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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Best paid creative jobs

DI colorist is not a bad job to get.

Good pay
Safe working conditions (compared to some production jobs, which are slightly unsafe)
No on-location work, no cold weather, etc.

BUT... you'll never get an Oscar. And of course it's highly competitive, you have to work your way up (at low pay, not doing creative work, etc.), etc.

And top VO artists have it even better apparently.

2- But this is talking about the *top* talent. The average _________ in the film/video industry doesn't necessarily make that much.

3- Visual effects artists, animators, etc. might get paid reasonably well. But I wouldn't know too much about that.
 
Any job in this industry doesn't pay anything at the start. I think you have to start out as a businessman if you want to make money. Provide services, not labor, and think like a businessman. If you love the art, and want to be a DP, go for it, it will just take longer to make substantial money and let's face it, as a DP you will never make real money, no matter how great you are. What can you make in a year? Maybe if you're the most amazing DP ever you can make $1 million? Maybe $2-3 million? I doubt it. If you're a top producer or director the sky is the limit, you can make $20M, $50M, then re-invest that money, start your own production company, there is literally no end to what you can make. Crew positions can make you a "nice" living but you're not going to be George Lucas or Steven Spielberg or something.
 
Ruairi Robinson said:
The DGA has a first time director's contract, which is pretty standard (for some reason it doesn't seem to be public information, so I'm not sure I should share the figures...)
Click to expand...

Come on Ruairi, this is not like you! Share the information. Never mind... Here:

http://www.dga.org/contracts/ba2005-finalpdfs/05-ba2005-3.pdf

One of the things I hate about this industry is the 'need' people suddenly feel to hide good info from others as soon as they think of themselves as being part of the insider's club. I say share all good and juicy info... especially dollar figures. How else are we supposed to learn?
 
JonathanLB said:
as a DP you will never make real money, no matter how great you are. What can you make in a year? Maybe if you're the most amazing DP ever you can make $1 million? Maybe $2-3 million? I doubt it.
Click to expand...

Hummmm... sounds like a question for David.
 
That's true, haha, he would know. My point isn't that you can't make a nice living, but I prefer something where I can make really big bucks if I make it big.
 
This is an interesting thread. 7 years into owning a production company and Directing spots Dp'ing stuff and working with my brother on all our creative output including his vfx skillz for ads films and interactive work and 2007 is the first year that we have made more then peanuts(and not by much). It all started with the daytime Emmy nomination. I don't know if that has everything to do with it but it sure started after that. The Pencil at The One Show in NY for interactive helped too...I think our biggest "problem" is that we are not in the "big" city. It feels 100x harder living in NC ...don't know if it's true but it feels that way.

Since we decided to buy all equipment and never take a loan on anything it's been a long and hard road, but we now have the means to produce product from start to finish and that I think in the long run will pay off.
 
The highest paid Directors and D.P.'s are in commercials. At least if you go by daily rates. Many Directors in commercials are also D.P.'s Even 20 years ago there were well known Director/Cameramen a very few mind you making over $20K US a day. Even the late 1980's there were shooters in medium sized markets making over $6K a day. The middle of the spot market sort of dried up in the early 90's, but if you are on top of the heap in commercials and busy you make a lot of money. But even the big name commercial guys like Joe Pytka wanted to make movies. Most could never make the the transition successfully as Tony and Ridley Scott did.
 
lots of fun money making gigs.

lots of fun money making gigs.

If you can work a 20 hour day and you still feel like doing it again tomorrow, you have found your niche. Being a DoP is a lofty goal, I think it is actually harder to be a great & successful DoP than it is to be a Director. successful and great director, even harder. but anyone can call themselves a director and they often do, but a DoP must have the expertise and credentials to really get noticed and to more importantly, get work.

getting good work comes from either years of experience & meeting, knowing and being trusted by the right people, or going to school with the right people, or having the right relatives. the later two would be great, but then you need to pull off a "lost in translation"/sophia coppola to really get respect.

as far as making money, it is not about making it, it's about finding ways to keep it or get the money you have to go to work for you, like buying a fancy new fangled camera before thousands of others have it.

also there is the life balance issues, when you own or run a large production company, you may actually find yourself baby sitting your employees problems. that is the beauty of being a great director, dop, producer, exec producer, actor,...you get to choose when and where and for how much and with whom you are going to work with. it is a great goal, but plan on 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 years to get there.

