MarkA74 Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 Apologies if this is in the wrong section, or has been done to death before, but it's my first post! Just been looking through a list of freelancers and their daily rates. Now admittedly it has been six years since I was freelance, but when I was I charged £160 per day, £80 for prep / travel days and mileage at 50p per mile. Now freelancers seem to be charging around £190 - £225 per day and I'm wondering "should I go back to being freelance!" I just wondering is £190 - £225 the expected average these days? I'm guessing that £225 is about average for London area, with anything up to that figure outside London? Suggestions? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onlymeflb Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 Apologies if this is in the wrong section, or has been done to death before, but it's my first post! Just been looking through a list of freelancers and their daily rates. Now admittedly it has been six years since I was freelance, but when I was I charged £160 per day, £80 for prep / travel days and mileage at 50p per mile. Now freelancers seem to be charging around £190 - £225 per day and I'm wondering "should I go back to being freelance!" I just wondering is £190 - £225 the expected average these days? I'm guessing that £225 is about average for London area, with anything up to that figure outside London? Suggestions? Thanks! I hate to be the one to tell you, but there is a small thing called a global recession / global financial crisis thing going on at the moment. It's true rates have gone up a small amount, but it has taken a long time for the rates to increase, but there is no more work about than there was & with this credit crunch due to last for at least 2 years, I suggest you pause for thought .............So, bearing that in mind, if you could survive the odd month or two (say Dec - Feb) with no work, then only a few days in March then why not ! You will also need a very understanding family, as you will probably have to buy them really crap Xmas presents too. If like the rest of us, you can't, then I would suggest you are best off in your current (presumably employed) position !Oh & you will need to shell out for Public Liability insurance, travel insurance, training, protective clothing, boots, hats, googles, ear defenders, harness & everything else that some 'person' who sits in an office at the HSE has decided you now need to do the same job that you have been doing for the last 20 years without injuring yourself or anyone else.Then pay for baggage & excess baggage on the crappy 'cheap' airlines that fly you nowhere near where you thought you would be ! - Yes, that's you Ryanair & Sleazyjet etc.Then, you will be terrified that Labour will get in again & ###### it up for another few years & cost you more, for less, for longer, for what ?One more thing, jobs are jobs, it matters not where the job is - a job outside London should pay the same as anywhere else.I hope you get my drift, not wishing to be harsh, just honest !Good luck, we will all need it if this continues as is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Lee Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 My rates range from £200 to £300 per day plus travel. Fortunately I don't feel as negative as the previous poster and am ticking along quite nicely at the moment (in fact too busy, need some family time and rest). Maybe if it continues for longer and we go into the next financial year when the next budgets are decided it will be harder. Who knows? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDP Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 Arr, but David, you can do the job of 4 people - Lighting/Sound/Video/Graphics.... no wonder your busy! A mere touring man myself, I do lighting only, and only certain disciplines within that - crew chief and dimmer man :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnparrack Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 like above my diaries full, and I charge between £240 - £300 per day dependant upon what I'm doing within the video department. Be interesting to see what happens next year when the budgets are set for most clients...hopefully the worst will be over by then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stewart Newlands Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 You may want to consider the BECTU freelance rates as a benchmark: Lighting Technicians on major feature films agreement; Agreement covering freelance Lighting Technicians on major feature films. The current agreement is valid from 1 April 2008. http://www.bectu.org.uk/info/docs/download...hfilm200804.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david.elsbury Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 Arr, but David, you can do the job of 4 people - Lighting/Sound/Video/Graphics.... no wonder your busy!A mere touring man myself, I do lighting only, and only certain disciplines within that - crew chief and dimmer man :)Arr [sic], maybe you should consider branching out a bit then, JDP... sounds like you wish you were busier, and multiple diciplines is a great way to make money! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Lee Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 Do I know you JDP (and is that a good thing? :) ) I suppose I'll be accused of stealing work from proper lampies/ noise boys/ vidiots and button pushers :( Today I'm a lampie with 2 x Pearls ans 1 x Chamsys. Next week a member of the video dept. edit - just realised, you must have read my profile ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indyld Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 Mark, if I were you I might be asking myself "Should I be broadcasting the fact that I am thinking about going freelance to the world, including my current employers?" ;-) But maybe you have that covered. Your assumptions about current day rates are not far off. The question is, do you want to start freelancing again in this market at the present time? While some others on the BR are starting to get twitchy and asking questions about their prospects (man, this subject has suddenly become hot stuff around here), you are thinking it might be time to give it another go. Well, I don't know what's best for you and I don't think anyone knows what's going to happen in the next 12 months. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lightnix Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 There's a school of thought, which says that the value of money halves roughly every ten years. Ten years ago, I was charging £175-180 a day; which makes £190 look a bit of a sick joke and £225 not much better IMO - especially when you consider the hours involved. A fair few people seem to be able to command £250 a day, but still... Current daily rates should be closer to the £350 mark; not just because of all the additional expenses that freelancers are required to pick up these days, but because of the additional skills required to be a good all-rounder now, e.g. LED matrices, ArtNet, media servers and whatnot. Working as a freelance tech is definitely NOT the well-paid job it once was, if you look at it in real terms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaggy Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 Don't want to bring this party down to earth but £190-225 seems to be the very high end of the scale. I know of lots of people working for a lot less outside of London, sometimes even below £100. Amount earned seems reasonably unrelated to skill level, experience and attitude. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDP Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 Don't want to bring this party down to earth but £190-225 seems to be the very high end of the scale. I know of lots of people working for a lot less outside of London, sometimes even below £100. Amount earned seems reasonably unrelated to skill level, experience and attitude. Yer, but with all due respect, Shaggy, are these people 23 as well? Sorry, £190 - £225 IS average, if your good, and experienced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnparrack Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 Don't want to bring this party down to earth but £190-225 seems to be the very high end of the scale. I know of lots of people working for a lot less outside of London, sometimes even below £100. Amount earned seems reasonably unrelated to skill level, experience and attitude. You must be working for all the wrong people my friend.. I haven't gone as low as £225 in 2 years and haven't earn't less than that in a while...when I first went freelance 9 years ago my base rate was £185. I even was on £135 as a full timer at Blitz! The £100 or lower is usually the smaller av companies, and I don't think you'll find many high end freelancers getting out of bed for that kind of money, even in a so called recession. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDP Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 Also, John, I THINK being a video man is more well paid than lampies and nosie boys, or at least it is in the corporate environments, and about the same on touring RnR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkA74 Posted October 29, 2008 Author Share Posted October 29, 2008 Cheers guys, All useful info! I used to be an "all-rounder", so Monday could be sound, but on Tuesday I could be doing camera, Wednesday may be followspot. Therefore I'd hope to pick up work from most AV companies. I understand why some posters may think "hold tight, stick with what you've got until the credit crunch passes", but equally some seem to have more work than they know what to do with! Thanks again! M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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