how much?

[poridge]

hey all,

 

ok im new to all this, I have been working as an amateur for the last few years with a small team. I have been approached by a local school to assist them in there school production it lasts for 4 nights. we thought a fair price would be £200 total. but with no experience of cost before am unsure wethter this is reasonable or not. any advice would be apriciated

 

thanks

[iamchristuffin]

There are a few things you need to tell us before we can give an opinion:

 

Is the amount for you, or for you and the team?

What would you be expected to do?

What sort of show is it?

And would you be employed, or 'paid volunteer'?

 

 

Chris

[MarkPAman]

It really depends on what assisstance you will be providing & how much time it will take. You say it lasts 4 nights, but how much rehearsal/tech time do you need to do?

 

More information please!

[poridge]

we will be required to run a full musical with 12 radio mics full lighting backstage.

the money is for a team of 3 inc me and the tech rehearsal is incin that time period

[Ynot]

To be perfectly honest it really depends on you.

 

Is this an attempt to start a career (either full or part time) as a travelling technician?

Or is it that the school have offered to pay you for the services that you have til now offered for free (as many a good amateur probably would)?

 

If it's anything more than pocket money, then you need to think of what the job is worth to you.

If it's just you and no kit (other than your tools and any relevant PPE) then £200 is perhaps a good newbie starting point for 4 'days' work assuming those 'days' are 4 hour evenings op'ing and you have maybe a couple of fuller days rigging and setting up. But the school are perhaps unworldly in paying for theatre techs

- they may jump at it, or they may think 'whoa! that's over our budget!'.

 

Freelancers tend to run out at around £140+ for a full day's work. My last (very infrequent) freelance job came in at £180, but were significantly more than a school show, and likely longer hours than you'll put in there. Casual wages are lower - likely around £9 per hr for basic tech work, but again can vary.

 

But as I say - decide why YOU are doing this job and pitch it accordingly.

[w/robe]

Another consideration as an amateur (and the rest of us in different ways) must be do you want to do it?

 

If it will be fun to do then the school are paying for your transport and for your team to have a couple of pints after the last show.

If it is a JOB then they are not paying enough.

 

Only you can decide where on a scale of 'free' to 'pro. charges' this show comes.

 

Edit-Ynot sliped his post in while I was typing

[iamchristuffin]

Would this be all day for the four days, or just 5pm onwards?

 

If full days, my feeling is you should be asking for at least that amount per person.

[Ynot]

we will be required to run a full musical with 12 radio mics full lighting backstage.

the money is for a team of 3 inc me and the tech rehearsal is incin that time period

Ah - in that case, especially if you're providing kit, then £200 is just pocket money. :** laughs out loud **:

 

A concurrent post has been automatically merged from this point on.

 

Would this be all day for the four days, or just 5pm onwards?

 

If full days, my feeling is you should be asking for at least that amount per person.

 

At which point I suspect the school will be saying "Thanks but no thanks!!"

[iamchristuffin]

Maybe, but at least they've had the option. The school would be the ones losing out. In the end, as you said Tony, it comes back to whether George wants to do it, or wants/needs the money.

 

On another note, George, I notice you're either still at school, or working at a school. Can I ask how old you are?

 

Chris

[steve1159]

If my maths and understanding is correct that means the 3 of you each get £16.66 per night which even if you assume you can get away with a 3 hour call is below the minimum wage. If you are just looking at it as helping out and effectively some beer money then potentially it is fine and really up to you. If you are trying to do it at any sort of professional level then it is laughable. The other thing you need to consider is the question of liability. I am assuming that you don't have any sort of insurance in place so if you were unfortunate and someone got hurt or there was an accident who ends up carrying the can. I suspect the school will quickly look to remove it self from any liability possibly on the grounds that they were paying for you as a professional. You should also consider your position from a CRB perspective.

 

I am sure you are just looking to help out but as with so many things today you have to be so careful that you have covered your back before someone decides they can make a quick buck by suing you.

[poridge]

On another note, George, I notice you're either still at school, or working at a school. Can I ask how old you are?

 

sure im 16 and at that school. tbh the money is just for beer money etc (or pop) however the rest of my team work full time and are 23 and 40sum.

 

I will in the future be looking to go freelance after time at uni. so if anybody has any advice or anythingthat would be usefull alternitively feel free to add my msn, id love to chat

 

pporidge@hotmail.com

[gareth]

So the school that you're a pupil at have asked you to do sound and lighting for the school show, and you want to charge them for doing it?! :** laughs out loud **:

 

Just to clarify - who have the school asked? You, as a pupil? Or someone else, from outside the school and with whom you happen to do lighting/sound sometimes? Have the school already mentioned giving someone money in return for services rendered? Or is this something that you're posting about in here in advance of asking the school?

[poridge]

no the school asked me, there are only 2 people in the school that no how to use the equiptment me and the techi but he walked out ** laughs out loud **. so they asked me. However I mentioned to them that I could not run a show on my own and would need a small team, so they asked for a price. were not bothered about the money really just wundered what you guys thought about it

[paulears]

I do the occasional freebie for schools, but very often playing something in the band, not doing technical stuff. Last year I did one that didn't even have fuel or food money, so I was out of pocket. I didn't mind. When it was clear that all the clever radio mix and audio kit they'd hired in couldn't be just set and left, I suggested they call Viking in Norwich and explain they were stuck. Ian at Viking asked if any of his people fancied doing it, and the school paid them direct. It cost them the going rate for a real skilled technical body. I didn't object even though I was doing a freebie. If you like the idea of doing it, and don't really need the money, and wouldn't be doing anything else apart from wasting at home - then take what's on offer and enjoy yourself.

 

I don't think I have ever been mercenary about money, and now I don't even worry about it, I pick and choose. I'll do a cheap job for a pensioner if they're nice, and I charge proper rates on jobs that need me when I don't really want to do it. I'm happy to do some less taxing stuff for less than £100 a day, but some other jobs automatically expect me to charge really large amounts. Over the year, I'm happy. Schools will willingly pay £300 for somebody to go and do something for them that they value - so £200 is petty cash really. One thing to watch is that it very often, as mentioned, has strings attached. If you are expecting cash in hand, this could be a problem - it will be a cheque, and possibly take ages, and if it's for all of you, somebody will have to bank it, then pay out the lads - which could well make you an employer? That's probably never going to happen, but the schools auditors will want a paper trail.

[gareth]

there are only 2 people in the school that no how to use the equiptment

There's the problem, then. Rather than wasting money paying your mates (who, with all due respect to you and them, may or may not really know what they're doing) to come and op the equipment for a show, I reckon they'd do much better using the funds to pay for someone knowledgable (not just a student who 'kind of' knows how it all works - I mean a lighting/sound professional) to come in and do a day's training.

 

A day would be more than enough to get a handful of people up to speed on the basic operational skills required for a small sound and lighting system - heck, another couple of hundred on top and you'd probably be able to get someone to come along for the whole four days and lead a team of keen pupils through the technical requirements for the show as a sort of training exercise.

 

The down-side, from your point of view, is that you wouldn't be able to say you'd 'saved the day' yourself. And once a few more people had been trained you wouldn't be the only one who knew how everything worked - and if more people are able to take an active role in looking after the technical side of the production it takes a lot of the load off you, and builds in a bit of 'redundancy' in case there's ever an occasion when you can't make it into school for a show. Yes, it'll take away some of the kudos of being "the important guy who's the only one who knows how it all works", but what's more important - the technical standards of the school's productions, or your ego?