Money money money

[binidj]

Hmm, things move fast in the world of PC games. So they want to know if I have an hourly rate and whether I have a buyout fee (a flat fee that hands the company ownership of what I do in the studio for them). I confess that in matters of this sort I have not the faintest clue. Can anyone offer any advice on places to look to get a decent guesstimate and/or any advice in general about this stuff?

Comments

[jayphoenix.livejournal.com]

Not really too much help, but perhaps talking to an agency for other voice over actors may be useful?

http://www.vocalist.org.uk/voice_overs.html

[westernind.livejournal.com]

Were you ever in Equity?

And are these any help?

[westernind.livejournal.com]

http://www.starsnsites.com/voice/help/rates.html
http://www.voiceacting.com/archives/4vorates/

I googled on buyout fee voiceover

[binidj.livejournal.com]

Yes I was but stupidly I allowed my membership to lapse.

Possible rule of thumb

[ex-harryh579.livejournal.com]

Work out how much you'd want to earn if you were doing this full time.

Double it.

if it's still less than £20 an hour, double it again.

As to buyout fees, when I last did some similar work, I think I got paid £50 for that. That was ten years ago.

[s0b.livejournal.com]

I have e-mailed one of my contacts in the industry for a clue ...

[s0b.livejournal.com]

Scratch that she's not done V/O Work ... going to try and get a hold of one of the guys who wrote Dungeon Keeper ... he might know

[oldnick.livejournal.com]

vicksteroo (who you may vaguely have known through LT stuff) worked in the computer games industry until very recently - she might well have an idea what sort of rate is sensible.

[jfs.livejournal.com]

Have mailed a friend who works in the industry to see if he has any advice. You might also try contacting jimbob?

[davient.livejournal.com]

Have just had a conversation with a mate who works for a top uk games company. He says that they pay the top proffessionals in the field £150/hour, I know that doesn't really help too much but it gives you a top whack which is shockingly high! I'm reconing you could probably get away with asking for over £40 easily, but how high you can go is anyones guess...

Just make sure you tell them the fee is negotiable and I'm sure something will work out quite nicely :)

[binidj.livejournal.com]

Thanks very much for all your help, I did do some research myself but the range of fees is ludicrous! For example, one games company was offering £200 per hour. In the end I've gone for a negotiable figure of £100 per hour with a £150 buyout ... please cross your fingers that I haven't priced myself out of the market with that.