A videography contract follows the accepted proposal and makes its promises countable: shoot days and their hours, the edited deliverables by length and format, the revision rounds, who owns the raw footage, how the client may use the finished films and for how long, the deposit and when the balance falls due. Videographers lose money on the fourth cut and the canceled shoot day, and both are contract clauses. The proposal and contract template tool on this site works the deposit, milestone and cancellation schedule from your own fee, free and without an account.
Shoot days, deliverables, revisions
The contract counts the shoot days and their hours, with an overtime rate; lists the deliverables by length, format and number; and caps the revision rounds per deliverable. Everything beyond those counts is priced as a change, with the arithmetic the proposal used.
Cancellation and weather
A shoot day the client cancels inside a stated window is paid, in full or in part, because the day cannot be resold. The cancellation schedule the tool works from your fee says how much, and how far out the window runs. Weather and access failures the client controls fall under the same clause.
Raw footage, usage and credit
Who owns the raw footage, whether the client may buy it, how the client may use the finished films and for how long, and whether the studio may show the work: each is a clause, and usage beyond the agreed term is priced.
Deposit and balance
A deposit before the first shoot day, a milestone on delivery of the first cut, the balance on final delivery. Under New York's Freelance Isn't Free Act a hiring party must pay a freelance worker by the date in the contract or, if it names none, within 30 days of the work being done; a contract that names the date is the one that protects you. Proposal suites charge per seat: from the vendor's own pricing page, Proposify Basic is $29 per user per month and Team is $49 per user per month on monthly billing. Scopedly Pro is $29 per month for the whole studio, and every tool on this site works free with no account.
Questions people ask about videography contract
What should a videography contract include?
Counted shoot days and deliverables, the revision cap, the cancellation schedule, raw footage ownership, usage terms, the deposit and payment dates, and how either side ends it.
How much deposit should a videographer take?
Enough to cover the shoot days that cannot be resold if the client walks away; the tool on this site works the deposit and the cancellation schedule from your own fee.
Can I reuse the same contract for every client?
The standing terms, yes. The deliverables, the days and the fee come from each proposal, and this site publishes no legal advice on the wording.