I look at my end of things another way...what is the work worth as part of an entire project?

A mid-level 20 minute corporate film for a Fortune 500 company costs a total of $250,000.00, plus, depending on the degree of animation/edits. It may only be seen by 25 people, but those people are the ones who decide what stock to put into the portfolios they manage. Or, the film may be detailing a mandatory recall/repair of a heavy duty truck, with $100,000.00 per day fines if the information is not distributed at the required time.

Typically, the score would not exceed 5% for a simple one. That means a charge of $12,500.00 is reasonable. Sometimes, with complicated re-edits, time changes, sound effects, etc. it is much more than that. This is what my production unit gets. That's me; occasionally, another player, and an assistant, if lots of equipment moves and set-ups are required.

In these cases, it's not, "what are you and your talent worth for this type of job", but, "what is the fair market value of a job of this caliber, for this use be?

I also provide copy and content edit services, which makes a big difference in terms of the value to the producer and client.

Another way of looking at things. Because even an hour delay in total production time can add as much as $10,000.00 (if you're not kicked out of the production suite for going over), producers tend to maintain long-standing relationships between themselves and proven production staffers...thus the reason it's so hard to break in at a high level.

R.