SAG Contracts

Re: SAG Contracts

Remember if you are shooting under any of the SAG contracts, all your talent, including background actors, are going to receive the same protections. You can't have a single guild actor working under a SAG Experimental contract and the rest of the cast working under other agreements. I am currently in the process of becoming a SAG Signatory producer and I can tell you there are a lot of things to consider. For me, the SAG Experimental contract wouldn't work as it caps your total budget to $75,000. Call your local SAG office and ask to speak with someone in contracts, they can get you all the reading material (a good 10" high stack) you will need to determine which contract makes sense for your project.
 
Re: SAG Contracts

Well my project is way below 75,000; way below 7500; hell, below 750. It's a student project, which brings about a different contract. It didn't end up working out for me, but if the school will pay the workman's comp and the student doesn't mind the distribution/exhibition restrictions then it may work. I'm not sure how I feel about the whole union idea in general, but that is a different topic.
 
Re: SAG Contracts

Dear jhvid,

It’s actually not even possible to do a project with a budget under $750 in this case as your deferrals (both cast and crew) would count towards your budget. If you had a single guild actor for just one day, their salary deferral would be $691 plus the contribution to their health and pension fund. The $75,000 limit is easy to bump into with a production of any length with a cast and crew of any real size and a number of shooting days.

My daughter (she is 15) is currently working on her second AFI thesis film, which is admittedly a very unusual "student" type film. They have 6 principal shooting days, she is a lead character (one of 5) and they have a nearly $200,000 budget (35mm, special effects, stunt coordinators, studio locations, large crews, etc...). Her salary is $2411 a week and with rehearsals (paid at working rates) they will owe her nearly $5000 alone. Thats $25,000 for the principals, plus a number of extras (unknown number and unknown number of days).

It can be expensive and restrictive to shoot with guild members but it’s a great talent pool to draw upon here in Southern California. What is important to remember is that deferrals count towards your budget. $75,000 can be eaten up rather quickly.
 
Re: SAG Contracts

yeah deferred pay would count towards the budget, my mistake.  I still say it would be no where near 7500 though (I only needed the actress for two days). Of course when you add in the workman's comp. and what not, you may be right. This is being shot on DVX so I don't have film stock or processing fees (I use "film" as a general term). Either way, I'm using other people in the dept. for crew and finding actors that aren't guild members, so in this case my budget is well below $750 (~500).
 
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