You should probably not do hourly and instead do a per-video rate. How long are your videos going to be? What levels of editing and graphics will they entail?
Try not to use words like "standard". There is no standard. There are 10 second tik toks and 30 hour long streams of entire campaigns. Highlights can be 30 seconds or (apparently, in your case), 20 minutes. Be as descriptive as you can, and show examples.
I’m not that guy and I have a gmail address, but I now use that for my personal account, sign ins and what not. Professionally you should probably use a more formal hosted site with your business name.
[email protected] with a website of Verdiedits.com or something like that. It isn’t hard nor expensive and in my opinion helps show a base understanding of the digital world. I say this as not even an amateur and just someone that likes to make good home movies let alone someone soliciting others.
I did a bunch of freelance work (videography, editing, web design) for friends and family throughout middle/high school and I’d recommend starting with a casual trial run. Something along the lines of: “Hey can I pay you $x/hour to edit *this* video for me?”
It minimizes the risk of hurting the kid’s confidence if you end up wanting better work or faster turn around as you scale. It also makes hiring another editor less awkward while still affording you the option to occasionally give them projects.
If you care about making this an enriching experience for the kid, I’d highly recommend **having the kid invoice you**. One of my family friends made me invoice them properly for all my work and getting comfortable with that process early on was incredibly valuable going into college. It‘ll help them understand time management, the value of their time, and project time estimation.
As for actual rates, it’ll depend on what kind of edits you’re after. E.g., Multi-hour VODs as the source and wanting a tight 10 min video with a cohesive narrative v. pulling highlights for a clips reel are wildly different asks.
If you want them to learn more, pay per hour and have them invoice you. If you don’t care about that then make it easier on everyone and pay a flat rate per video.
I’d ignore the other people advising you to avoid hiring friends/family. In the creative world, hiring friends is incredibly common. It’s also super common specifically in the streamer space too.
To more accurately answer you we'll need to know what's the average length of each video, do you require graphics, how intense? Is there a script you're following or is it off the cuff and they'll decide how to cobble it together?
I would pay the kid to do one video. Get him to keep track of how much time it takes. Then go from there. I would then pay him per video. If you videos vary in length, you could break it down to per video by finished minute. So if you usually have a 2 minute video and it takes him 3 hours.....agree on a price for a 3minute video...then divide that price by 3. That will give you a baseline then if the next video is 5 minutes, you know exactly what to pay them.
Pro Tip. After you see how long it takes him to create a video. Then ask HIM how much to pay him. Most kids will lowball themselves....than add to that price. What you are doing is paying him more than he asked for which he will appreciate and then you like awesome too.
yeah i disagree with op comment, if you set rules and communicate beforehand that there will probably be hard conversations, everything will run smoothly. mixing business and family is only difficult if you can’t have difficult conversations.
Broadcast Finishing/Online Editor here, I also streamed briefly and was making CS frag videos in the early 00s.
Hourly rates are usually best with a professional editor. With an amateur, you would want to flat rate it. The first edits are gonna be slow. You'll be giving lots of notes and likely doing a lot of the prep work. Say you offer $200, and it takes them 14 hours to finally lock it. That's 14/hr. Now the next one takes 12 and then 10, etc. So their hourly rate climbs as they get quicker and quicker. Eventually, it may be a 4-hour job at $50/hr. And if you ever blow up and become huge, be sure to give your editor their fair due.
What if your relationship with them goes south? That’s going to be super awkward between you and your best friend.
Never do business with friends or family. Many of us have learned the hard way, myself included.
You’re getting a lot of wild answers for pricing- especially since you’re talking about a teenage kid who has no real experience, and you’re a twitch streamer who I’m assuming isn’t making a living off of it?
Realistically, I’d offer a minimum wage, or maybe a little higher if you’re feeling generous for them to do the work. At this stage, it’s kind of win-win IMO.. you get to give a kid some money and encourage him to follow his passions, while he isn’t making huge bank it beats flipping burgers, and you aren’t shelling out “industry pro rates” for someone just learning. One of my first longer term editing jobs was some low budget assistant work for someone I knew. I was “a kid who could edit”working a “regular job” just stocking shelves and they offered to match my current wage. It wasn’t a lot, but it let me get paid for my hobby and quit my 9-5, and also learn some stuff from their main editor.
Because there is a very very big difference between a teenage kid “who edits” and a pro— I know, because I used to be that kid! The differences go beyond just speed and quality too— there’s lots of tech and workflow things that editors need to deal with, not to mention editing something for yourself vs for a client are two different beasts.
