How Much Money Do Pro Video Editors REALLY Make?

I’ve been editing professionally for over 20 years—mostly high-end TV commercials—and I finally decided to tackle the question I’ve avoided since starting this channel: How much should you charge as a video editor?

The truth is, it’s less about an exact number and more about understanding budgets and value from your client’s perspective.

Here’s the framework I use:

• Union benchmarks: For film/TV editors, $3,000–$4,000/week is a solid “doing well” rate. Big studio films can pay more; indie projects often pay less.

• Think top-down: Clients hire editors because their project will make them money. The budget comes from expected returns, not from what you want to charge.

You of course can’t expect a client to pay $3K/week if their entire budget is $1K. So instead of simply raising your rate, prioritize moving into higher-budget projects so your rate can naturally increase.

How to get there:

• Build a reel with higher-quality work.

• Work for free sometimes, but only if the collaborator has real potential to create paid projects and the project will significantly elevate your portfolio.

For example, I recently edited a short film, Treasure Imagination, with my friend Scott Rice. My pay? Zero dollars. But I still did it because:

• I got to work with an incredible crew, including top cinematographers.

• It scratched my creative itch for narrative work.

• It’s a killer piece for my reel and my course.

• It built relationships that could lead to bigger (paid) gigs.

So don’t just think “raise my rate”; think, “work on higher-level projects.” Understand where the money comes from, and strategically position yourself to capture it.