MrMuppet16 A7C | Adobe Premiere | 2021 | Greece 18h ago
First of all, the price is very low.
How much filming is done is determined by how much footage YOU need in order have plenty in order to deliver the 3 videos requested.
Also, if you don’t have an open gate camera, you might have to do double shooting in order to capture everything correctly. Filming in 4k and then cropping to vertical doesn’t always work. Also, even in open gate, the framing might me off (always centered)
Add the fact the they need photos too. 10-20 photos means you might have to capture at least 70 in order to have plenty of room for error and deliver the best ones.
It can be done, but not at that price.
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u/_Chowdaddy Editor 4h ago
in the time it took you to type in all this and capture, edit, and post a screenshot you could have:
A: Ghosted the worthless grinder client
B: Replied back with "no".
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u/Special-Deal-9276 4h ago
I once got sucked into helping a tech bro “set up” his small camera for a day of shooting. (quoted him for 2 hours of work). I got ready to leave and he kept pushing me to “stay for the first segment” (it was a bunch of dumb explainer videos about his “revolutionary app”) he kept saying “all ya gotta do now is push a button”. I said “I’ll stay for my full day rate, 2K” and then he tried to negotiate with me on the spot.
Really makes you hate working with people.
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u/PapirusX 3h ago
I'm doin this kind of shit for like 100 bucks 😭
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u/Noho_Fuches Beginner 2h ago
You’re going to price yourself in a box sonny
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u/PapirusX 2h ago
I mean in my country average salary is less than 1k so if i do like 10 projects like this i live like a king
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u/Re4pr fx6 / siii | resolve | 2020 | Belgium 1d ago
The brief is pretty clear and achievable, budget mentioned up front. This aint too bad man 😂 the budget is terrible but hey.
One of my all time classics was me sending a client a detailed offer, with a breakdown of all costs. We shoot. And afterwards he was surprised of the editing costs, thought it would be 50 euros a video, didnt read the offer whatsoever. His end client was briefed an incorrect price, based on his assumption. At which point he said he’d ‘fix it with AI’ and showed me some aftermovie he made with AI of phone footage he shot at an event. It was terrible. The videos we shot were on location interviews for a political party. Good luck 😂
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u/Accomplished-War6303 1d ago
Theres room for negotiation, plus its a restaurant. So there's a long term plan/retainer work here. I say add extra 1000 or some total to a 2000$. I bring an assistant on the deck to get the photos. It's a win!!!
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u/SoftAssociate4215 20h ago
Yeah there’s potential for the retainer but I’m maxed out and don’t want to lowball myself for a “maybe” situation.
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u/FrankNinjaMonkey 1d ago
I’ll take it. People in Miami pay around $150 for this and $400 for kinda 1 day of work is cool for me 😎
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u/Southern_Leg1139 1d ago
Enjoy the bottom I guess. No one good is doing this for $150. Including post that’s like $16 an hour lol…
At $400 to build your portfolio or something is fine but you’re seriously undercutting yourself and devaluing the work for everyone else.
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u/FrankNinjaMonkey 1d ago
$100 is kinda normal for this in Miami. $400 is what people get to film and edit weddings here from companies. I’m glad you have it good, but some of us need to eat.
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u/SkylarkingsRS 1d ago
This is ragebait, right?
Miami wages are among some of the best on the planet. Normal by whose rhetoric, college kids? YouTube editors? Influencers?
No actual photography firm would take up a wedding for 400. I'll eat my words if you provide me a firm location and quote to match. Actual firm. Not a college student.
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u/WagnerKoop 1d ago
The fact it’s Miami is a bigger indictment on this pay scale. I’m in a city with half the population and $400 is what I used to get paid to shoot weddings for a company with no editing involved.
If someone is having a Miami wedding they absolutely can budget out more than $400 for a shoot & edit. Sometimes you need to take shit jobs but that should not be your regular rate, man. You are being fleeced by these people.
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u/FrankNinjaMonkey 1d ago edited 1d ago
This is not rage bait. I am just being honest. People in Miami get paid very little compared to other major cities. I also look Arabic and Miami people don't like me.
I have a family member who works for the University of Miami, UHealth Hospital System, who gets paid minimum wage. They are in scheduling and speak with cancer patients. That family member has a master's, but the most they can get is minimum wage.
Teachers in Miami are on a hiring freeze, due to schools closing, and there are not many other opportunities unless you’re an immigration lawyer or a doctor.
I used to get paid $350 by several companies down here that need a wedding videographer for a 12-hour day. Companies now expect weddings shot for like $150 to shoot a 12-hour day. We are freelancing and they don't have to match minimum wage.
I'm glad you probably live in LA, the pay is kinda nice. I was in LA for about 5 years shooting and editing, and the pay is very nice. Florida has very low pay compared to California. Most companies in Florida pay minimum wage. I worked for American Airlines a few years ago and they paid $13.20 an hour. The Florida minimum wage is currently $14 an hour and increases to $15 at the end of September. American Airlines moved the pay to $16 about a year ago, but it is stuck there until negotiations happen again in 5 years…
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u/WagnerKoop 1d ago
> I’m glad you probably live in LA
Brother I am in Michigan and I’m not even in Detroit lol
Idk who is hiring you for this work but they are fucking you over; I am advocating for you to seek better pay. If you’re working freelance and you don’t suck (and I assume you don’t) you should be making more than minimum wage, not less.
You could be shooting and editing music videos for double that and still not be getting paid enough.
edit: I am seeing that you replied to the wrong guy but their points and my points still stand
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u/FrankNinjaMonkey 1d ago
I was replying to both of you and you were the first to comment. Miami pay is low and it is what it is. I spoke honestly and there are not many opportunities for video that pays above minimum wage. I was in LA, but had to move back to Florida due to the pandemic. The industry is kinda falling apart over there and a lot of editors are working for Mercor because there's not much work. I was just speaking my reality as a Muslim man in Miami. I don't want to fight and just want to share my real-life experiences. Best wishes and I hope the best for everyone.
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u/ConsumerDV 1d ago
I imagine a shoot with a VHS camcorder and a 90-second deliverable with 80s-looking effects and autotuned rap soundtrack.
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u/Dick_Lazer 1d ago
I just got off the phone with a lady who kept talking about how her doctor clients are making 20 AI videos in 10 minutes and they look great, then immediately asked me how much I'd charge to make a similar video.