What to pay actors ? $ $ $

Randall_Oelerich

Randall_Oelerich

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For making a serious short film, 5-20 minutes long, what would be reasonable pay actors would expect if they have experience? Obviously untalented wannabe actors (Friends, wannabes with no experience) should be expected to work for free or real cheap. But for local actors or actors from a nearby city, with perhaps a degree and training in the performing arts, and experience acting in theatre and perhaps an indie film or a few short films, what would be reasonable pay to offer so as not to insult talent that I really want for a film?

Would $100 per six-hour shoot plus food and beverages plus gas costs and if relevant another $100/day for lodging (e.g. if the actor travels from another city) be reasonable and non insulting? Looking for feedback here form actors or filmmakers.

I want to compensate actors for their time, but then with a short film there really is no money in it for me as the producer/director/writer, although I get the benefit of putting my name on it and owning the finished product; so I feel actors should get something besides just credits. At least $100/day to cover daycare for their kid and gas so they are at least not in the red for doing the gig.
 
if it is your first one. Try getting actors to do it for free first. It worked for me. I have moved on to feature length and I still got them all for free. The next one they will be compensated. Simply put, I just could not afford to pay anyone in the begining.
 
I do have an actress lined up for my first short (5 min), meeting her this Thur for prefilming discussion; she is willing to act for free (one person short), but she has to drive about 40 miles so I want to at least give her gas money, snacks, beverages, and a copy of the finished film.

There is some local talent, actors with performing arts degrees that act in local theatre, that have the physical beauty needed for a couple of shorts I have in mind, and I really want to land these actors. So I figure I will need to offer some pay. I live in Duluth, MN, very hard to find much talent here, it isn't LA or even Mnpls where there would be a surplus of actors begging for free parts in shorts I imagine.

filthrich said:
if it is your first one. Try getting actors to do it for free first. It worked for me. I have moved on to feature length and I still got them all for free. The next one they will be compensated. Simply put, I just could not afford to pay anyone in the begining.
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You have to check if they are SAG, and then see if you qualify for the SAG Ultralow if they are SAG. Since SAG actors need to be paid a minimum day rate - which I believe is more than 100 dollars a day.
 
What someone is a stage actor? Is there a counterpart to SAG for stage? however i guess it would not matter since a stage actor would not be SAG, except they might be used to some sort of minimum pay per diem is stage acting.

Mattykins said:
You have to check if they are SAG, and then see if you qualify for the SAG Ultralow if they are SAG. Since SAG actors need to be paid a minimum day rate - which I believe is more than 100 dollars a day.
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we use mostly theatre actors for the local commercials we make. we pay them $200 for about 4 hours. The budgets are usually between $1500 and $2500. For a short we just made it was a different story because the money was coming right out of our pockets and nobody's making a profit. But still, like you said, there's daycare and gas and days off of work. For a 4-day shoot we paid each actor $300. Plus we provided food and snacks and stuff. Except, one of our actors was SAG. So we had to go through the whole process of getting a SAG agreement. On SAG's ultra low budget agreement the actors can defer payment (you don't have to pay the $100/day rate. this is up to the actor) but you still have to pay them for mileage. And if you aren't able to give them 12 hours between wrap and filming the next day, you have to pay a $100 penalty. We had to do this once and with that and the gas mileage we ended up paying our SAG actor a little over $400 for 4 days.
 
Okay sounds like $100 a day for a short film would be reasonable if the actor is really someone I want (looks the role, has experience), otherwise maybe $50/day. I got a nice long email back from my local theatre and they do not even pay most of the actors, except for guest actors with lots of experience, and even then it works out to about $100 per day (performance).
 
Shot one of my shorts three years ago and was able to use some very talented actors from a Salt Lake City agency for $50 a day plus I paid the percentage they would pay to the agency.

Worked out really well. It was a ten day shoot and I got restaurants to donate one or two meals each, Albertsons donated drinks and snacks, and a neighbor loan me his RV for wardrobe, hair, and make-up, and I got all locations for free. I have yet to pay for a location.
 
airforceguy said:
...Worked out really well. It was a ten day shoot and I got restaurants to donate one or two meals each, Albertsons donated drinks and snacks, and a neighbor loan me his RV for wardrobe, hair, and make-up, and I got all locations for free. I have yet to pay for a location.
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Any tips on how to get local vendors to donate food/bevs/lunches for free? What is in it for them? Whom do you talk to, the manager, district manager of the vendor? Do they hope for PR from the end credits "Thanks to.... "?
 
Randall_Oelerich said:
Would $100 per six-hour shoot plus food and beverages plus gas costs and if relevant another $100/day for lodging (e.g. if the actor travels from another city) be reasonable and non insulting? Looking for feedback here form actors or filmmakers.
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A hundred bucks per day cash is respectable. Especially if you have a very low budget. I recently produced/shot a feature with a $15K budget and we paid all actors working full days, $100/Day cash plus gas money if they came in from a neighboring city an hour away (plus we fed them).

My feeling, as a producer, is that it's preferable to PAY cast and crew. It shows that you are serious and less likely to waste their time, and it shows that you are taking the project seriously. Also, if you pay someone, then the relationship becomes that of employee/employer and you can expect them to show up on time and be professional.

If you are not paying someone, they are apt to show up when they can, leave and come back, or just not show up at all. Not good.

I worked on a low budget feature once with a B list actress who's agent negotiated that she not work longer than an 8 hour day. I believe this was set up because they wanted to ensure that the director would maximize her time on set and she wouldn't get stuck in a disorganized, haphazard production.

Whenever possible, pay people.

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It's "nice" to use SAG pay rates as a guide but really, every film is different and I've found that for each project, I approach paying cast differently. A hundred bucks cash sounds like a respectable offer to local no-name actors and it shows that you are serious. I have offered more established actors more than the rate the "regular" cast was being paid, and have asked players doing bit parts to work for free.

Of course, if you have a killer script and other elements that make it likely of having a great film, AND a it would serve the film better to use a limited budget for things other than paying actors (as long as actors are on board), then that's a potential scenario that might be best.

Sometimes a flat amount for the whole film with some definitions about a minimum and maximum number of days is sufficient.

At the very least, you should offer to compensate an actor for gas/tolls/parking and treat them like rock stars.

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You'll find in calling your local talent agencies they all have varied rates, unless unioned... which you don't want.
Don't haggle cuz you need them to be happy about being there. In most cases, you can find an actor for less than 400/day.
 
100 a day seems respectable for an actor your genuinely interested in. Most of it is based on experience and Star Power. Paying an actor money is because like Chris said, it makes it a professional, business environment that will promote a good relationship. Another reason is because as a filmmaker you may expect some form of return on your investment. What can that actor generate that makes him worth 100 a day? Paying is always good, and id say 100 for a six hour shoot plus food is a damn good gig.
 
I want to second Chris' observations re:pay. The difference between people working for you for-free and for-pay is night and day.
 
I want (looks the role, has experience), otherwise maybe $50/day. I got a nice long email back from my local theatre and they do not even pay most of the actors, except for guest actors with lots of experience, and even then it works out to about $100 per day (performance).


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Randall_Oelerich said:
I want to compensate actors for their time, but then with a short film there really is no money in it for me as the producer/director/writer, although I get the benefit of putting my name on it and owning the finished product; so I feel actors should get something besides just credits. At least $100/day to cover daycare for their kid and gas so they are at least not in the red for doing the gig.
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Bless you.
 
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