What does a fight choreographer cost?
Questions? Read the supplementIssues? Read the Reasons NOT to hire a fight choreographer
Supplement
This is a simple formula to determine what you might pay for my services. This is ONLY AN ESTIMATE. Rates are subject to change without notice.Actual rates for most fight choreographers will be much higher. Why? Because a fight choreographer is assuming responsibility for the safety of your actors. A fight choreographer is a defense against lawsuits in case of injury. Fight choreographers assume liability on behalf of the theatre company. What is that worth to you?
Keeping that in mind, you will find that the rates estimated here are extremely reasonable.
How much I charge is dependent on the number of fighters I have to deal with, if I need to conduct a basic fight workshop in conjunction with a production, and the duration and complexity of the fights I am choreographing. I have determined these rates based on past experience and industry averages.
Consultation is free.
I have a minimum fee of $100.00.
Basic Assumptions that went into these calculations:- The industry average for a fight choreographer is $500/wk for theatre, $500/day for film.
- One minute of fight requires one hour of choreography
- Additional rehearsal is necessary to ensure safety protocols are followed.
- More people mean proportionately more work.
Reasons NOT to hire a fight choreographer
- I can't afford a fight choreographer.
- Then why are you producing this play? There are many plays which don't have violence in them. Pick one of those. If you can't afford the fight choreographer, then you can't afford the lawsuit if something goes wrong.
- There's only a slap or a fall. What could go wrong?
- I realize that hiring a fight choreographer in this situation seems like overkill. Chances are you will probably be able to get away with something moderately acceptable to an audience. Be aware that most accidents occur doing the simple stuff, not the complicated routines. A fight choreographer can show an actor how to protect himself/herself in under an hour.
- I've done some combat in my time. I can do this myself.
- As a fight choreographer, I can tell you that I don't teach everything I know doing a single show. I look at the given circumstances of the production and teach each actor enough to survive THAT PRODUCTION. I utilize many techniques, acquired over years of study. If you can make that claim, you may be qualified to do it yourself. Fight choreography is always changing as new and better techniques are developed. It is not a static profession.
- They're only pratfalls. They aren't really combat.
- Clowning techniques are frequently taught in stage combat workshops. Don't let the wording fool you. Stage combat, stage violence, etc., are incomplete definitions of what the fight choreographer does. There really isn't a generic term to encompass it all. Anything involving violent or jerky movement, including simple stunts, is the arena of the fight choreographer. Not all violence is serious. It is frequently funny. Slipping on a banana peel is not necessarily combat, but it is what we do.
