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Rate Adjustment

 
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Mike Harrison
M&M


Joined: 03 Nov 2007
Posts: 2029
Location: Equidistant from New York City and Philadelphia, along the NJ Shore

PostPosted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 10:10 am    Post subject: Rate Adjustment Reply with quote

I'm quoting a job based on a usage fee schedule that was last updated in July 2003.

Can anyone please guess at a percentage I might add to make the fees more up to date?

Thanks so much.
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Mike
Male Voice Over Talent
I have taken leave of my sensors.

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Bruce
Boardmeister


Joined: 06 Jun 2005
Posts: 7977
Location: Portland, OR

PostPosted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 6:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Netflix is raising their rates as much as 60% on video rental and streaming....just a thought.

Pressure to keep rates down has been fairly strong, however corporate profits have been restored in most sectors and the stock market is way above $12,000, higher than it was at the beginning of the recession in early 2008, so there's strong argument for boosting your rates decently.

Plus, I'm betting you're an even better voiceoverist than you were 5 years ago. That's got to count for something, too.

B
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VO-BB Member #31 Enlisted June, 2005

I'm not a Zoo, but over the years I've played one on radio/TV. .


Last edited by Bruce on Wed Jul 13, 2011 3:59 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Mike Harrison
M&M


Joined: 03 Nov 2007
Posts: 2029
Location: Equidistant from New York City and Philadelphia, along the NJ Shore

PostPosted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 7:01 am    Post subject: Rate Adjustment: UPDATED Reply with quote

Whoa... thanks for that, Bruce! Smile

Because I think this might be of interest to everyone, here's the whole story (and I'll try to keep it as brief as possible).

A casting/production house in Dubai solicited a quote for "a :30 TV commercial VO that would air in the GCC countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE) for 6 months." (No idea who the client/product was)

Having no clue as to where I would begin to find session rate info (let alone usage fees) for this part of the planet, a friend referred me to http://www.usefee.tv/. This is a great rate calculator, however I discovered the rates were last updated in July 2003.

The figure it gave me was in British Pounds and for a year, so I halved it, then converted it to US dollars (or vice-versa). Then, the only thing I could do was to guess an arbitrary yearly percentage increase. I figured a rough cost-of-living increase would be between 3 and 5 percent, so I went with the lower (3% x 8 years). All of this calculating, converting and guessing brought the figure to just under $1500. Then I added the AFTRA session fee for off-camera talent - $445, and then rounded up to $2000. A :30 TV spot aired for 6 months in 6 countries? I thought that was very fair, probably even low.

No way. The production house wrote back saying the most they could pay - all-inclusive - was $560.

Anyone have any feedback on this? Was I really that far out of the ballpark? Is there a better and easier way to work up rates for other countries?
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Mike
Male Voice Over Talent
I have taken leave of my sensors.

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Philip Banks
Je Ne Sais Quoi


Joined: 20 Jun 2005
Posts: 11074
Location: Portgordon, Scotland

PostPosted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 7:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

If someone asks you for a quote they are areally seeing if you re able to (a) guess waht they are prepared to pay or (b) hoping you will come under what they are prepared to pay so numbers, percentages, inflation adjustments are academic.

Basic studio fee for a TV commercial before any use is around £200 in the UK. As far as I'm aware 100% still means the same as it did in 2003.
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Bruce
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Joined: 06 Jun 2005
Posts: 7977
Location: Portland, OR

PostPosted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 4:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

One way to look at it is that the population total of those countries is about 41 million peeps, or about 13% of the U.S. population. Therefore, $560 would be the equivalent of doing a 6-month run of a nationwide spot here for $4,300.

Yeah, I know, a bit of apples and kumquats on the logic there, but it's something to ponder. Plus, 60% of the viewers over there will never listen to you or understand a word you say, so at most 16 million might ever hear your voice. Plus, will being heard a lot over there ever hurt your chances of being hired over here for a spot in Bayonne?

As one of our illustrious members (initials B.S.) has said, it's hard to turn down any offer if it's at all reasonable.

I do the over-thinking so you don't have to.

B
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I'm not a Zoo, but over the years I've played one on radio/TV. .
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Mike Harrison
M&M


Joined: 03 Nov 2007
Posts: 2029
Location: Equidistant from New York City and Philadelphia, along the NJ Shore

PostPosted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 5:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

So, there's really no way to actually 'calculate' a rate because, as Philip says, they're just hoping we'll either guess what their budget is (they never tell you up-front), or come in under it?

And, how does one know whether an offer is reasonable, when what they're offering for a 6-month run is not a whole lot more than what a nice, meaty narration would bring?

It does get frustrating when you spend hours trying desperately to find what you believe is a fair rate - and the client needs a reply quickly, only to have it blow up in your face. In cases like this, some would advise doing it for the rate offered, while others would say 'piss off.'

It's like walking a tightrope with no net.
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Mike
Male Voice Over Talent
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Bruce
Boardmeister


Joined: 06 Jun 2005
Posts: 7977
Location: Portland, OR

PostPosted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 7:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The phrase, "What's in your wallet?" comes to mind.

If $560 is no big deal to you and you don't think that's enough for a half hour of your labor, absolutely, tell them to piss off. If you dread hearing the sniggling behind your back of Bahraini media moguls the next time they see you walk the streets of Manama*, I wouldn't touch the job with a 10 foot tent pole.

B
---
* It's lovely there in the capital city this time of year. Sunny today with a high of 104º, low of 91º
.
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I'm not a Zoo, but over the years I've played one on radio/TV. .
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JTVG
Backstage Pass


Joined: 21 Jun 2007
Posts: 433

PostPosted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 8:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Not to change topic, but Netflix may not really compare in this situation because I suspect they are in part raising the DVD subscription rates in effort to encourage people to downgrade to a stream-only plan. Sounds crazy, but I read an article a couple of months ago talking about how Netflix wants to phase out DVDs completely and just feature streaming selections because mail isn't cost-effective. One thing they did was to make it more difficult to add a DVD to your queue. Now, with the price hike, people are more likely to downgrade rather than cancel completely and those that want to pay extra can do so. Either way, Netflix makes more money. It's genius, in an evil sort of way.
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Joe Szymanski
http://www.joethevoiceguy.com
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