Guides to getting paid right on every job
The business side of production, written plainly: getting paid, charging right, and keeping the paperwork that protects you. No account needed to read any of it.
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Getting paid
How to Invoice a Production Company
What belongs on a freelance film crew invoice: labor, kit, expenses, deposits, terms, with a full example and an accounts-payable send checklist.
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Net 30: Start Date, Due Date, and Status
What Net 30 actually means, what starts the clock, and a due-date calculator.
Read the guide →How to Follow Up on a Late Invoice
Figure out where the invoice is stuck, then run the follow-up ladder with copy-paste scripts.
Read the guide →Rates & deal terms
Film Crew Day Rates: What Freelancers Actually Charge
Realistic ranges by role, what a day really means, and how to quote without underpricing yourself.
Read the guide →Wedding Videographer Rates (2026)
Package prices by market, add-ons, second shooter pay, retainers, and when the balance is due.
Read the guide →Film Day Rate Calculator: Hourly, Overtime and Half Days
Turn a day rate into an hourly figure, see what overtime adds, and get a common half-day range.
Read the guide →Crew Budget Estimator for Short Films and Small Shoots
Pick your roles and get a low, typical and high labor total from the national ranges.
Read the guide →Kit Fee vs Day Rate
The four kinds of money on a crew invoice: labor, owned kit, rentals, and reimbursements.
Read the guide →Deal Memos for Film Crews
What a deal memo is, what belongs in one, and how to get it signed without making it weird.
Read the guide →Deal Memo Template for Film Crew
A one-page template with every field, a worked example, and how to get it signed.
Read the guide →Running the job
Call Sheet Basics for Small Crews
What belongs on a call sheet, what small crews can skip, and when to send it.
Read the guide →Tracking Your Camera, Grip and Lighting Kit
A real gear list: values for insurance conversations, and check-out sheets when gear leaves.
Read the guide →Records & taxes
1099s for Freelance Film Crew, Explained
The W-9 connection, worker classification basics, self-employment tax, and when you may owe your own crew a 1099.
Read the guide →Schedule C for Freelance Film Crew
What goes on it, in film terms: gear, rentals, travel, and the things that surprisingly aren't on it.
Read the guide →Freelance Tax Set-Aside Calculator
Estimate your self-employment tax and a planning range to set aside, in your browser.
Read the guide →W-9 for Film Crew: What It Is and What Goes On It
What the form is, how a sole proprietor fills it out, and what backup withholding means.
Read the guide →Use the rate, then build the record.
Turn what you just read into a real document: add your labor, kit and expenses, set your terms, and keep every job in one place.