INDEPENDENT PRODUCERS

THE CASE FOR INDUSTRY STANDARDS

This document was initially compiled in Autumn 2016 by the Producer Gathering network at the time (Xavier de Sousa and Sally Rose), upon consultation with various independent producers working in the UK, who cover a wide range of artistic practices – from dance to theatre, from live art and circus, etc – and does not include music or film. The document was not released publicly in 2016, and across June-November 2020 Sally Rose with support from Xavier de Sousa and other producers, reviewed the document for public release in late 2020.

This document proposes to highlight the need for a sector-wide recognition of the diverse role of the independent producer in the subsidised arts sector and to provide general guidelines that emphasise a requirement for appropriate rates of pay.

The case for industry standards has in no way diminished in the intervening years, and as a result of the coronavirus pandemic industry uncertainty and precarity has increased dramatically. We acknowledge this is just one advisory document, rates and approaches may differ for different producers. It will also be updated on a regular basis in line with the current climate and in response to feedback and input from the wider profession. 

This is not a mandatory document, but one that proposes to illustrate the work that goes into producing, including preparations, consultations, report writing, fundraising, project management, administrative duties, sourcing of partnerships, bookings, tax duties and health/self insurance, amongst many other roles. It also seeks to acknowledge the often unpaid work that is endemic in the arts – not just in producing roles but across the board. We encourage anyone referring to this document to personalise their operation models according to the needs of the projects they are leading.

The role of the Independent Producer varies according to project, artist practice, context, etc., and it is often referred to under other titles. (e.g. Creative Producer, Arts Producer, Self-Producing Artist, Artists’ Producer, Company Producer, Project Producer, Fundraiser, etc). It is also a role that can take a position of leadership and support on the development and delivery of artistic projects, as well as facilitating infrastructure and artistic development strands.

Points of consideration:

1. The daily rates here proposed are higher than the typical rate charged for Professional Independent Producers, after a recognition that the standard rate has not changed for around 20 years;
2. The daily rates here proposed are for project-based work and for company-freelance contracts in the publicly funded sector only – and acknowledge that producers should be free to negotiate their own rates as they see fit;
3. The daily rates here are a proposed minimum for each professional to be able to deliver a project and should be taken as a base rate rather than a go-to industry rate;
4. Beyond the daily rates, we have also taken into account other models of operation from more senior producers who work directly with companies on a regular basis and are sharing these models too;

This document showcases the results of the consultation and suggested starting rates of pay for independent producers and self-producing culture workers in the UK.

PROPOSED DAILY RATES

These acknowledge that the role is precarious and it is often impossible to calculate a certain number of days work per year. Unpaid work should also be taken into account, particularly in the setting up and fundraising for projects.

For ref. National Minimum Wage for an 8 hour day:
25 and over – £8.72 p/hour = £69.76
21 to 24 – £8.20 p/hour = £65.60

This references NMW. As freelancers, it’s useful to remember that tax contributions, holiday pay and other benefits that an employer pays for employees are your own responsibility and should be factored into your rates.

Early Career Producers Daily Rate: £175-200
For Producers and Administrators at the early stages of their career, but with some already acquired skills/experience in the field.

Standard Professional Independent Producer Daily Rate: £250+
For all Producers and Administrators who have already acquired professional experience and skill sets.

Other proposed (min) daily rates:

• Project Manager: £175-£200
• Finance / Budget Administrator: £150-£170
• Project Consultancy: £250-£300
• Company Development Consultancy: £350-£450
• Mentor: £200-£300

BEYOND THE DAILY RATES

This section recognises that some producers, often those with more experience in the field, and with long-term contracts/agreements with self-produced companies and/or venues. Here, we attempt to highlight different models of operation across the sector. These are still on a project-specific basis rather than more long-term engagements, and should be taken as guidelines for producers instead of as standard models of operation.

Project-specific Rates & Percentages

Some producers prefer to work on a project-specific base rate, allowing for flexibility of workload and timeframes, it is always worth working out how many days you think a project will take and accounting for contingency time.

Minimum Fee for short R&D Projects: £2000
Minimum Fee for Production (dependent on run): £4000

Other producers prefer to work on the basis of an overall budget percentage, usually at 10% fee of the total budget. This is advisable for long-term and large scale projects/tours, and it is recommended that this percentage is complimented by an Exclusivity Services Weekly Rate (see next page).

It’s also worth noting that often producers will hire other people to work on areas that can sometimes be considered part of a producing role – whether that is fundraising, production coordinator, finance/budget manager, and therefore these should be taken into account when thinking about an overall percentage.

