Do you PAY your actors for a feature?

M

Mickey Munday

Well-known member
for a low budget feature do you pay your actors? give them backend pay (once the movie is sold they get paid then)? or do you just have them act in it for free?

for shorts i find a lot of actors that dont care about getting paid, but for a low budget feature is it any different?
 
Like anything else in life - it all depends on the people involved.
Just like with short films - you'll find people willing to work for free, others willing to work for 'deferred pay' (which may as well be free anyhow)...and those who expect to get paid.

There is no 'norm' really - but, as with most things, you get what you pay for.

I would say most halfway serious actors expect to get paid for their work in a low budget feature.
But I would also say most actors don't get paid for their work in low budget features.

But don't forget that most low budget features are also very very bad.
(yes, its true... )
 
Mickey Munday said:
same thing for a lot of higher budget features and shorts, lol. a lot of people think more $$$ equals creativity.
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True.
At least in that case they are making money though (the actors I mean, so they have an incentive to do it).

My point is - there are many many many many no paying jobs for actors, and most of them really suck - but they do them anyhow because they'd rather be working on something than nothing.

Actors who are halfway decent can get something for their work.
So - either have a great script or expect to pay them (ideally do both).
 
I think it comes down to A. What your budget is, because low budget can mean different things to different people and B. if you can find good actors for free.

I would say if you can fit it in your budget pay your actors because you will get better actors or better performances out of the free actors, but if you cant fit it in your budget dont fret you should be able to find some free actors to work with you just realize you will have to deal with there scheduling conflicts as they will more then likely be still working a day job... so your shoot will take alot longer and this too could add budget issues... so you gotta weigh the Pros and Cons.
 
good points guys. have either of you dealt with this before? did you pay out of pocket or did you do something to raise some funds?
 
I have a general rule of thumb.... If I make money on the film, then the people who worked on it should also make money. If it's a short, there's almost no chance of making any money. But if it's a feature, then I certainly HOPE to profit from it -- so it's only fair that the others involved should get paid.

If I have no money in the budget to pay people up-front, then I offer deferred pay. But I NEVER expect anyone to work for FREE on a feature, even if they're willing. It's just not fair.
 
A friend of mine has been working on his feature for 2 years now because he is having a tough time keeping everyone around and scheduling everyone when he is not paying them. Thats the big drawback to not paying. Even if you pay a small amount you run the risk of someone bailing on you because of a higher paying job. If you defer, I would guess then the best way is to do that through SAG. I would think you would get more dedicated people.
 
Hey,

Completely agree with you. All of my cast worked on deferred pay except my DP. I paid her when we finished in cold hard cash. Pay is not the only thing that keeps actors. You need to repsect them and they need to feel valued on set.

Also having a good script and the motiviation to do the project helps and yes agree 100% pay them, pay them something. Everyone is worth something. Just my two cents.

Chris

PS: Almost forgot feed them well. I'm not talking Ravoli out of a can. Actors who are fed well work hard for you and they will respect you in the end.
 
In general, you get what you pay for...or don't. SAG has made it easy to do features using SAG actors without a big up front outlay. Of course just because you can, doesn't mean they'll be willing. Another in general, if the pay is low, make sure the food is good. Pay wherever you can because that's the only way you can control the schedule. It's a ***** rescheduling on a daily basis because someone has to go to work to make a living...:Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)
 
I agree what others have said - - it all depends on the situation. We use the no pay approach but we do feed them well and will even throw some gas money their way. On the last production each local crew member put up an actor in their house and fed them during the shoot. But we always make a point on No-Pay shoots to include the actors in all publicity and advertising. They are looking for recognition just like you are so helping get their names out there - on the posters, give them a webpage off the movie site - really goes along way.
 
seunosewa said:
$100 a day sounds like an arbitrary neat number pulled out of someone's ass!
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Probably is - we're talking about 'deferred pay' anyhow.
Might as well say you're going to give them 100,000 a day.
Most actors never expect to see it - and most of them never do.
 
lmao...well let's assume the movie gets sold and the actors do see it. does everybody with a speaking line get $100 per day or just the main actor and supporting actors?

is there a document or something i can refer to?
 
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