An Industry Guide on rates you should be charging - talent side

One of the top questions we are asked is “What should I charge, or as a client, what should I pay?”

The question comes from seasoned veterans of the industry and newbies alike. We have put together some standard industry guide rates to help you set your budget for your next project.

Talent type: Model or Commercial Actor

• Entry level talent: $95 (minimum hourly rate) or $700 (day rate)
• Intermediate level talent: $200 (standard hourly rate) or $1600 (day rate)
• Experienced talent: $350 (professional hourly rate) or $2900 and up (day rate)

Talent type: Photographer or Videographer

• Beginner level talent: $100 (minimum hourly rate) or $800 (day rate)
• Intermediate level talent: $200 (standard hourly rate) or $1600 (day rate)
• Experienced talent: $1000 (professional hourly rate) or $8000 and up (day rate)

Talent type: Hair and Makeup Artists or Stylists

• Beginner level talent: $75 (minimum hourly rate) or $400 (day rate)
• Intermediate level talent: $150 (standard hourly rate) or $1200 (day rate)
• Experienced talent: $350 (professional hourly rate) or $2800 and up (day rate)

Talent type: Dancers

• Beginner level talent: $95 (minimum hourly rate) or $700 (day rate)
• Intermediate level talent: $200 (standard hourly rate) or $1600 (day rate)
• Experienced talent: $350 (professional hourly rate) or $2900 and up (day rate)

Talent type: MCs or Presenters

• Beginner level talent: $95 (minimum hourly rate) or $700 (day rate)
• Intermediate level talent: $200 (standard hourly rate) or $1600 (day rate)
• Experienced talent: $350 (professional hourly rate) or $2900 and up (day rate)

Talent type: Musicians or DJs

• Beginner level talent: $95 (minimum hourly rate) or $700 (day rate)
• Intermediate level talent: $200 (standard hourly rate) or $1600 (day rate)
• Experienced talent: $350 (professional hourly rate) or $2900 and up (day rate)

Take into account that rehearsals, fittings, editing or any other pre-production or post-production time will need to be compensated for, so make sure you are factoring these into what you quote.

*Day rates are typically 8 hours, but commercial shoots can be 10x hours. The above is calculated off 8 hour days. Make sure you always note how many hours in your quote.

What are the legal minimum award wages?

We check each job before it is approved to make sure it meets the Fair Work minimum award wages. But as job scope and time may change, it's important you know what the minimum award wages are. Please save this document and you can always send it to clients if you ever need it!

Usages:

Models, actors, photographers & videographers are paid loadings depending on where their work is going to be used.

The percentage is the amount added on top of the day rate. So for example, if you are offering $1000 day rate (this is to pay for their time & skill only, not usage of the content created out of the shoot, but you want to use the images for catalogues, you would add on 25% ($250) for usages. So you would book the talent at $1250. So as a talent, to work out your rate, you need to consider both the day rate and where the images are going to be used. You can then discuss with a client the rate you would like to set your fees at.

Brush up on industry terms here: http://aphotoeditor.com/2010/02/05/ad-agency-guide-to-photography-usage-term

• Social Media, website, or eCommerce - Additional Budget: 0% - This usage can be included in the day rate. Note: clients are not required to remove images from social media after time has run out, but they cannot repost or run ads with those images etc. They must remove images from other forms of media after usage has expired.
• Collateral, Brochures, Direct Mail, Trade Shows - Additional Budget: 25%
• PR - Additional Budget: 25%
• POS (Point-of-Sale) - Additional Budget: 75%-100% - Can be reduced based on number of stores
• OOH (Out of Home or Outdoor) - Additional Budget: 75%-200%+
• Digital (ads online, YouTube, catch-up TV) - Additional Budget: 75%-200%+
• FTA/Pay TV - Additional Budget: 75%-200%+
• Editorial (magazine) - Additional Budget: 0% for 1x run in a magazine. Additional runs would be at 80-100%. *Highly respected magazines can often charge minimal rates due to the exposure talents receive. Editorial should never be an advertisement.‍
• Advertorial - Additional Budget: 25%