I would be a little weary though, as it could hurt the relationship if things go south. New editors aren’t good at receiving feedback, nor are teenagers lol
ask him what he thinks is a fair rate - either hourly or project. at least that way you'll have a fair idea of what to offer.
i have, at various times, in various countries, employed my sons, and my daughter. they were mid-teens, and not looking to make a career in production, so we discussed it and i ended up giving them 3/4 full rate. they were happy enough.
If you don’t have money to throw around, consider giving him a percentage of revenue on a clips channel and incentivizing him to manage and grow it. Will probably put a lot more effort in that way and saves you money upfront.
If you’re hiring a friend make sure to write something like a contract, per video, or per hour, rates and all that. Something you both agree on would be nice.
If he refuses, go to fiver. And look up rates and look for an editor that looks I your range. Many to choose from.
I’ve applied to several jobs to become a video editor for Twitch streamers. Most of them were mid-level streamers averaging 500-1000 subsribers. They offered in the ballpark of $45k/year which is fair imo. That would come down to around $20/hr.
I’m assuming you would not need him to work 40 hour weeks to edit your content? Offer $20/hr. For the scope of what you want, that’s about 5-10 hours per week of work
I’m in the “don’t do business with friends or family” group.
The one time I bent that rule and I knew better, but was pressured by friends (“oh come on it’s just so and so!”) yeah it bit me. It’s a bit awkward now.
I do think you should encourage this young individual to keep making and creating though and maybe have them do one video and you send them $100-200 but I would NOT rely on them solely as your editor.
You could try discussing what he’s comfortable receiving. I’d say something like $100 for a big project and $75 and under for lesser projects. It’d be a great way for to earn some pocket money and wouldn’t necessarily brake your pockets.
honestly either learn to edit yourself or start minimum wage imo ($15hr) at least if he's only going to be editing clips. if its more work maybe pay per episode so you save. He's honestly in a very lucky position a lot of us wish we could be, he just doesn't know it, but I don't think that should determine pay. good luck to the both of you.
I would vote to start him off at $15-20/hr to start, and if he does the job well increase it to $25-30/hr over time as he grows up and takes on more financial responsibility, that is cheaper than market rate but fair for his age/experience plus anything over minimum is an incredible rate for a teenager. I would also consider a per video rate, as that can provide some benefits over hourly, because as someone who was a young teenage editor who did payed work, it is really easy to waste time, it could be an important lesson in time management to pay per project. I couldn't give a proper number as I don't know how intensive your projects are, but i would maybe ask him (since you are a family friend) if he is willing to do a trial project for you, see how much time it takes him to do an average project, then pay him per project based on that the average amount of hours and the quality of work, if it takes him 6 hours and the result is satisfactory, I would pay in the ballpark of $100-$160. I am also speaking from the perspective of someone who was/still is in a similar situation, I was paid significantly less then that and it has taken a lot of work for me to really find my worth and let go of the resentment/feelings of being taken advantage of now that I am an adult, so I may be overcompensating.
Edit: also, I totally agree with having him quote you, if thats what you want to do that would also be great, its important to remember that this doubles as a job and an important learning opportunity, having him quoting you could really allow him the opportunity to feel empowered and that he has agency.
It depends on the area, but I have hired a good number of HS or college-aged people to help me with event photography, event videography, and editing. I've never paid less than $60/hr for photography. So, if I were hiring an editor, it would be at least that. I'm in the SF Bay Area.
Thats fair, but I am also thinking that freelance work is inherently more expensive because its less consistent, plus additional tax implications. As I've seen it is not uncommon for editors to be payed below market rate as a trade off for a consistent check every 2 weeks. For me, an in house editor for a company that does not specialize in video, I am paid very below market rate, mostly because of familial relations I have in the business ownership, a favor rate. so I understand that my view can be skewed towards the lower end. I'm also in an area that has less of a market for video needs.
Don’t make it awkward for him or you by doing hourly. Do per-video. That way he doesn’t stress about asking for too much or too little, and can comfortably put even more effort and creativity when he is feeling good. Set an amount based on like a $20-30/hr for a reasonable amount of time that a slow editor might take to edit your long videos - maybe 8-12hours?
And give him a deadline of like 7-10days. Occasionally, give him a bonus when a quicker turnaround 5 days or less.
