Pricing & Negotiating: Still Life Images For Pharmaceutical Client

By Craig Oppenheimer, Wonderful Machine

Concept: Still life images of a pharmaceutical product

Licensing: Unlimited use of all images captured for two years

Photographer: Portraiture specialist

Agency: Pharmaceutical marketing specialists

Client: Pharmaceutical company

Here is the estimate:

 

 

Fees: The project was fairly straightforward. The client needed images of a product on a white background, and images of hands holding the product. Right from the start, we were told that they have a budget of $15,000, so my goal was to account for all necessary expenses while making sure that the fee for the photographer was appropriate for the usage. While the licensing included unlimited use, we knew these images would likely be used primarily for collateral purposes, and they were willing to limit the duration to two years. For this project, I felt $5,500 was suitable for a creative/licensing fee.

Crew: I included a first assistant to help the photographer set up grip/lighting equipment, and a digital tech to help the client review the content as it was being captured both on-site and remotely over zoom.

Styling: I included a hair/makeup stylist to prep the talent on the shoot day, as well as a wardrobe stylist for three days to help source clothing for them. Since the scope was relatively simple, I did not include a styling assistant for either role, as I felt they could handle the responsibilities easily on their own.

Health and Safety: While not included in the bottom line, I noted what a covid compliance officer would cost, should the team require one on-site.

Casting and Talent: We planned to work with a local casting director to hire three models, and the agency planned to pay the talent directly.

Locations: We included one studio rental day.

Equipment: In addition to the photographer’s gear, we included an appropriate amount for a digital tech to rent us their workstation for the day.

Meals: We kept it pretty low-key on the meals to be able to adhere to the budget given, and accounted for ordering lunch from a local restaurant instead of having an elaborate catering setup.

Post Production: The agency planned to handle retouching, so all we needed to include was a hard drive to hand over the content at the end of the day.

Results: The photographer was awarded the project.

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