Would you take this revenue-share collaboration as a cinematographer/editor?
I’m a freelance cinematographer and editor, and an artist approached me for a collaboration.
He’s an established singer but isn’t performing as well as he used to. His recent songs don’t get the same number of views anymore, and he’s currently going through financial difficulties, so he can’t pay my usual fee.
Here’s the offer:
I’ll be handling both the cinematography and the editing.
The project will take around 10 days.
He’s covering all my travel and accommodation expenses since I’ll be traveling to his location.
Instead of an upfront payment, I’ll receive 20% of the revenue generated from YouTube and music streaming platforms.
For context, I normally charge ₹5,000 per shooting day (shooting only; editing is usually charged separately).
Would you take this deal? Is 20% of the revenue a fair trade-off, or would you negotiate for some guaranteed payment as well? I’d love to hear from people who’ve done revenue-share collaborations before.