What to pay actors ? $ $ $

I definitely agree that paying actors is a very good idea. It's really a win-win situation - you'll get a far higher quality (and quantity) of talent to choose from, and they'll get something in return for their hard work (actors are incredibly diligent, generally speaking, especially considering how little they're paid, if at all).

I think $100 a day for a micro-indie is acceptable, but pay more if you can. It will probably be the biggest bang for the buck you'll get from your entire budget.
 
This may sound nuts but after begging, pleading, and pulling my hair out for free actors that may or may not show up for the shoot, I found that simply paying them as little as $30 for an afternoon (1-4pm or $10 an hour) was enough to get them to commit. These weren't pros by any means but worked well enough to come back for additional weekend work. I found them on Craig's List but had to take the ad off because too many people were calling...
 
I don't really work for free any more. I have in the past, but I've built up my resume to the point where I won't do it any more. I'm doing projects with people now and am not getting paid, but a) I'm getting executive producer credit b) I know the people and c) I know it's going to lead to future projects; one of the other producers knows quite a few named actors, etc. etc.

On the other hand, if I really like the script and the people who are working on it, I'll do it for gas money.
 
We are micro budget, but decided to pay our "core" actors. We defined core as actors working more than one full day. So the bit parts were unpaid, but not as critical. Only one actor out of 50 failed to show up . The paid actors seemed happy with the gig at roughly $100 for an 8 hour day. I'm confident we got a better quality of actor by offering pay. They were fed hot, homemade meals (not an easy task for my wife, also the director) and snacks. We are throwing a special premiere for the actors so they can see the movie before the public,
 
mainstreetprod said:
We are micro budget, but decided to pay our "core" actors. We defined core as actors working more than one full day. So the bit parts were unpaid, but not as critical. Only one actor out of 50 failed to show up . The paid actors seemed happy with the gig at roughly $100 for an 8 hour day. I'm confident we got a better quality of actor by offering pay. They were fed hot, homemade meals (not an easy task for my wife, also the director) and snacks. We are throwing a special premiere for the actors so they can see the movie before the public,
Click to expand...

Hopefully if you're in the arts you may know other artists. I've been able to fill half my cast with people I know (or people who I know who knew someone) and the other half I'm paying 100 bucks per day (one day only and that includes a VO session for some minor animation).

One member of the cast is in Australia and is a model/photographer and so I'm forking up a little more because she's doing much more than just acting (she's also getting a lot of video stuff for me on her Mark 5D 2 for the final production).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top