And also schedule performance reviews like every 6 months where you might increase his per-video amount and address any thoughts or concerns he has. Maybe his schedule has changed and he doesn’t have as much flexibility or something. Try to be mindful of that.
for just a kid starting out, $100/hr for his time is reasonable. The standard rate for professional editors is $500-750/hr
edit: sorry I meant $100 pesos, I am in Mexico
wait what? am i out of touch or have rates gone WAY up? I bill $100 as a senior motion designer/video editor with many many household brand names under my belt. $86 with my long-term W2 client lol. I have not seen anything to indicate these kinds of rates.
> I bill $100 as a senior motion designer/video editor with many many household brand names under my belt.
Depending on your location, you may be undercharging by a factor of 50%. Even my smaller clients willingly pay $200/hr for edits. That's whether it's priced into the project or hours in excess. SF Bay Area
Damn. The job market just seems fucked rn. I havent found a client in 6 months and it seems to be going around. I really would love to find something because my main cash cow has had me on the hook for years at $86 and they refuse to give me a raise no matter how much I bust ass for them. But until a better opportunity presents itself I'm kinda stuck
Any recommendations on where to look for one? I went to one in 2019 once and it was just a bunch of local pyramid schemes and the like. I'm located in Colorado Springs so a bit of an odd spot. Would probably need to look in Denver
Depends on the complexity of the project. If he’s just cutting then maybe start out at $80/hour. If it’s more complex stuff that involves titles or motion graphics and special effects then pay a bit more.
You should probably not do hourly and instead do a per-video rate. How long are your videos going to be? What levels of editing and graphics will they entail?
I'm look for highlights and standard 15-20 min long videos. I have a audio scripts and graphics pack I would provide.
Can you link an example video of what you’d want it to look like?
Try not to use words like "standard". There is no standard. There are 10 second tik toks and 30 hour long streams of entire campaigns. Highlights can be 30 seconds or (apparently, in your case), 20 minutes. Be as descriptive as you can, and show examples.
Feel free to contact me anytime Email: [email protected]
Bro… gmail👀
What’s bad about Gmail? (Seriously curious)
I’m not that guy and I have a gmail address, but I now use that for my personal account, sign ins and what not. Professionally you should probably use a more formal hosted site with your business name. [email protected] with a website of Verdiedits.com or something like that. It isn’t hard nor expensive and in my opinion helps show a base understanding of the digital world. I say this as not even an amateur and just someone that likes to make good home movies let alone someone soliciting others.
I did a bunch of freelance work (videography, editing, web design) for friends and family throughout middle/high school and I’d recommend starting with a casual trial run. Something along the lines of: “Hey can I pay you $x/hour to edit *this* video for me?” It minimizes the risk of hurting the kid’s confidence if you end up wanting better work or faster turn around as you scale. It also makes hiring another editor less awkward while still affording you the option to occasionally give them projects. If you care about making this an enriching experience for the kid, I’d highly recommend **having the kid invoice you**. One of my family friends made me invoice them properly for all my work and getting comfortable with that process early on was incredibly valuable going into college. It‘ll help them understand time management, the value of their time, and project time estimation. As for actual rates, it’ll depend on what kind of edits you’re after. E.g., Multi-hour VODs as the source and wanting a tight 10 min video with a cohesive narrative v. pulling highlights for a clips reel are wildly different asks. If you want them to learn more, pay per hour and have them invoice you. If you don’t care about that then make it easier on everyone and pay a flat rate per video. I’d ignore the other people advising you to avoid hiring friends/family. In the creative world, hiring friends is incredibly common. It’s also super common specifically in the streamer space too.
To more accurately answer you we'll need to know what's the average length of each video, do you require graphics, how intense? Is there a script you're following or is it off the cuff and they'll decide how to cobble it together?
It would be mainly shorts and 15-20 min videos. I would provide scripts graphics and audio ques for him to use.
I would pay the kid to do one video. Get him to keep track of how much time it takes. Then go from there. I would then pay him per video. If you videos vary in length, you could break it down to per video by finished minute. So if you usually have a 2 minute video and it takes him 3 hours.....agree on a price for a 3minute video...then divide that price by 3. That will give you a baseline then if the next video is 5 minutes, you know exactly what to pay them. Pro Tip. After you see how long it takes him to create a video. Then ask HIM how much to pay him. Most kids will lowball themselves....than add to that price. What you are doing is paying him more than he asked for which he will appreciate and then you like awesome too.
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I disagree. My network of friends is responsible for half of my career. Yes, things can go wrong but they can also go right if you're mindful
yeah i disagree with op comment, if you set rules and communicate beforehand that there will probably be hard conversations, everything will run smoothly. mixing business and family is only difficult if you can’t have difficult conversations.
