Why we
stopped
selling hours.
Why we stopped selling hours
01
01
Introduction
For years we quoted day rates like every other post house. A senior editor is X per day. A colorist is Y. Sound is Z. Multiply by the number of days you think you need, add a buffer, and hope the client does not change their mind four times. The problem is that day rates punish speed. If we finish a grade in two days instead of four, we earn less. The incentive is backwards. So we changed it.
Introduction
For years we quoted day rates like every other post house. A senior editor is X per day. A colorist is Y. Sound is Z. Multiply by the number of days you think you need, add a buffer, and hope the client does not change their mind four times. The problem is that day rates punish speed. If we finish a grade in two days instead of four, we earn less. The incentive is backwards. So we changed it.
Introduction
For years we quoted day rates like every other post house. A senior editor is X per day. A colorist is Y. Sound is Z. Multiply by the number of days you think you need, add a buffer, and hope the client does not change their mind four times. The problem is that day rates punish speed. If we finish a grade in two days instead of four, we earn less. The incentive is backwards. So we changed it.
The problem with hourly
Day rates turn the conversation into a negotiation about time, not output. The client starts counting days instead of thinking about deliverables. The studio starts padding estimates to protect margins. Both sides are playing defense and nobody is talking about the work.
Worse: if revision rounds drag because the brief was vague, the bill goes up. The client pays more for a problem the process should have prevented.
The problem with hourly
Day rates turn the conversation into a negotiation about time, not output. The client starts counting days instead of thinking about deliverables. The studio starts padding estimates to protect margins. Both sides are playing defense and nobody is talking about the work.
Worse: if revision rounds drag because the brief was vague, the bill goes up. The client pays more for a problem the process should have prevented.
The problem with hourly
Day rates turn the conversation into a negotiation about time, not output. The client starts counting days instead of thinking about deliverables. The studio starts padding estimates to protect margins. Both sides are playing defense and nobody is talking about the work.
Worse: if revision rounds drag because the brief was vague, the bill goes up. The client pays more for a problem the process should have prevented.
Spotlight
A day rate is a guess dressed up as a number. A scope is a promise.
Spotlight
A day rate is a guess dressed up as a number. A scope is a promise.
Spotlight
A day rate is a guess dressed up as a number. A scope is a promise.
How scope-first works
We name every deliverable before we start. That is the scope. The price comes from the scope, not the clock.
What a scope looks like
Deliverables named — hero film, cutdowns, ratios, captions
Price locked — before the timeline opens
Overruns absorbed — if we need an extra half-day, that is on us
The client approved a number. We ship against it. Surprises come from the edit, not the invoice.
How scope-first works
We name every deliverable before we start. That is the scope. The price comes from the scope, not the clock.
What a scope looks like
Deliverables named — hero film, cutdowns, ratios, captions
Price locked — before the timeline opens
Overruns absorbed — if we need an extra half-day, that is on us
The client approved a number. We ship against it. Surprises come from the edit, not the invoice.
How scope-first works
We name every deliverable before we start. That is the scope. The price comes from the scope, not the clock.
What a scope looks like
Deliverables named — hero film, cutdowns, ratios, captions
Price locked — before the timeline opens
Overruns absorbed — if we need an extra half-day, that is on us
The client approved a number. We ship against it. Surprises come from the edit, not the invoice.
What actually changed
First-review approval rate went from around 70% to 96%. Not because we suddenly got better, but because the scoping conversation forced both sides to agree on what done looks like before anyone opened a timeline.
Clients stopped asking how many days things take. They started asking what they get. That is a better question.
What actually changed
First-review approval rate went from around 70% to 96%. Not because we suddenly got better, but because the scoping conversation forced both sides to agree on what done looks like before anyone opened a timeline.
Clients stopped asking how many days things take. They started asking what they get. That is a better question.
What actually changed
First-review approval rate went from around 70% to 96%. Not because we suddenly got better, but because the scoping conversation forced both sides to agree on what done looks like before anyone opened a timeline.
Clients stopped asking how many days things take. They started asking what they get. That is a better question.
Conclusion
We still track hours internally. We just stopped making them the client's problem. The work got better. The conversations got shorter. The invoices stopped being arguments.
Conclusion
We still track hours internally. We just stopped making them the client's problem. The work got better. The conversations got shorter. The invoices stopped being arguments.
Conclusion
We still track hours internally. We just stopped making them the client's problem. The work got better. The conversations got shorter. The invoices stopped being arguments.