Will Work for Free: Shooting Charity Video

Every once in a while a charity video shooting project comes along that piques my interest, even though I know I won’t get a dime out of the job.

Most video producers, at some time in their career, are approached by someone looking to get free services from them ‘out of the goodness of their heart’ or ‘for the love of the project’. Many times, this person who approached the video producer is completely clueless to how much time is involved in making even a simple 2-minute video. Shooting charity video is usually one of these causes.

Recently, a non-video producer contacted one of my compadres to edit 9 hours of stage performances down to a 5 minute promotional piece. My associate was wary of what he would be expected to deliver and most of the reluctance was the ‘nine hours of footage’… anything over an hour is a nightmare if it’s not well-shot or well-logged. We’re talking about possibly a couple 40-hour work weeks just cutting it down.

The standard “rate” one edits is roughly based on a time-conversion-by-edited-footage ratio.

1 minute of edited footage = 1 hour of editing time – minimum. Based on that, the performance footage would yield a minimum of a 5-7 hour project, but the added amount of footage translates to a 540:7 ratio – that is, 540 minutes of raw footage to a 7 minute edited piece, which might end up making the work involved to be roughly 9 hours per edited minute,  which factors to 63 hours of work!

Unless the contractor has full blocks of footage he already knows will be cut out and depending on how well organized he is, this is still quite a time-consuming project. I wonder if he is a aware and willing to pay the price for this work? People don’t value the time it takes for editors to do their magic!

What Price Pro for Hire?

Some time back, I blogged about a couple situations when twice I was hired to do a video, then the contractor balked at a ‘below minimum wage’ quote. In each incident, the people had lots of money at their disposal, they just didn’t want to spend it on my work. My blog,  What Price Pro for Hire? got a number of people responding, and I suspect it was because they, too, have been treated unfairly by contractors.

Forums member robGRAUERT summed it up well when he wrote: “Video is a powerful tool that requires skill if it’s to be effective. People need to respect it.” While forums member jusbe said he was a professional who had “developed and paid for skills with blood, sweat, tears, time and cash.” He added, “Tough luck if a multi-national electronics company sold them the idea that all you need to be a skilled videographer is a fancy amateur camera.”

When I was approached two years ago, I was given the standard “it can help me break in the business and open doors… earn my dues…” lines, when, of course, I paid my dues 30+ years ago when I first started working in TV.

For the Love of the Project

Which, actually, brings me to my original point. Last weekend I DID do a charity shoot – for free – because I felt good about the cause and I went into it knowing I wasn’t going to be paid – but… I stuck to my guns about several points: “I will shoot the event only, but I won’t edit it. I will hand the tape over to whomever you get to edit it and will be done with it. I ask for my full name and title to be acknowledged on the credits, and I do not want the tape back or any other associations with the project.”

The shoot was planned to be a one-hour event, but ended up costing me four hours of my time; but I didn’t regret it because I went into it with full knowledge of was expected of me. And I enjoyed the work.

Charity work CAN get you great recognition, there are hundreds of YouTube videos being made every year to help support some cause from traditional well-known charity organizations like the Red Cross to small local fund-raisers to help a family that’s recently lost their home to fire. There are even video production houses, now, that specialize in producing charity video for a discount, and many contests that can get you started.  To stand out from the crowd, you need to deliver a clean product, regardless of how you are compensated.

What price should you place on doing charity work? You really need to consider the organization and your skill level, and also what they expect to do with the video. If it is going to be a series, then you might bid lower for the first one, if they like your work you might convince them to compensate you for more later on.

Shooting charity video can be rewarding, as long as you go in with an open mind and know you might gain nothing but a pat on the back. Charity video shooting isn’t for everyone and I wouldn’t do it too often myself, but I did experience a nice Autumn day in the park, and feel honored to help the cause.

To find out more about getting paid for your video work, check out these stories from Videomaker: From Pay to Profit, and 5 Steps to More Profit From Video.