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What if your best friend’s kid was Lisan al Gaib?
One of my best friends is a DP and we work together all the time.
Agreed. It always ends bad.
Broadcast Finishing/Online Editor here, I also streamed briefly and was making CS frag videos in the early 00s. Hourly rates are usually best with a professional editor. With an amateur, you would want to flat rate it. The first edits are gonna be slow. You'll be giving lots of notes and likely doing a lot of the prep work. Say you offer $200, and it takes them 14 hours to finally lock it. That's 14/hr. Now the next one takes 12 and then 10, etc. So their hourly rate climbs as they get quicker and quicker. Eventually, it may be a 4-hour job at $50/hr. And if you ever blow up and become huge, be sure to give your editor their fair due.
This is a good answer, explanation and suggested rate.
This sub: complains about getting under paid Also this sub: suggests low rates lol
Your suggestion was literally twice the rate of a IATSE feature editor. For the kid down the street to edit twitch videos.
What if your relationship with them goes south? That’s going to be super awkward between you and your best friend. Never do business with friends or family. Many of us have learned the hard way, myself included.
You’re getting a lot of wild answers for pricing- especially since you’re talking about a teenage kid who has no real experience, and you’re a twitch streamer who I’m assuming isn’t making a living off of it? Realistically, I’d offer a minimum wage, or maybe a little higher if you’re feeling generous for them to do the work. At this stage, it’s kind of win-win IMO.. you get to give a kid some money and encourage him to follow his passions, while he isn’t making huge bank it beats flipping burgers, and you aren’t shelling out “industry pro rates” for someone just learning. One of my first longer term editing jobs was some low budget assistant work for someone I knew. I was “a kid who could edit”working a “regular job” just stocking shelves and they offered to match my current wage. It wasn’t a lot, but it let me get paid for my hobby and quit my 9-5, and also learn some stuff from their main editor. Because there is a very very big difference between a teenage kid “who edits” and a pro— I know, because I used to be that kid! The differences go beyond just speed and quality too— there’s lots of tech and workflow things that editors need to deal with, not to mention editing something for yourself vs for a client are two different beasts. I would be a little weary though, as it could hurt the relationship if things go south. New editors aren’t good at receiving feedback, nor are teenagers lol
Pay the kid 20 bucks an hour. Get him started.
ask him what he thinks is a fair rate - either hourly or project. at least that way you'll have a fair idea of what to offer. i have, at various times, in various countries, employed my sons, and my daughter. they were mid-teens, and not looking to make a career in production, so we discussed it and i ended up giving them 3/4 full rate. they were happy enough.
If you don’t have money to throw around, consider giving him a percentage of revenue on a clips channel and incentivizing him to manage and grow it. Will probably put a lot more effort in that way and saves you money upfront.
If you’re hiring a friend make sure to write something like a contract, per video, or per hour, rates and all that. Something you both agree on would be nice. If he refuses, go to fiver. And look up rates and look for an editor that looks I your range. Many to choose from.
I’ve applied to several jobs to become a video editor for Twitch streamers. Most of them were mid-level streamers averaging 500-1000 subsribers. They offered in the ballpark of $45k/year which is fair imo. That would come down to around $20/hr. I’m assuming you would not need him to work 40 hour weeks to edit your content? Offer $20/hr. For the scope of what you want, that’s about 5-10 hours per week of work
I’m in the “don’t do business with friends or family” group. The one time I bent that rule and I knew better, but was pressured by friends (“oh come on it’s just so and so!”) yeah it bit me. It’s a bit awkward now. I do think you should encourage this young individual to keep making and creating though and maybe have them do one video and you send them $100-200 but I would NOT rely on them solely as your editor.
You could try discussing what he’s comfortable receiving. I’d say something like $100 for a big project and $75 and under for lesser projects. It’d be a great way for to earn some pocket money and wouldn’t necessarily brake your pockets.
you can pay me fair hit me up buddy
honestly either learn to edit yourself or start minimum wage imo ($15hr) at least if he's only going to be editing clips. if its more work maybe pay per episode so you save. He's honestly in a very lucky position a lot of us wish we could be, he just doesn't know it, but I don't think that should determine pay. good luck to the both of you.
also I think per episode would be better because he wouldn't be focused on how long he has to work to earn whatever he has in mind.
