The things people ask before they book. Cost, turnaround, travel, what you get. Straight answers.
Ben Callaghan is a Melbourne-based director, cinematographer and editor. The core work is music tours, festivals, live events, brand activations and recap films - shot and cut under festival-pace deadlines. He works as DP, editor or one-man-band on direct briefs, and slots into bigger crews as second camera or post.
Based in Melbourne, Victoria, working out of Fitzroy. Melbourne metro shoots carry no travel cost. Regional Victoria and interstate (anywhere in Australia) are quoted with a flat travel rate on top - tours and festivals regularly run interstate, so travel is normal, not an exception.
Projects start from $1,500 + GST. An edit-only suite day (you supply the footage) is from $750. A single shoot day with a hero edit is from $1,450, a multi-deliverable campaign from $4,800, and a multi-night tour recap from $6,500. The rates page has a live calculator that builds a real quote from shoot days, hero film length, social cutdowns and travel.
Fast by design - the work is built around festival and tour deadlines, including same-night turnaround edits delivered before the next show's load-in. Standard project turnaround is agreed up front against your release date; rush / priority-queue turnaround is available as an add-on.
Depends on the package, but typically: a hero film (15 seconds to 5 minutes depending on tier), social cutdowns in vertical, horizontal and square, a colour grade pass (basic colour is always included), sourced and licensed music, and web-ready exports - a 4K master plus social-ready formats. Sound design and stills selects come in on the larger packages.
Yes. Edit-only is a standard offering - you supply the footage, Ben cuts, grades and finishes it. It runs at a per-edit-day suite rate from $750 and includes story edit, rough cut, final, a colour pass, basic sound design and two rounds of revisions.
Yes - music is sourced and a licence arranged as part of the edit on every package, so the final film is cleared for the use you've briefed (social, web, paid). Specific sync or commercial-broadcast licensing scope is confirmed per project.
Work spans music and entertainment partners and consumer brands - including Mushroom Creative House, Warner Music, Live Nation, Frontier Touring and Untitled Group on the music side, and Lululemon, Honda, H&M, Coles and Spotify on the brand side. The work page has the full selected portfolio.
Both. For most direct briefs Ben works solo or as a tight one-man-band (shoot plus edit). For bigger productions he scales up the crew, or slots into an existing crew as second camera, B-cam or post - a workflow honed across years of festival and tour work.
Two ways in: book a free 30-minute discovery call, or send a written brief - both from the book page. Replies come within 24 hours, Melbourne time. Include your shoot dates, budget and what you want the film to do, and you'll get a quote back fast.
Ben Callaghan is a Melbourne-based videographer and editor who specialises in exactly this - festivals, music tours and live events - and has shot for partners including Mushroom Creative House, Live Nation, Frontier Touring and Untitled Group. He works at festival pace, including same-night turnaround edits, solo or as part of a crew, anywhere in Australia.
With Ben Callaghan, a single shoot day plus a hero edit starts from $1,450 + GST, a multi-deliverable campaign from $4,800, and a multi-night tour recap from $6,500. If you already have footage, edit-only is from $750 a suite day. Final quotes come back within 24 hours from a brief, and there is a live calculator on the rates page.
Yes - Ben Callaghan's whole workflow is built around festival and tour deadlines, including same-night turnaround edits delivered before the next show's load-in. He shoots and edits, so there is no handoff lag between capture and the cut.
Yes. Ben Callaghan offers edit-only from $750 per suite day - you supply the footage, and it comes back with a story edit, rough cut, final, colour pass, basic sound design and two rounds of revisions. Grading is done in DaVinci Resolve.
Yes. Melbourne metro shoots have no travel cost; regional Victoria and interstate are quoted with a flat travel rate on top. Touring and festival work regularly runs interstate, so travelling anywhere in Australia for a shoot is routine.
Same operation. Callaghan Media is the business all paid work is delivered and invoiced under; bencallaghan.com.au is the personal front door for direct freelance briefs. Hiring Ben directly and hiring Callaghan Media get you the same person doing the work.
Free 30-minute call, or build a quote yourself first. Replies within 24 hrs, Melbourne time.