How much does a crew cost?

How much does a crew cost?

Ben Lyons (Producer) gives expert video advice on: What is 'scale'?; What different unions will I work with?; How can I get actors, make-up artists and crew to work for little or no money? and more...

The cost of the crew depends on the crew itself and if the crew is union or not. Every independent film has a different budget and a different cost. Again, you can convince someone to say "this is a good opportunity for you to work close to this director, so will you slash your fee in half?" Sometimes gaffers, best boys, grips, dolly operators and all those guys who are the sort of technical heart and soul behind an independent film, they can go for a few hundred dollars a day or they can go for fifteen hundred dollars a day. A good producer could say if you work for 10 days we'll give you this, but if you work for 5 days we'll have to give you this. Everything is negotiable. I know that's not really a concrete answer that says a director of photography costs five thousand dollars a movie, because it doesn't work like that. It's by project. It's where the person has to go and shoot the independent film. Often times crew members are more willing to work for less if they get to work at home, and can work on other jobs in between shooting the movie, as opposed to travelling to god knows where to make a movie. And how they're being taken care of can make a difference. Are they being put in a hotel? Are they being given meals every eight hours? Or what have you. Every crew cost is different and all based on the budget of the independent film.