What is the normal Pay Scale for editors

I am up for a review at the company I work for, and I really have no clue what full time editors make. I just want to know if they are paying me correctly. I do motion graphics, as well as standard editing for documentary type films.
Any thoughts?

it depends on who you work for, where you're located and how good you are ... no such thing as standard pay!

UK, Europe, US?

Union or non?

The pay scale in the UK can start from £10,000 for a junior/assistant up to £60,000 for a senior editor or freelance and above (if you are hot and people need to have you!)

Here's a link to the average US ones: [www.payscale.com]



For instant answers to more than one hundred common FCP questions, check out the LAFCPUG FAQ Wiki here : [www.lafcpug.org]

Just ask for more than what Ben King gets paid. And negotiate for Pounds not American dollars.



Michael Horton
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and the UK...

[www.payscale.com]



For instant answers to more than one hundred common FCP questions, check out the LAFCPUG FAQ Wiki here : [www.lafcpug.org]

In Australia the rate is half a wallaby per half day, and a small wombat organ for each hour of overtime over 10 hours. If you're really hot and they need you bad, you can often negotiate to get the liver.

in Hollywood
promo world: $400 to $700/day
commercials ( networks): $800 to $1200 and
more

If you are Nick Meyers you get free drop bear protection. So I've heard.

Michael Horton
-------------------

As a fellow auuuussssssssiiiiiieeeeeeeee mmmmmmmmaaaaaaattttttteeeeeeeee

I will work for beer on a hot day.

But I don't do anything for less than $250AU a day in Melbourne - and that's mates rates....

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Just ask for more than what Ben King gets paid. And negotiate for Pounds not American dollars.

Well by my reckoning I've invoiced the equivalent of US$78,763.52 worth of work this year since March 2007...

Does that help?

...and what is "drop bear protection"?



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where and cutting what, Ben?

When I started out 10 years ago, the Avid editors were making $100 an hour. I assume it's gone down like everything else in digital.

Drop Bears are Killer Koala Bears who drop out of the trees onto your head and kill you. The Aussie tourist board doesn't tell you that.

Michael Horton
-------------------

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where and cutting what, Ben?

Freelance UK, Bristol & London (plus some on Location editing for film) but mostly TV, short film/music video and the occasional corporate or advert for the bigger bucks... plus they pay on time too! I also subsidize my editing when its quiet with graphics, web & training.

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When I started out 10 years ago, the Avid editors were making $100 an hour. I assume it's gone down like everything else in digital.

On average the salaries have stayed about the same, so in real terms and taking cost of living into account its gone down a lot...

When I started out 13 years ago, I had to ge'up in'mornin, eat a lump o' hot gravel and lick road clean wi'tongue... work 26 hours down pit and still get up the next day 3 hours before I went to bed and when we got'ome our fatha would beat us until we were dead and dance around on our graves...

...if we were lucky!

Kids nowadays don't know how easy they have it!





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This topic is a hotbed of opinions because there is no "normal rate". Rates depend on what skills you have to offer:

How "good" are you?
Are you sought after?
Do you have a following?
Are you an off-liner or can you take a project from script to screen including high-end grafix & sound design?
Do you work unsupervised or straight from a script holding hands with a Producer?
Do you work in a small or large market?
You say you are up for review...is this your FIRST review?
Do you work for a studio that is corporate owned (budgets come into play here BIG TIME)?
Are you full time or freelance?
Are you an Assistant, Junior or Senior Editor?

There are a lot of variables, my friend...and staff rates are ALWAYS less than freelance rates. Nobody pays a staff editor $500 per day unless they are really good in a large market.

From personal experience: "Review" does not mean "raise" so don't go in with an attitude that you will automatically get something. Present your Supervisor with your accomplishments from the past year and make a case for an increase. If you don't ask...you won't get.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

promo world: $400 to $700/day

Oops, I read this the first time as "porno world" and did a huge double take.

[Are you an off-liner or can you take a project from script to screen including high-end grafix & sound design? ]

Can we be something in between, Joey? Maybe we'll charge a tad less than FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS A DAY for being a freaking ADD octopus dilletante??

I charge $500/day AS EDITOR and I'm not in a major market-- roughly 50/hour. In a major markets I charge more -- roughly $100/hour.

- Loren
Today's FCP keytip:
Toggle Audio Scrub with Shift-S !