You can win some free video tools, just by donating to the Japanese earthquake relief efforts overseas. Or just donate to help because Japan needs our help, and they’ve supported our hobby, career and love of video creation all these years.

For years we’ve enjoyed their technological innovations, we’ve used their products, enjoyed their technical advancements, salivated over the latest techno ‘gee-whiz’ toy they released. Our visits to Las Vegas for the Consumer’s Electronics Show (CES) and National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) every year remind us of their importance to our industry and our lives, now the Japanese are in dire pain and despair, and video producers are giving back. You have a chance of winning some video gear at NAB 2011 due to the efforts of producer-director Philip Bloom.

The massive earthquake, then the following tsunami, and now radiation in the very air they breathe, water they drink and food they eat, has touched every single person living in the entire island country of Japan in ways few can completely understand.

Factories that build our gadgets are closing, companies that deliver our goods are unable to process the orders, and benevolent producers like world-renowned documentarian Philip Bloom are reaching out to help.

Bloom posted a “Help Japan” message on his website, offering a chance to win an iPad – his very own iPad – as incentive to donors. Other manufacturers of techno and video gadgets stepped up to the challenge and also offered “prizes” in Bloom’s drawing for cash donations to the Japanese Relief fund.

Do you recognize any of these names? GoPro, Marshall, Kessler Crane, Letus, Zacuto, Digieffects, Redrock, Redgiant, and Cineroid? You should, we’ve written about every one of them in Videomaker and they all have some connection to Japan – either due to design, or build or accessories for their products. All of these companies have donated gear for the drawing.

Bloom’s drawing will be held at NAB 2011 in Las Vegas in a few weeks, and participants need not be present to win. Many people have donated to the causes posted on Bloom’s site stating they don’t want a prize, only to help those that have given so much to the video world. Where would we be today without these companies’ designs, innovations and support?

Everyday, Videomaker hears news from companies we work with – Robin Hoffman of JVC sent us a note confirming JVC’s employees are safe, DisplaySearch tells us the chemicals needed in some semiconductors and LCD displays are affected and the supply chain is on hold.

Our own CEO, Matt York, was in Japan just 2 days before this tremendous quake, meeting with Sony reps about their latest releases in the NXCAM family. Some Sony plants have been shut down, and other companies like Canon, Panasonic, Hitachi, Grass Valley and more – all companies you read about every day in the pages of Videomaker – have been affected. Sony is donating 300 million Japanese yen to help the country and 30,000 radios to help get news updates to citizens.

So check out Bloom’s site – or follow the links below. These relief agencies below are the ones posted to Bloom’s site. If you donate and can prove a receipt, follow up with Bloom’s site for a chance to win – or just join in the conversation.

World Vision , Mercy Corps , Islamic Relief USA , Red Cross

NAB 2011 will be a somber one this year, I know it will stand as a reminder of how small this world has become and how we all share in concern for our friends across the Pacific. Our thoughts and deepest condolences go out to all of those who have lost loved ones during the tragedy.

What value does a professional video producer place on their work? What happens when you contract video work for hire and the client doesn’t honor the work? What price pro for hire?

A couple years ago,  I received a phone call from a woman in tears. She’s a good client of a friend of mine and the caller was going through some deep personal drama. Her mother had just days to live, and she was looking for someone to make a memorial video for the funeral. Knowing I offer this service, my friend, Cathy, suggested she give me a call. I offered my condolences, gently tried to explain to her that time was of essence, and she’d need to get photos to me as soon as possible and I’d make a nice piece for her. “Thank you,” she said, “my mother was a wonderful woman and deserves the best”. I then quoted her a price of $300 and she hesitated… and said she’d get back to me.

A week later, another associate told me she had contacted him, stating I was asking too much money, and she offered him $100 to do it and he turned her down. She then went to the person who manages her website, and he agreed to do it for $150.
Read the rest of this entry »