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What % of day rate for travel days and tech scouts?

Gene Sung

Gene Sung

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Hi friend,

I have a quick question for you guys. What percentage of your day rate do you guy charge for travel days and tech scouts? For an upcoming job, they are actually flying me to Vegas for 2 full days of massive tech scouting which is much different than my usual quick, local tech scouts.

How do you guys bill for tech scouts? 25%, 50%, 100% of normal day rate? And does it depend on how many hours?

Also, for travel days, what percentage of day rate?

Thanks for any advice.
 
Tech scouting is work. I believe it would be a normal day on a timecard, so no reason why it shouldn't be a full rate for what you're describing, especially if it's massive in scale and time. I've seen travel days handled as half day rates, or if doing a timecard, at least whatever the guaranteed minimum would be (usually 8-10 hrs, which can be equate to between a bit more than half a day when factoring OT, to maybe 65-75% of a day rate). If you're typically doing flat day rates, it's pretty easy just to say the tech scouts are full rate and the travel days are half. Of course, most everything these days is a negotiation, so your mileage may vary, but this should be a good starting point. Good luck with the shoot!
 
I charge a full day for me and gear for a travel day. If it stops me doing another job or my gear doing one that day it is a day. How they want to spend that day is up to them.

I dont usually charge to go meet up or recce a location.
 
tech scout is full day, i negotiate half if its an easy scout and my rate is big.
travel is typically half day and perdiem.
this is what the standard has been for commercials for a long time.
 
I do 100% rate for tech scouts and I do 50% rate for travel day.

If they are renting gear from me tech scout days count as rental days if they are on set, I usually give them the gear for the travel day if I have it in my possession.
 
I usually do 50% on tech scouts on commercials that hire me for 2-3 days or more. (Mainly because my rate is higher) on low budget features I charge a full day rate.
travel is usually half day rate + travel costs
 
For my corporate work:

1. Travel day = half day rate + perdiem + travel/accom costs

No cost for travelling gear, but the moment I use if for shooting, rate becomes a full day rate and gear is charged for.

2. Recce/Location scouting = pre-production day rate

Technically recce/location scouting is pre-production. So it's work that requires your experience and skills.
If it's just a meeting - usually part of pitching/winning the work - at a local location (only a couple of hours of my time) then I won't charge.
 
As a producer I usually pay half day rates for travel days. Tech scouts full day rates. If the DP has his own gear I'll pay the day rate for travel days, but only up to what I could do at a rental house. So if the job is 4 or 5 days total with travel then it would be a 3-day week. And If I can easily rent locally then it would be just for the shoot days. Just depends on the job and location.
 
This post is from way back, but I just wanted to touch back on the same subject.

What about test days? Say you need to do camera tests, colour tests, or any of that.
Does that count towards a full work day rate?

Also, what exactly is a "travel day" and how do you judge that.
 
MichaelFrymus said:
This post is from way back, but I just wanted to touch back on the same subject.

What about test days? Say you need to do camera tests, colour tests, or any of that.
Does that count towards a full work day rate?

Also, what exactly is a "travel day" and how do you judge that.
Click to expand...

Test days are typically "full days", but I've certainly had some 1/2 rate test days on a few projects that were a bit simpler than not.

Travel days are days you are traveling to a location via plane, train, automobile, boat, jetpack, camel, etc.... On those days you aren't rolling, but rather going to location. Typically that's 1/2 rate for many. If you're driving a shorter commute to set, that's usually not a travel day.
 
Phil Holland said:
Test days are typically "full days", but I've certainly had some 1/2 rate test days on a few projects that were a bit simpler than not.

Travel days are days you are traveling to a location via plane, train, automobile, boat, jetpack, camel, etc.... On those days you aren't rolling, but rather going to location. Typically that's 1/2 rate for many. If you're driving a shorter commute to set, that's usually not a travel day.
Click to expand...

Gotcha. Thanks. Thats what I thought.

Does anyone charge travel to/from the set that's local or a few hours drive away?
I've been charging a bit per km, but not sure if that's a thing or if thats how I should do it.
Can be annoying if you dont know the exact destination or if there are multiple destinations.

What if you have a long distance travel and shoot later that day?
I had one client ask me to go from Toronto to Montreal, which was about a 6/7hour drive, then shoot that same day and go home.
 
MichaelFrymus said:
What if you have a long distance travel and shoot later that day?
I had one client ask me to go from Toronto to Montreal, which was about a 6/7hour drive, then shoot that same day and go home.
Click to expand...


You charge overtime
 
I always pack my gear and check twice before traveling. Some time I have to shoot all day. So it needs a long day preparation.
 
Every job is unique so a combination of all of the above is acceptable.
Much will depend on the overall project.
Whether it be a single day or multiple. Spread out or consecutive. The level of effort. If equipment is part of the advance, charged as appropriate.
Scouting without any gear or intensive effort charged between 50-75% of a full day rate depending on the level of effort.
That naturally increases your value when actually executing the image acquisition.

The same can be said for a more complex production as equipment prep and preproduction planning can be billable.

A couple of add on thoughts from my own standard practices:

If working at the remote location will be more than one day, equipment in transit becomes factored into a weekly rate.
If it is a single day on location, the equipment is only charged excess baggage, shipping and other associated costs for the travel days.

As far as "local" travel, I adopted the policies set by my corporate clients for their employee base:
Any travel over 50 miles from my home location would incur mileage charges and per diem expenses.

For all travel, I use the GSA approved rates as a chargeable baseline:
https://www.gsa.gov/travel/plan-book/per-diem-rates

When you include that caveat in your proposal, it eliminates any confusion or expectations.
 
Chris McKechnie said:
Depends on how many consecutive shooting days, but typically it's 50% for travel days. Same thing for tech scouts.
Click to expand...

+1 agreed. I always look at it as a happy medium between what works for the job/client and how it helps make my life easier. A lot of the time, even having these days built into the shooting schedule are a win-win. :)
 
I charge full rate for most travel days. I can't book anything else, nor can the gear I bring if I have it. That said i'll usually not charge for the gear on travel days. I think alot of people are different but to me a travel day is a full day of work in my mind. Some clients that don't have the budget i'll allow for a bit of a half day.
 
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