Date: Sat, 18 Oct 2008 08:03:46 -0700
To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] Music Video Puppetry


to whom it concerns...Pricing Puppet Work---
I would like to add to this line again something that seems consistent with
almost any
Production Entity using Puppets in a spot, film, or even piece of theatre.
Often Producers have no idea what it takes to make and use a puppet (they
probably will find they don't
know how to shoot it either). So, half the job is Educating the producers
about the process.
I don't mean complaining, I mean real Educating.
I once took over a Barbie commercial that had gone horribly wrong during the
3-day shoot.
The Producers nickled and dimed the original Puppet Master down so much, and
yet insisted upon
keeping the Production Value high-- all his Rod rigs broke down-- and
couldn't be fixed.
I took the job and quadrupled the budget to assure proper completion.
Unfortunetely, the other Puppet
Master underbid... just to get the job and couldn't properly educate the
Producers about all
the aspects-- and he was a bit disgraced... it was painful.
Don't let that happen to YOU.
-Steven Ritz-Barr

On Sat, Oct 18, 2008 at 7:17 AM, Andrew <puppetvision-AT-gmail.com> wrote:

> It really depends on the design; a good formula is:
>
> (Number of hours you work) x (hourly rate) + (cost of materials) x 1.2 > Your quote
>
> For a music video, $1000-2000 minimum is reasonable. If they do the whole
> "low/no budget" song and dance find out what their budget is (total). I got
> approached about an indie film earlier this year and they were spending
> $250,000 but objected to paying more than $1000 for three puppets, even
> though the puppets were supposed to be the stars of film. They were an
> afterthought to the producers, which made no sense to me.
>
> Crazy!
>
> - Andrew
>
> On Fri, Oct 17, 2008 at 12:00 PM, <puptcrit-request-AT-puptcrit.org> wrote:
>
> > Send puptcrit mailing list submissions to
> >        puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
> >
> > Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2008 02:39:00 -0700 (PDT)
> > From: Michael Dowell <moodooguru-AT-sbcglobal.net>
> > Subject: [Puptcrit] music video puppetry
> > To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
> > Message-ID: <996993.66783.qm-AT-web81308.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
> >
> > I wanted to ask if anyone had suggestions for pricing for building and
> > puppeteering a hand puppet -- which will be the main character in a
> > low-budget music video.
> >
> > I have some experience performing puppetry on music videos / commercials
> > for MTV where I received SAG scale, approx. $600 day rate. However, I've
> > never built puppets for a music video, so I could really use some
> pointers
> > as to a decent asking price for the construction of the puppet. Thanks
> for
> > your help.
> >
> > Best regards,
> > Michael Moodoo
> > Moodoo Puppets
> >
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-- 
Steven Ritz-Barr
Metropolitan Puppet Authority
www.lapuppet.com
www.classicsinminiature.com
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