Short Film Compensation?

Does anyone here know what would be reasonable to expect compensation-wise for scoring a 14-page CSU senior thesis short film?

Hey,

First off, you need to figure out how long the actual film is, not the script length. Then figure out an appropriate rate for the per minute cost.

One important thing to know is if the director wants exclusive or non-exclusive rights to the music.

Exclusive means you're selling all of the rights to the music to the director. You cannot re-sell the music to anyone else, and the director will be able to use the music in any way without having to give you notice or royalties.

Non-exclusive rights means you're allowing the director to use your music, but you keep all of the rights. In this case, you'll be able to resell or reuse the music as you see fit. Also the director will only be able to use your music in this one project unless you give further permission. It can also mean that you can collect royalties. All of this depends on your contract, which I HIGHLY recommend you only work under contract.

Exclusive rights are always more expensive than non-exclusive rights because this is the one time you can profit from your creation. It is industry standard to charge 10 times the amount of the non-exclusive rate.

Now, for the rate amount: really depends on you. How much experience do you have? How much of a budget does the film maker have? How much is your time and work worth? I cannot answer the questions for you, only you can.

I charge roughly $300-$400 per minute of audio composed. I know guys that charge up to $700 per minute of audio composed and the industry standard is floating between $500-$700 per minute. I doubt you'll be able to charge this, but I've always found clients are more apt to agree to a figure if you show them the logic behind the numbers. For example, you can say something like:

I charge $10 per minute of audio. Your film is 10 minutes long, so it will cost you $100. Again, get everything in writing. A contract can really help keep everything clear and protect both the buyer and the seller! Better safe than sorry!!

K, so I have to copy what nathan said. ALWAYS WORK UNDER A CONTRACT. Even if you do this project for fun/publicity and not for the money, you absolutely need to protect your rights. As a beginning film composer, I wouldn't expect to get paid more than a couple hundred dollars (100-800 and up if you're lucky) for a film less than an hour.

Hi every body,

I was wondering if you know a site were to post music for films to earn money with our compositions.

thanks,

bruno

Best to set up your own site with some sample compositions and a brief CV. Then you can send the link round. There's almost no hope that any of the big composers who employ others will search for music themselves. I know that Hans Zimmer receives about 50 demos/links a week! Then, if you strike lucky be prepared to go where the guy needs you.

Anything else musical you can do well might help so if you're a pianist include a couple of samples of you playing.

thanks for the advice montpellier.