Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Anyone ever had one of their hunts professionally filmed?

If so, did you find the expense worth it?

Considering it for our Safari in May. I'm going back and forth between doing it and not.

Bill, what are the costs and how do they break down on paper?

I can offer insight and suggestions if you are open to it.

We've looked at a few, costs vary by around 1500$ or so. Right now we're looking at a company that our PH (Barry Styles) suggested.

Total cost is right at 7000$.

350/ day for filming/editing
250/ day for "observer" (PHs charge for having them there)
1000 for a plane ticket
200 postage/DVDs/etc
200 for voice over

Always open to insight/suggestions!

Wowweeeee

I knew it would cost some 'kajinkies' but nowhere that much.
However, with your price breakdown its easily understandable
to me now....But Wow...I've been enlightened...hats off to the guys that can afford this...I've a lot more admiration that's for certain.

Hope you find someone who can do you good!

Safe hunting!

Bill, see your pm box. Input offered.

I will mention that for a good end product, thats not unreasonable. But...dont hire anyone, ever, without seeing their latest DVD of a hunt. Thats what you want to see, so you know how YOUR trip will look.

If it looks lousy and is done sloppy, move on and find another guy. Their DVD is their business card and it tells you who and what they are all about.

There's a saying in Hollywood, your career and reputation is only as good as your latest film, tv series or movie. It stands true across the spectrum in the business that your latest job is your latest calling card.

Thanks again for the PM...

That sounds rather expensive. Are you going on a DG hunt?

Yes, Cape Buffalo is on the top of our menu...

These folks are the highest of the bunch that we've talked to, but came highly recommended....

3500/each really doesn't "seem" that high.

It sounds sky high to me.

What I heard pertaining to South Africa about a company that came highly recommended was something in the $1,500 range for a week.

Furthermore, why would there be a charge of $250/day for the photographer? A charge for his room and board would be reasonable but other than that, he is part of the hunting time like a PH or tracker.

Of course, if you're only bringing photos rather than trophies back, you could even save money at $7,000.

It depends on the property owner who pays what and sounds like an observer rate on a DG game hunt.

BB I hope you enjoy the hunt and may your video turn out just great.

sounds right to me aswell, the photographer is not part of the hunting staff, he is part of the the crew accompanying the hunter and has to pay the observer rate....

that said im ok with a camera, have a DSLR with a handful of lenses....pay my plain ticket and ill pay the daily observer rate and follow you around and take pictures

If you are going to do it in hopes of producing a video for sale, you will really need to script parts ahead of time, and know what you want to film in addition to the kill shots beforehand.

Camp, towns, cities, bush staff, wildlife, campfire conversations etc all need to be thought of in advance.

Dragging a photographer through the bush is noisy, slow, and it always takes an extra 15-30 seconds to get the camera on the game before you shoot. Think of how few times you have that extra 30 seconds to wait.

Best of luck if you try, but it is not easy, and works best if you have a month free and an unlimited budget.

dammit man, how am i gonna get anyone to take me up on my offer with you injecting common sense into this argument

Oops! Don't know what came over me. Sorry.

My first trip was with a group and we split the cost. The camera guy went with each of us on different days and it worked out ok. For just me I would not do it. I would just pay for my kids to go to do filming and also some hunting.

There may be some really talented amateurs that would like to go along for the ride and share costs and the experience
$7k is a lot of money

My hunting partner had our hunt filmed when we hunted with KMG Safaris. Igala Productions did a FANTASTIC job!!! This was a very professional job in Dolby Digital. Johan the videografer(spl) was absolutely the best! I think the cost was around $1,600 but am not positive. I think you could google them and find out more info. I will play the video again and see if there is a contact number on the video.

For those of you that are wondering why there is a fee for an observer or the cameraman...here is my guess as to why:

each extra person that goes along becomes a liability and a danger to themselves and the group. Having to keep an eye on that person is added stress and work, and if that person were injured while on the trip, I suspect the PH's insurance company would henceforth increase their policy costs the next year, IF they didn't completely drop them. Then add meals and lodging and transportation costs.

As a result, I wouldn't want someone tagging along that was new to the hunting scene or that environment. The insurance liability alone wouldn't be offset by the $250 per day but it might contribute towards it, when its all tallied up.

I had all three of mine filmed professionally. If you had to ask me whether I'd prefer to lose all of my trophies or my video, I'd say trophies in a heart beat. Every time you watch that video you'll be right back to that day. It's the best trophy you can have.

There are some really good cameramen in Zimbabwe, so there's no need to fly one in. I wish I had known that the first time I went because I brought one from the US. The local guys typically charge around $250/day for shooting raw footage and transferring it to a hard drive for you. You should expect to pay for having them in camp, but the full observer rate is ridiculous. $50-60/day should be sufficient, unless your cameraman is drinking their bar dry.

Get your footage edited once you're back home. For a 10 day hunt, editing could be from $1000 - 3000 depending on what you want done.

Pete

I found the information on the video production company that KMG Safaris used on our hunt. They are a top notch outfit!

iGala Productions
www.igalaproductions.co.za
Johan van der Watt Production Director
email: johanigalaproductions.co.za

Johan is a great guy to deal with, contact him about your hunt!