Final Cut Studio 2 KeyGuide? Power Pack.
Now available at KeyGuide Central.
www.neotrondesign.com

I am in a major market, and for JUST ME...editor sans equipment...I am $500-$750 a day, depending on budget (and Union status). If my equipment is involved, then it is another $800/$1000 a week for the equipment, or if you go daily, then $125 per hour for both me and system.

LOS ANGELES market.


www.shanerosseditor.com

Listen to THE EDIT BAY Podcast on iTunes
[itunes.apple.com]

In Syd I get about $400-$1000/day depending on the job.

Fulltime you'd get about 70 - 80K in OZ if you are good, about 40k if you're a junior.

In Norway i charge about $110k/year and I work less.

Johan Polhem
Motion Graphics
www.johanpolhem.com

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Can we be something in between, Joey? Maybe we'll charge a tad less than FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS A DAY for being a freaking ADD octopus dilletante??

Easy, Loren...you can be either / or / all of the above. That question is meant to target all levels. I would love to hear an elaboration of your interpretation of the question though...

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

If you have your own gear the sky's the limit - we can get 1200 + a day in the DC market which is a bargain compared to production houses charging clients 250 to 350 an hour for room and editor Avid suite) while most of on this board know an accomplished FCP editor can do virtually everything a fully equipped room does - on a laptop - and even come to the client to do it. (but why spoil the fun - do it at home in your gym shorts and FTP the comps)

If you have all the programs - and know them well - from After Effects to Photoshop to what ever flavor of Compression for web program you prefer (we use Episode Pro and love it) you can charge a premium one man band rate -- if you are a Preditor (producer editor) you can make even more. Andy

Dollars? Pounds Sterling? Koalas?

Much nicer to get paid in Euros these days :-)

Fees on the continent are about 200 a day for tens at the low end (working TV) to around 850 with your own rig. More if it's HD. Weeklies negotiable.

Figure Euros x 1,5 at the moment for monopoly money, your guess as to what it's worth in another year or so. Since 2002 it has devalued by half against the Euro and still heading south.

"Your own rig" means a proper well-managed suite in the right part of town with current gear, good monitors, sushi delivery, good audio, a decent espresso machine, a smoking area, and broadcast quality output.

Oh yeah, and keep smiling no matter what they hit you with. Attitude is a BIG part of the game.

Clay

>>keep smiling no matter what they hit you with<<

Actually, I did once have a producer with a client so bad that I very nearly highlighted the timeline. pressed delete, and told him to get out with small words beginning with large F's.

I didn't because I liked and respected the producer who hired me.

She ended up getting sued by a massive corporation because the client was slanderous and apparently was taking money from another corporation to use a charity to defame the first corporation. Lucky for me, she got a lawyer in half way through the process and made him sign forms that said we didn't agree with anything he was saying and that he took full responsibility for the content. So I was protected by her.

A rare case, but it could have destroyed my whole business, and more. So keep smiling unless they seem like they might endanger your livelihood!

I am perhaps too late to get an answer to my question concerning this informative if not surreal thread. Shane if you read this or anyone else who hires themselves out with their own equipment, would this include decks to master on to or would one hire one. I master to digi beta and in this country they cost £28,000 and rentals are expensive to in London. I am contemplating the lap top option. How do you output? What about AJA Kona cards and laptops? How does that work?

Decks are not included in your rate. They are a "line item" and must be rented by the client.

Here's how you I/O with a laptop from anywhere:

[www.aja.com]

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

I consider anything I own to be included in my rate. I currently have 3 decks of varying abilities. Using those doesn't incur extra cost to the client.

If I have to rent something to accommodate a client's needs, like Joe says, that's additional. They pay for the rental.

If I have to buy a drive to archive their material, they pay for that. The only thing I've ever bought special for a specific project and not charged back is filter packages. A couple of times a client needed/wanted a specific effect that couldn't be easily created, so I purchased an effects package specifically for that client.

I ended up using it a lot with other clients, so it more than paid for itself.

deb

Brilliant.

[www.editorsguild.com]#

I've put up a little FAQ for this along with a few other tips...

[www.lafcpug.org]



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As a free-lancer in the Boston market, I tend to be paid $450 per eight-hour day in the corporate/industrial world. (But I've heard this figure is now considered a bit on the low end.) Boston TV stations pay fewer dollars for free-lancers ... about $300 per-diem.

If you do not increase your rate by at least 3% per year to keep pace with inflation, your pay is actually going down each year.