Are celeb cameos worth it in a low budget feature?

F

filmmakerguy

Member
I have the opportunity to get a celeb to do a cameo in my ultra low budget feature. Their IMDb starmeter is in the top 8k. They have over 100k twitter followers. It's a one day cameo that puts them in the movie for at least 5-10 minutes as one of the friends. It would cost $5k plus around $1k to fly them out. I'm tempted to scrape together some money through maybe product placement, a kickstarter push, or maybe something else creatively. I feel kind of dumb like, maybe it would be even worth it to get a 2nd job and save for a few months just to shoot it with them in it, versus without them. I already have one celeb I'm flying out to do a cameo who has a starmeter below 8k that has been a lead in some Hollywood movies.

I'm just really on the fence about it but you only get to shoot your movie once and extra star power I think could help with distribution, people following it, etc. I have the funds to shoot the movie now without them. But could add them to the cast and then just be adiment about not shooting until I save/come up with an extra $6k. Dunno yet. What do you all think? :Drogar-Shock(DBG):
 
Its worth it. It will also help you to get some more sponsors for your film- gives you another pitch angle. Its also more marketable. It might not improve your film but will definitely improve its visibility and chances of distribution.
 
Peter Stormare rocks!

Hey didnt someone post a story here about someone who had a celeb in their film for like 5 mins and they put them on the jacket cover and they sued? the guy who played in the social network was the actor.
 
If you can get that celebrity to really buy into your project and tweet his followers about it, etc. then I'd say you'd have to be a fool to pass up the opportunity.
 
Yes, they said they'd post on twitter about it after it's done to tell their followers. I just don't have the funds though to add them. I'm going to look at my options.
 
Are you supposed to pay for Cameos? I was always under the impression that actors/directors/etc got involved in a cameo capacity purely for fun. Paying for one just doesn't seem right... plus, if you have a cameo you don't usually get listed as cast - I always thought of it as a kind of easter egg. Just my speculation...
 
I got a celeb in my new project, a cameo, but he doesn't use twitter or Facebook cuz he is 75!

Duh. Now what am I gonna do!
 
It all depends on the actor... some have the ability to sale a film to the overseas market more than they can in the US...

Yes you pay for cameos.... which you'll probably have to go under the SAG no budget agreement or what ever they call it now... the 200k one seems best... you used to be able to mix SAG and non SAG members... I believe now you have to pay SAG wages to every actor (union or non-union) which come out to about 200 bucks a day.... the 100 bucks rate is just for 8 hours... so by the time you had in overtime for 4 more hours... health & pension and the 10% agents fee.. it comes out to around 200 bucks... but having a cameo will get you a faster sale more than likely... and probably better sales... but again it depends on who the actor is...

Also have them in more than one scene or locations... makes it look like more than the quickie cameo...
 
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GaryinCalifornia said:
It all depends on the actor... some have the ability to sale a film to the overseas market more than they can in the US...

Yes you pay for cameos.... which you'll probably have to go under the SAG no budget agreement or what ever they call it now... the 200k one seems best... you used to be able to mix SAG and non SAG members... I believe now you have to pay SAG wages to every actor (union or non-union) which come out to about 200 bucks a day.... the 100 bucks rate is just for 8 hours... so by the time you had in overtime for 4 more hours... health & pension and the 10% agents fee.. it comes out to around 200 bucks... but having a cameo will get you a faster sale more than likely... and probably better sales... but again it depends on who the actor is...

Also have them in more than one scene or locations... makes it look like more than the quickie cameo...
Click to expand...

Please make sure you re-read this statement six to fifteen times before you commit to getting your cameo.
 
GaryinCalifornia said:
It all depends on the actor... some have the ability to sale a film to the overseas market more than they can in the US...

Yes you pay for cameos.... which you'll probably have to go under the SAG no budget agreement or what ever they call it now... the 200k one seems best... you used to be able to mix SAG and non SAG members... I believe now you have to pay SAG wages to every actor (union or non-union) which come out to about 200 bucks a day.... the 100 bucks rate is just for 8 hours... so by the time you had in overtime for 4 more hours... health & pension and the 10% agents fee.. it comes out to around 200 bucks... but having a cameo will get you a faster sale more than likely... and probably better sales... but again it depends on who the actor is...

Also have them in more than one scene or locations... makes it look like more than the quickie cameo...
Click to expand...


You don't want to be on the SAG Ultra Low Budget Agreement. There's a bunch of headaches when it comes to distribution (like step up payments), you might as well just go with the Low Budget Agreement. (You'll have to step up to this contract if you want to distribute beyond theatrically anyway. And pay the difference between the two contracts.) So $504 minimum.
 
I mentioned it was non-union and the actor was okay with it. I've decided a while back not to shoot this SAG because of all the difficulties with it. Maybe if I had more money to work with.

I'm just having a hard time scraping togethet the extra dough. I'm personally funding it so all my money is already in it. I'm considering delaying it while maybe getting a 2nd job to save up $6k more.
 
Andrew McCarrick said:
You don't want to be on the SAG Ultra Low Budget Agreement. There's a bunch of headaches when it comes to distribution (like step up payments), you might as well just go with the Low Budget Agreement. (You'll have to step up to this contract if you want to distribute beyond theatrically anyway. And pay the difference between the two contracts.) So $504 minimum.
Click to expand...

That's why I told a friend to avoid the New Media deal on a web series... they hadn't worked out the details at that time... I knew he wouldn't get a theatrically deal out of it... but you never no (stranger things have happened)... but it was like well will he fall under the 75k... 200k... 750k... 2.5m or the full SAG rates... told my friend just to please an actress so she can get a card isn't worth the gamble of not paying back the few investors he had...

And just showing your film at a mom & pop theater is consider a theatrical run... so that is a way to avoid step ups as well...
 
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