Professional
Charge a fair and professional rate. They want a professional DVD to send out and represent the school, they should pay accordingly. I would start with finding out exactly how they want the final product. Do they want just a slide show, or do they want text and voice over. Once you have the specifications you can come up with a bid price to give them. Since you say you already have photos of the foreign students at the school, you need to decide haw much they are worth. A quick way to do that is estimate the time involved, including any post production, and multiply that by $50. Yup, $50 an hour. That is what it would cost to have someone else come in and shoot the pictures, so you should be paid the same. Once you have an estimated cost for your shots you intend to use, count them up and multiply that number by the cost per shot. Next, estimate your time to produce the DVD, be as accurate as you can, and multiply by the hourly rate. Add in a cost for consumables, any supplies you have on hand you think you will use in the production process, and sum the cost up. That is how much you should charge. I might negotiate a little on the per unit costs for the photos, but that is all. They are expecting something professional and they believe you can do it, or else they would not have asked. I am willing to bet they have an idea on what the DVD will cost and they are giving you the opportunity ti under-bid, so remember, do not get excited at this chance and give your services away. Also, do not take the assignment if you can not produce a slick, professionally done product. Bid fairly, do excellent work, and everyone will be pleased. Lastly, get everything in writing. Everything they want and when they want it and live up to your deal. I shoot children's parties as a side line, and I charge what I know my time and photographs are worth. I get $100 per hour and they get a CD with all the images, rights free, and 10 8x10 prints of their choice. I have pricing for any additional prints of copies of the CD. I also tell my clients how to upload images from the CD to several online photo printing sites. I do this because it lets them know I am not trying to gouge them on the printing and it adds to the client relationship. I have told that my rate was too high, but I also have to turn down jobs sometimes because I am too busy, so I guess I am not too high. The whole point of this is to not under sell yourself. Charge what is fair to you, not them. They are going to pay the going rate to someone else if you don't get the job and they know this. So be fair to yourself first, which is good advice as a rule.
