Film Accounting Glossary
Hourly rate
What is an hourly rate?
Also called base rate, or scale rate.
An hourly rate is the base pay per hour from which straight time, overtime, and golden time are all calculated, and under union agreements it is derived from the negotiated weekly scale.
Because premium hours are multiples of it, a small change in the base rate moves the total labor cost more than it appears to. Budgets that model a flat weekly number without an hourly build cannot forecast overtime at all.
Example
A weekly scale of $1,800 for a 12-hour guaranteed day derives an hourly rate the premiums build on. Raise the base 5% and the straight time rises 5%, but the double-time hours rise 5% off a doubled figure, so total labor cost moves more than it appears.
Figures are illustrative, chosen to show the mechanics rather than to quote market rates.
Where you'll see it
Derived from the union agreement's scale and entered in the deal memo. A budget without an hourly build cannot forecast overtime at all.
Common mistake
Budgeting a flat weekly figure with no hourly build underneath. A model without an hourly rate cannot forecast overtime, so it forecasts a schedule that never happens.
Related questions
- How is a film hourly rate set?
- Derived from the negotiated weekly scale in the applicable union agreement, then recorded in the deal memo as the base every premium is calculated from.
- Why does a small base rate increase cost more than it looks?
- Because premium hours are multiples of the base. Raising it lifts straight time and lifts overtime and golden time by the same percentage of a larger figure.