RATE

The truth is, an artist’s rate is not easy to calculate.

My rate for storyboarding is $800/day, and that is ballpark. But what is a “day”? For some in production, a “day” is anytime between 12:01 am an 11:59 pm. Believe it or not, this is what the majority of people in production believe.

This is not what a “day of work” is for most of the world. A “day of work” for most of the world is widely accepted as 8 hours.

So is a “day” 8 hours? No, unfortunately it’s not that simple either.

My definition of a “day” is somewhere in between what producers think is a day (between 12:01 AM and 11:59 PM) and the general acceptance of the definition (8 hours).

Let’s use an example.

You are a producer and you ask if I’m available next week for storyboards. I say that I’m free Wednesday through Friday. You book me for those days.

Wednesday comes and I work from 9am until 11pm. Thursday I do some more boards from 8am until 2pm, at which point I receive revisions or notes and work again that night, hoping to get the boards done for your 1pm meeting with the client/agency Friday. I complete them the next day around 11am.

In the above scenario, I’ve have not worked three, separate 8-hour days. I have worked 24 hours, though, over a period of three days. You will be charged 3 days worth.

Even if I work for 2 hours on a day you’ve booked me out and I’m not drawing for the rest of the day until a single revision comes in at 8pm, when I receive a request to change a board or two, I will still charge a full day’s worth.

Artists are not slaves; producers need to pay for talent.

I don’t work ill-commensurate jobs. I know what I’m worth and I always deliver. Always. I have never not delivered.

FAST-GOOD-CHEAP

You get TWO. People always want all three.

If you want it done well and quickly, it will be expensive.

If you want it done well and inexpensively, it will not be done quickly.

If you want it done quickly and inexpensively, it will not be done well.

I mention the FAST-GOOD—CHEAP triangle for your consideration before reaching out to any artist - or service, for that matter. If you reach out to me on Thursday and need 100 boards framed by Saturday, it will not be cheap.