Shoot Concept – Location lifestyle shoot
Licensing – US advertising, collateral and publicity use of all images in perpetuity (9 Scenarios, 20 Selects)
Location – Client storefront
Shoot Days – One
Photographer – Lifestyle, portrait specialist, w/o much campaign experience
Agency – Major agency based in the northeast
Client – A national brand with a physical presence in a handful of major metro areas
Here’s the estimate (click to enlarge):
One of our East Coast-based photographers asked me to pull together an estimate for his first major ad campaign/production not too long ago. The art buyer had provided a thorough creative brief detailing the required usage, shot list, and location information. The agency wanted to create a variety of lifestyle images of the client’s customers enjoying one of its storefronts in a major city on the east coast (local to the photographer).
The brief detailed nine scenarios, all with a naturally-lit lifestyle feel, featuring six talent and a few extras, portraying staff and customers, all enjoying the amenities of the Client’s storefront/space. Most of the shots would be pretty tight, with a shallow depth of field, falling off into a bright, airy and lively background. The licensing requested was five years of “unlimited” exclusive use in the US for all images captured. However in the same document, they detailed that they only wanted 20 images processed. So even though they requested unlimited use of all images, the number of scenarios/shots was limited to nine (which limits the number of unique images available) and the agency only expected to walk away with 20 selects. This helped me wrap my head around the value to the client, and it seemed as though the client/agency hoped the shoot would yield nine unique shots and 11 variations of those shots. Since it was a lifestyle shoot, there is a bit more potential for significant variation within a given scenario. This means that within one scenario, two fairly unique images can be captured because the camera and subject aren’t locked down too tightly (not to mention interesting crops and a range of expressions/activities). On the other hand, the size of the storefront seriously limited the available options and made the nine scenarios considerably less unique than they could have been in a larger more diverse space. Another noteworthy consideration was the fact that although the client is a national brand, the particular type of storefront they were aiming to promote only exists in a handful of major cities across the country. As a result, their national exposure would be restricted to those 15 cities (and according to a bit of research, the client only planned to add locations in three other cities in the next few years).
When determining the licensing fee(s) for any project featuring multiple shots of the same product or idea, you have to ask “how much value are these additional images going to provide the client? How many images might it take for the client to achieve their campaign goal?” If you are shooting one hero shot and subtle variations that don’t do much to achieve/further the brand message, I would tend to assess a considerably lower value on those variations. This is a somewhat standard thought process for us when setting licensing fees. In this case, we priced the licensing by the scenario, with the belief that the first option would be considerably more valuable than the other eight. The first image makes the campaign, the second image doesn’t double the effectiveness or reach so the value starts to taper off as you work your way down from the first image, eventually plateauing.
Based on all of these factors, we broke down the fees as 5000.00 for the first scenario, 2000.00 each for the second and third, and 1000.00 for every scenario beyond that, adding up to 15,000.00. Our thought process typically lands us in the right ballpark, but it’s usually a bit too complicated to share with the agency/client. Additionally, we like to present a combined creative and licensing fee which may factor in volume and our arithmetic may change if the client/agency came back asking for fewer images. If the client wanted to shoot fewer images/scenarios, perhaps we wouldn’t taper the fee as sharply (for instance, if they only wanted six images we may price images 4-6 slightly higher, than we did initially). Presenting licensing/shoot fees as a lump sum gives us the flexibility to adjust the rates during negotiations.
Tech/Scout Day – We included a full tech/scout day for the photographer and agency to walk through the location, nail down the shot list and angles in advance of the shoot day and help the photographer determine how much supplemental lighting would be necessary.
Assistant Days – The photographer wanted two assistants for this shoot. We included an extra day for the first so that he/she could attend the tech/scout day with the photographer.
Digital Tech Day – The digital tech would help to manage the file intake and display for client review on set. This rate includes the basic workstation rental as well.
Equipment – This covered the one day rental costs for a medium format camera system, a backup DSLR, grip equipment and lighting. The photographer planned to rent some of her own gear to the production at the market rate.
Producer Days: I included four producer days: two prep, one tech/scout, one shoot. The producer allows handles all logistical concerns so that the photographer, agency and client can focus on creative.
Production Assistant: If an issue requires attention or an errand needs to be run, you don’t want to lose your producer, pull a photo assistant or inconvenience the agency. A PA is a tremendously valuable asset to have on any sizable production.
Shoot Processing for Client Review: This covered the time, equipment and costs to handle the basic color correction, edit and upload of all of the images to an FTP for the selection process.
Selects Processed for Reproduction – This covered color correction and basic touch up of the 20 selects. Any necessary retouching (major compositing etc.) would be estimated/billed separately.
Casting & Talent: We estimated for a local casting agent to hold a live casting to source the six hero talent we needed. The talent rates were set by the ad agency (I would have edged them up a bit higher to guarantee we attracted a solid talent pool). The extras would be pulled from willing talent from the casting and friends of the crew. We also indicated that the agency would be responsible for all talent payment directly.
Stylists & Wardrobe/Props: We budgeted for a four person styling crew to handle hair/make-up, wardrobe and minor props (like briefcases, handbags and electronics). Had the prop direction been substantially more elaborate, we would have considered dedicated prop stylist. As it was, we felt that the stylist and one assistant could manage. Our wardrobe stylist estimated 2000.00 non-returnable purchases and rentals for the hero talent (the extras would provide their own wardrobe).
Production RV: With a crew this large shooting at a smaller location, an RV would provide a staging area, bathroom, WIFI and and client lounge. 1100.00/day is a pretty good rate (inclusive of milage, wifi, generator and dumping), and would have given me pause had I not worked with this particular RV on a previous shoot (they’d done a great job).
Catering: Between the crew, location, talent, agency and client, I estimated 28 bodies on set. I called a few caterers who specialize in productions and got quote ranging from 800-1200.00. The flourishes made up the difference, for the most part, so I opted for the caterer who quoted 800.00 and padded the estimate by 100.00 just in case the agency or client decided to bring 2-3 people.
Miles, Expendables, FTP, COI and Misc. – This covered the basic out of pocket expenses the photographer would accrue between mileage, FTP costs, Certificate of Insurance (ranging from free to 50.00/COI depending on your insurance company) and any other miscellaneous expenses that may arise.
Housekeeping (see the project description) – I noted all of the production elements the client would be providing: Location, releases, food, food prep, branded props, branded wardrobe.
Results, Hindsight and Feedback – As it turned out, the budget was 50k, so we’d managed to come in just under the wire and the photographer was awarded the job which he knocked it out of the park.
Need help estimating or producing a project? Please reach out. We’re available to help with any and all pricing and negotiating needs, from small stock sales to large ad campaigns.