Today I spoke with Joshua Blount, a videographer who presented me with a unique pricing model. “The more creative freedom I get on a project, the less I’ll charge,” he tells me. Granted, his business is young and three clients strong, but it tied into an ongoing problem I have encountered when interviewing freelancers: how are we supposed to price our art?
The recently debuted movie Velvet Buzzsaw starring Jake Gyllenhaal pushed the idea that the value of art is almost manufactured by those who sell it. An unknown, tortured artist dies leaving behind mountains of disturbing paintings drawn with mixed mediums (read “blood”) and the art dealers go crazy knowing that this is exactly the kind of things their customers (very rich art collectors) gobble up. Part of the thrill of the movie is seeing the art dealers frenzy over the paintings like sharks. Spoiler, the artist gets the last laugh.
The movie highlighted the separation of sales and the creative process. at first, it seems like pushing off the burden of selling things to a third party is beneficial to everyone. If a creator hires a salesman, the creator’s time is freed up to make art and the salesman gets a cut without having to produce anything. It’s a well structured separation that tightens up the process of running a good business.
