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I know Liver King is out there but my roommate has been living by his “9 ancestral tenets” and it basically changed his life. Anyone else that follows something similar seen benefits? Seems like he’s rooted on well being and staying connected with the world around you. Even if you think he’s weird his YouTube video is well put together.
https://youtu.be/QzZ0y5w_1iA
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I've given 3 examples with budget ranges like...
Option A: stock footage, stock music, VO
Option B: custom animation
Option C: 1 day shoot and edit.
Each option has a range, can be broad. Each one has a sample video.
It can also be framed as 'here's how we've done some projects in the past.'
This can start to narrow things down on approach and what they're willing pay.
You push back and say you need firmer details. This is the tale as old as time and always leads to pissed off people saying “well you said we could do it for xx amount of money.”
It’s like asking “how much does a house cost?” Where is the house? How big is it? Etc etc
You could always suggest an SOW for initial concept and creative dev. Then do a second for production once the idea is sold in?
That’s what I recommend but they seem to want to “get the full $$$ commitment to avoid pull-out” I get that but seems paranoid. Does this happen a lot? Also, a dev SOW might steal from the prod budget if they both come from the same pile. Not sure what’s right and there should be a mix of options to take. I’m interested to hear what else y’all have tried and what u think works. I for sure don’t like scoping a certain format cuz then we’re locked in to a ceiling.
Mentor
We need to break this habit but if you must, give ranges, examples, and be specific.
-A a stock footage only edit with social usage has cost us $ / on X timeline in the past. A stock footage only edit with national broadcast usage cost us $ / on Y timeline in the past.
-B a :30 tabletop spot with no talent and simple solid art direction costs us $ / on Z timeline
Etc
After heeding the advice above, if and when you do the SOW, put in a ton of caveats. List what is included and what is not included.
Be as specific and as vague as you can. For instance: Estimate based on one day shoot with one adult talent, on stage, no wardrobe changes, etc… and add a line that overage estimates will apply for anything not included in the scope.
Personally I wouldn’t do it and insist on more info, using the tactics above. They need to know the house example and if you give them examples of scenarios for the shoot it would help.
In my experience I have had success giving an estimate for a high amount based on big examples and see how they react to the cost. They probably want it to be a quarter of that… but it can get the conversation starting. They have a number in mind and need to tell you what it is.
One of my competitor's strategies from years ago would be to always low-ball the quote and be vague on details, figuring they would upsell the client when the realities become clear. They often won the job on price alone and ultimately became experts at managing the clients when they'd get pissed off because the price didn't include everything they wanted. We marveled at their balls...figuring all their clients must hate them...but that wasn't really the case. Only some did. They were quite successful.
Mentor
The Pain Cave of this all too familiar scenario is so real. I take comfort seeing that I am not the only one who struggles with trying to bring the team ( Brand, Project Mgr, Leadership) along. It’s is backass backwards trying to scope for something that has yet to be even a creative thought and certainly not client approved. I try to keep SOW for concept and brand hours scoped separately , then provide a SOW/ Estimate for production once we have a client approved concept. IF I have too give ballparks I do it with a ton of caveats and illustrate levels of production output. Also try and get them to let the producers scope production hours for the whole team. I was once given 8 hours TOTAL to produce a 3 spot campaign 😂😂😂
Stay strong producers, be consistent in your process, pushback and always have it in writing! You all are killing it!!!
We always talk to a lawyer.