Minimum Weekly Rate for Exclusivity of Services for Producers: £750

Some producers work on weekly wages according to the lengths of their agreement and the projects they are facilitating. This fee is for exclusivity of services throughout the working week within a specific project/period of engagement and should be complemented by ‘Creative Commission Fees’ (the same as applied to the Director, Lead Artist, Writer, etc) or an added commission fee to compliment the weekly exclusivity wage.

Funding Application Writing

Funding applications are often a key stage of producing a project. Each Trust & Foundation, or funder, requires a different approach and levels of research, preparation and relationship building.

With that in mind, we suggest that you identify how many days it will take you to work meaningfully or in depth on any given application and apply the day rates above.

It might take a (rough guide) minimum of 3 to 4 days to work on any given application, and thus your fee should reflect that. Some producers also prefer to work on a minimum percentage rate, which could be a suggested minimum of 5% of a total budget.

We do recognise that there are skilled professionals working primarily as fundraisers who work on set fees or percentages. These suggestions are mainly for producers who also engage in writing funding bids on a project-by-project basis. Long-term company development fundraising demands other more expansive negotiations and fees.

National Insurance Contribution & Holiday Pay

The following contributions are applied to employees by employers. We recommend trying to factor in these contributions to your earnings, particularly with regards to long-term freelance contracts with a venue/company/festival, and to consider applying these to other freelance contractors that you work with. Below rates are in line with Government guidelines for employers. You should also try to take into account your income tax contributions (rough guide 20% of earnings).

• (Class 1) National Insurance Contributions: 13.8%
• Contribution to Holiday Pay -or- Minimum of 24 days paid holiday per financial year.

Touring

Touring is knotty by its very essence. Not all producers work on tour booking as part of their practice, for instance. And there are various ways in which producers charge to book, manage and/or produce a tour. This also depends on budget-size, length and type of work/tour you are putting together.

If you are working with a small budget within your project and want to hire someone to book a tour, you can work on a percentage basis – i.e. the tour booker receives a percentage of your total tour income. If working on large-scale budgets or if you have money to pay upfront, you could pay a minimum ‘exclusivity fee’ on top of the percentage mentioned below.

Because this is quite complex and dependent on scale of budgets, length of tour, amount of dates, regions, etc, we are presenting some case studies here that were collated during the consulting period:

1. Subsidised Touring: min 15% of overall tour budget
2. Non-Subsidised and International Touring: min 10% + a project management & administration fee (e.g. an international budget, take 10% of the fee income + £500 minimum project management fee per date).  This is not done across an overall budget basis but on a per touring engagement, and we would recommend all extra expenses (accommodation, travel, per diems and insurance) to be charged on top of these rates.

Note: it is also advisable to contact a professional Tour Booker for appropriate strategic advice.

Annual Earnings Calculations

An interesting commercial example here shows a calculation for annual salary / day rate – higher than the rates listed above, but applicable to see how they would work across a year:

How to Calculate Your Day Rate

Use a calculation that is a ‘rule of thumb’ in the ‘interim management’ sector:

(£Your annual basic salary +30%) / 220 days (based on working days available minus weekends, public holidays, allocation for some sick days)

So, for example, if your current basic salary is £50,000, your calculation would be:

£50,000+30% = £65,000 / 220 = £295 per day (typically rounded up to £300).

With this in mind if you wanted to earn £30,000 per year, your day rate would be: £180 per day for 220 days work per year.

£180 x 220 days per year = £39,000 per year to cover £30,000 + 30% for tax, NI and holiday pay contributions

Of course, it’s certainly not possible to always guarantee 220 days work per year, and worth remembering that there is often unpaid work in freelance roles related to quoting for or setting up projects.

Example from Sally in 2017-18

Annual earnings £29,400 / £156 avg. day rate = recorded 188 paid working days. Suggests that Sally was unpaid for 177 days of the year.

• Approx. 104 days are weekends but I’d estimate only half were taken = 52 days
• Holiday taken = 20-25 days (1 week Sept 1, 2-3 weeks Dec-Jan, 1 week April)
• 365 days – 188 paid days – 52 weekends – 25 holidays = 100 days unpaid

The actual picture is that I often worked days longer than 1 average day, more days than budgeted for, or in setting up projects that didn’t happen as planned. So a real portion of those 100 days are unpaid. and the true day rate is more like:

£29,400 / 263 days (working days 188 + holiday 25 + unpaid estimate 50-100) = max. £110 per day, or after tax = £88 per day taken home

This example outlines why it’s useful / important to take into account true working hours, and the impact time off and tax contributions can make to overall earnings. We acknowledge this difficult financial year 2020-21 has been much more precarious for many.

Other Calculators

Day Rate Calculator

You can also look at artists union as an example.