Are You Earning What Your Skills Are Worth? Discover The Answer.

Office Hours LIVE! How (and why) to participate in the 2023 Post Production Salary Survey – right now!

Mixing Light Contributor and Blue Collar Post Collective co-founder, Katie Hinsen guides you on how to discover the salaries of new and established professionals working in post production. With this knowledge, you’ll know what a fair pay rate is in our business – based on the type of work you do, your experience, and your geographic location.

It begins with post production workers (YOU) participating in the 2023 US Post Production Salary Survey:

Click through to take the anonymous 2023 Salary survey!

(this link opens the Google Forms Survey and closes at the end of November 2023)

If you get stuck on any of the answers, watch the first half of this Office Hours as Katie explains the problems that trip people up and the logic/rationale behind many questions.

The overall goal of this 8th Annual Survey is to raise the bar by informing post production professionals of their market value. This public information also helps newcomers to our field from undervaluing their services and de-valuing all working professionals. Or put another way…

This 100% anonymous survey provides transparency of pay rates in the United States market. And you can use it to help determine pay rates in your local (or similar) market. From there, each of us can confidently negotiate our rates!

This survey covers just about everyone in post production inside the United States, including:

• Colorists
• Online Editors
• DITs
• Video Editors
• Post Audio Operators
• PAs and Interns
• Support and Office Staff
• Assistants

After you’ve taken this survey, please share the link with anyone & everyone you know who works in post production!

The more participation we get, the more useful the data becomes, so please share it with your network. Discussing pay with colleagues can be uncomfortable, so this anonymous survey is extremely important.

The 2nd half of this Office Hours shows you how to calculate your specific hourly or project rates

Katie walks us through a spreadsheet that helps you calculate your personal rates. The spreadsheet is available to Mixing Light members, in the Insight linked below.

You’ll learn the key expenses that most creative professionals overlook. You’ll also learn how to budget for those lean times when you might have some time between jobs (or during a union strike).

Finally, gain insight into how the top colorists in the world structure their salaries. And learn what the post houses that hire them expect as a result.

Mentioned in this Insight

• PostProductionData.com – This is Katie’s website for the annual Salary Survey.
• Previous Years Data – The section of PostProductionData.com that details the previous year’s results. It includes reports from some prior years and the raw data you can filter for all previous years (all of it, completely anonymous).
• Blue Collar Post Collective – Kate co-founded this non-profit and had run the Salary Survey through them from 2016 – 2022.

Related Insights

• Getting Out Of The Red – Finance Fundamentals For Creative Pros – How much should a post production artist charge for their work? Learn an easy step-by-step process that gives you confidence in your rates. This Insight includes a link to a spreadsheet for Mixing Light members.
• What Is A Typical Hourly Rate for U.S. Colorists and DITs? – Katie summarizes the 2019 Salary Survey, specifically focusing on Colorists and DITs.
• When To Sell Yourself Short: A Holistic Approach To Value (with cats) – When is it ok to to take a job for little or no money? Katie Hinsen suggests taking a holistic approach to value when considering an opportunity, job, or client.

What do you think of this Office Hours?

Use the comments to ask questions or share your thoughts on the Annual Salary Survey. But before you do, take the survey!

– Katie