there are a few exceptions, but the rule is years and years of struggling till you get your shot, rice and bean and top ramen, get used to it. everyday is precious, find a way to enjoy at least several minutes of everyday, whether it is a sunset, sunrise, funny joke, good bowel movement, great fart, seeing a hot girl, meeting someone you have always wanted to meet, reading something that taught you something new and will help you get to where you want to be. find a hobby that involves making you a better person, an exercise, (i choose hockey) and keeps you relatively fit and then do it every week no matter what.

having said all that, i know directors that make millions and millions a year directing just commercials and they have great lives, some of whom tried to direct features and failed, but always can go back to commercials. a commercial director is a very creative position, but so is the copywriter that writes the spot and gets to hang on set and go to meetings and just says, "yeah, i like the tall blond one", or "no, i think the car should be green".

there are also graphic artists like shepard fairey that make millions and millions and he got his start bombing stickers on utilities boxes, mailboxes and telephone poles. look at graffiti artists, successful ones make millions doing deals with nike et. al. for sneaker designs or album covers or product designs. how about VO artists; just saying the words, "In a World..." with a raspy voice makes a few guys millions and that seems like a fun gig.

it will just always get back to what makes you want to wake up everyday and kill it...everything else will follow.
 
kosmos,

i see your location in Venice and am reminded of a Dir/D.P. who I helped A.C. on a few occasions who had an office in the heart of Venice who was always driven to location by limo and one day he said "last night while looking out at the beach from the jacuzzi, I realized how much my life doesn't suck"

I know a few who skipped the ramen.
 
as do i, but again, most feel the pain and bail, making room for the next gen...
 
This thread is becoming a very interessting read.

Kosmos,
What is the average of spots these commercial filmmakers do in a year? You can hardly go over 6-8 spots or something, even if you are top notch or am I wrong?

Didn't know of Shepard Fairey. Great works!

Yeah, I remember Stanley Kubrick being an established photographer also, but seriously I don't think they shoot by themselves all the time.
 
a typical commercial takes 2 weeks to prep, 1 to 2 days to shoot, and a week to wrap, the prep and wrap is mostly the production team, the director can be working on two to four jobs at once. he/she only has to take the pre-pro meetings,the final casting, the shoot and a couple of days at the edit, director can work a minimum of 7 days on a spot, this includes casting. big time directors have their own production companies and can do at least 2 spots a month for themselves and then make the production fee 20-35% of the whole job on the other spots. skys the limit on the number of directors you can employ.

I helped tarantino and bender start their commercial prod. company as well as kinka usher. these companies grossed millions per month. if a spot is a million, the prod company makes at least 300k and then if there are underages then that money goes to the company/director on top of his daily.

so a frugal director that is hot can make a million per month, and i am sure many have made more.

i worked for one of the top guys in the mid nineties, we did 6 nissan spots, 4 got milks, 3 polaroids, a coke, a mt dew in the first 4 -5 months of the year 1996. it was fast paced and he was printing money and we (production) were recycling staples for god sakes, so directors can sometimes get focused on the cash and their crew, the ones that are putting in 20 hour days, usually only last a few years before burnout.

that is why it is refreshing for me personally to be back doing these sort of budget level spots, but in a different capacity as the camera owner and tech...a lot less pressure in so far as we can come in on the day and be done that night as opposed to being the producer or PM, but then again, a lot more pressure on the day because if we make a mistake, the whole show could be ruined.
 
Highly interessting to read all this.

But isn't the pitching process very time consuming?

What do you need in order that a agent will put you on his pile?
 
This thread is amazing, thank you to everybody for sharing this information with us rookies. Making millions per month sounds lovely, but what about making $35,000 a year. How do you pay the bills until you make it big?

For those of us who love the work, think they have talent and are willing to work hard, what's the best way to "create amazing things until you get noticed"?

Should one become a PA? create independent short films? create commercials for local businesses for free? get coffee for the incredible on-air talent at the local community television station?

What's the best way to create and show your talent to the people who have to see it?
 
JustinGD said:
This thread is amazing, thank you to everybody for sharing this information with us rookies. Making millions per month sounds lovely, but what about making $35,000 a year. How do you pay the bills until you make it big?

For those of us who love the work, think they have talent and are willing to work hard, what's the best way to "create amazing things until you get noticed"?

Should one become a PA? create independent short films? create commercials for local businesses for free? get coffee for the incredible on-air talent at the local community television station?

What's the best way to create and show your talent to the people who have to see it?
Click to expand...


Well what do you want to DO...?
 
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