Rate Questions
How does the hourly and guaranteed overtime payment structure work?
More often than not, you will see filmmakers and production companies alike bill for day rates. These are rates of pay that cover our work for the whole day at a set number of hours. Filmmakers typically charge something like "$500/10" or "$300/12". This is the amount of money they'll be making to show up on set for the day and denotes when their hourly overtime starts. So, if you have a "10-hour agreement" with someone, that means they'll start to accrue overtime if the production day exceeds 10 hours.
Deeper than this though, we have to be able to account for our work hourly. So, no matter what, technically the filmmakers are still making hourly, day rates just help productions budget their shoots with easier numbers.
With my rate specifically, I charge $800/10. This includes 8 hours of work at my "base hourly" and entitles me to two hours of what we call "guaranteed overtime". Breaking this down, my base hourly is $72.73 per hour. For 8 hours of work, this comes out to $581.84 and then my overtime (1.5x hourly) is $109.09 per hour which makes the last two hours of my day worth $218.18 and if you add that to the 8 hours at my base, you get to the day rate of $800.02... which I rounded down to $800 for easy numbers.
This way, no matter what happens to the production, I can still bill fairly at a predictable rate. For example, say our day wraps at the 16-hour mark. It happens, days run long sometimes. Nothing about my quoted day rate at $800 will change because it's based on hourly. But, we will add another 2 hours of overtime (1.5x hourly) to our total bringing us to 12 hours and an additional $218.18. From there, we will add 3 hours of double time (2x hourly) at $145.46 hour bringing us up to 15 hours and an additional $436.38. Because of the new IATSE agreement, that sixteenth hour will be billed at triple time ($218.19 per hour) bringing our final total for the day up to 16 hours and $1,672.77
"But, if I hire someone who bills this way, why does it matter if I give them a 10-hour or 12-hour deal?" It matters because it affects their base hourly. If you're including 4 hours of OT in your day rate, on a $300/12, then their base hourly rate is $21.43, if you hire that same person at $300/10 then their base hourly is $27.27. This is typically how lower positions like PAs get swindled out of OT penalties for being kept on set for long days. Well-compensated crew members will work their butts off to give you the best product they possibly can.
What do those terms and conditions say at the bottom of your rate card?
**The following list is for reference only. Please read the full contract before signing.
1. Payment is due 15 days after receipt of the invoice (NET15).
2. Mailing and processing time must be factored in to meet the due date listed on the invoice.
3. Late payments will incur a 2% late fee which will compund weekly.
4. Cancellation of shoot days is subject to fees.
5. Equipment provided to production is to be considered a rental, not a “kit fee”.
6. Production is to provide a Certificate of Insurance (COI) for all equipment rented and assumes liability for equipment damage/loss/theft/etc.
7. Silas Elias retains copyright ownership of media created until the invoice is paid in full.