#talent pay

[zennis]

[admanscott]

Ever Wonder How Actors Are Paid?

Okay, this post is mainly for me. But feel free to read if you'd like. I wanted to get this down before I forget any of it because it is some pretty valuable information if you ever wonder how talent (actors/actresses/voice/music) gets paid. I had the opportunity to sit down with the talent payment manager at BBDO. This was our conversation.

So, first of all, BBDO requires that all talent used are union. The main three unions they use are SAG (Screen Actor's Guild), AFM (American Federation of Musicians), and AFTRA (The American Federation of Television and Radio  Artists).

There are three different types of players. Scale players are normal talent. Double-scale players are when a performer is held to more than one category (print and television). In this case, they are payed double. Then you have large scale players (celebrities). These are all negotiated separately.

When someone is contracted as talent, they will attend the shoot for a set amount of money (standard for a scale player is $567.00 for an 8 hour shoot). If the shoot goes into 9 and 10 hours, the talent is paid at 1.5x, and for 10+ hours they are paid double.  Weekend and holidays are always double as well. But that's not where they make the money. They make their money based on residuals.

After the ad is created, the talent department, using Polaroids, will identify those who made it into the final production. They are then classified. If you can see a face and they are identifiable or if they are reacting to or giving the message of the brand, they are considered a principal (highest paid). Now a principal can be downgraded to an extra if their face is no longer in the shot and they are not identifiable. And the most unfortunate for the talent, is they can also be outgraded. This is when they don't even make the final cut of the production. If this happens, they are merely paid for their time at the shoot. You also have guarantees sometimes. This is when an amount of money is paid to the talent and every time the spot airs, it is taken out of that fund until the money is gone. This is great for talent, because if the spot is pulled, they still get paid.

Depending on how the spot is aired, the residuals are different. This is where holding fees come in. To hold the spot and keep the talent from acting in a competitor's ad, they have to pay for exclusivity. So there are three different ways to air a television commercial, using holding fees. If the commercial is aired on national network television, the talent is paid for every single airing of the commercial on a sliding schedule (The first time is worth more and decreases as the commercial is aired more). If the commercial is aired on cable, the talent is paid in 13 week increments. The spot can be aired as many times for a set fee. This fee has to be paid every 13 weeks. And lastly, you have wild spots. These are on non-interconnected local affiliates. Wild spots are paid in 13-week increments, but based on markets. So if the spot is being played in 40 different markets, the talent is paid 40 seperate residuals. The spot can be played as many times as the client wants in each market, but if a new market is bought, the talent must be paid again.

After 21 months less one day of being aired, if the client wants to continue running the spot, the talent needs to send in a letter either asking for renegotiation or asking for the spot to cease. This is the only time the talent can ask for a raise. If they choose not to send in this letter, the client will be able to continue running the spot paying the same fee every 13 weeks for another 21 months less one day.

If the spot will be used for digital (web banners), they must pay the talent internet rights. These are 330% of the session fee for a scale player. They may then run it for one year as-is (if edits are done, the contract must be renegotiated).

For musicians, it's different. If the talent is playing an instrument, there is no exclusivity. A flat fee is paid to the musician for use. After 2 years of use, the musician is then paid again if it continues to be used.

Okay, that's the end of the lesson. I'm sure that was as boring as possible, so I promise the next post will be slightly more interesting.

Ciao!