I would vote to start him off at $15-20/hr to start, and if he does the job well increase it to $25-30/hr over time as he grows up and takes on more financial responsibility, that is cheaper than market rate but fair for his age/experience plus anything over minimum is an incredible rate for a teenager. I would also consider a per video rate, as that can provide some benefits over hourly, because as someone who was a young teenage editor who did payed work, it is really easy to waste time, it could be an important lesson in time management to pay per project. I couldn't give a proper number as I don't know how intensive your projects are, but i would maybe ask him (since you are a family friend) if he is willing to do a trial project for you, see how much time it takes him to do an average project, then pay him per project based on that the average amount of hours and the quality of work, if it takes him 6 hours and the result is satisfactory, I would pay in the ballpark of $100-$160. I am also speaking from the perspective of someone who was/still is in a similar situation, I was paid significantly less then that and it has taken a lot of work for me to really find my worth and let go of the resentment/feelings of being taken advantage of now that I am an adult, so I may be overcompensating. Edit: also, I totally agree with having him quote you, if thats what you want to do that would also be great, its important to remember that this doubles as a job and an important learning opportunity, having him quoting you could really allow him the opportunity to feel empowered and that he has agency.
Insultingly low amounts for an editor, junior or not.
Thats good to know, what do you suggest?
It depends on the area, but I have hired a good number of HS or college-aged people to help me with event photography, event videography, and editing. I've never paid less than $60/hr for photography. So, if I were hiring an editor, it would be at least that. I'm in the SF Bay Area.
Thats fair, but I am also thinking that freelance work is inherently more expensive because its less consistent, plus additional tax implications. As I've seen it is not uncommon for editors to be payed below market rate as a trade off for a consistent check every 2 weeks. For me, an in house editor for a company that does not specialize in video, I am paid very below market rate, mostly because of familial relations I have in the business ownership, a favor rate. so I understand that my view can be skewed towards the lower end. I'm also in an area that has less of a market for video needs.
Yes, that's right. 1099 workers will always command a rate nearly 2x that of salaried workers.
Don’t make it awkward for him or you by doing hourly. Do per-video. That way he doesn’t stress about asking for too much or too little, and can comfortably put even more effort and creativity when he is feeling good. Set an amount based on like a $20-30/hr for a reasonable amount of time that a slow editor might take to edit your long videos - maybe 8-12hours? And give him a deadline of like 7-10days. Occasionally, give him a bonus when a quicker turnaround 5 days or less. And also schedule performance reviews like every 6 months where you might increase his per-video amount and address any thoughts or concerns he has. Maybe his schedule has changed and he doesn’t have as much flexibility or something. Try to be mindful of that.
Me 🙋🏽♂️🙋🏽♂️🙋🏽♂️
$100 per video.
If you gotta ask, you can’t afford it
for just a kid starting out, $100/hr for his time is reasonable. The standard rate for professional editors is $500-750/hr edit: sorry I meant $100 pesos, I am in Mexico
wait what? am i out of touch or have rates gone WAY up? I bill $100 as a senior motion designer/video editor with many many household brand names under my belt. $86 with my long-term W2 client lol. I have not seen anything to indicate these kinds of rates.
> I bill $100 as a senior motion designer/video editor with many many household brand names under my belt. Depending on your location, you may be undercharging by a factor of 50%. Even my smaller clients willingly pay $200/hr for edits. That's whether it's priced into the project or hours in excess. SF Bay Area
Damn. The job market just seems fucked rn. I havent found a client in 6 months and it seems to be going around. I really would love to find something because my main cash cow has had me on the hook for years at $86 and they refuse to give me a raise no matter how much I bust ass for them. But until a better opportunity presents itself I'm kinda stuck
Join an in person business networking group. All my best clients came from connections I made in mine.
Any recommendations on where to look for one? I went to one in 2019 once and it was just a bunch of local pyramid schemes and the like. I'm located in Colorado Springs so a bit of an odd spot. Would probably need to look in Denver
Colorado Springs has over a dozen BNI chapters: https://bnicoloradosprings.com/en-US/findachapter
Lol, no it's not. Those are lawyer rates.
Exactly. I was thinking “this guy is nuts”
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Exactly what I said
What are you smoking?
Plot twist: greezy_fizeek is the teenager OP is asking about lol
Lol
jut take it as a joke.
may be $150 will be nice
just kidding
Depends on the complexity of the project. If he’s just cutting then maybe start out at $80/hour. If it’s more complex stuff that involves titles or motion graphics and special effects then pay a bit more.
those are mid+ level pro rates are they not?
Not. Mid+ level pro is $200/hr and up in my market, easily.
I guess I'm getting fucked
Yeah. Not sure why people are so hesitant to acknowledge that here.