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My stepson played ‘young’ Nick Cage in Mom and Dad. He got ‘guild’ pay for the role, which was around $300 a day.
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Quoted: Actually, Dawn Wells isn’t a good example of what you are getting at. She was the only one who was smart enough to negotiate back end residuals into her contract, reportedly to the tune of around $30+ million dollars. So part of the reason why she didn’t work much is because she didn’t have to. That is why I always pick her whenever the ‘Ginger’ vs ‘Mary Ann’ debat comes up; she is pretty, smart, and rich (the full trifecta). View Quote ETA https://youtu.be/QPbGZJ5X1K4 |
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We have a member who was an OIF vet who posted about his show being broadcast within the past year. I want to say it was the Long Road Home?
Either way he was an advisor and did enough acting to join the guild. |
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My dad does commercials, PSAs and movies.
He's usually a stand in for Robert Duvall when he is in Pittsburgh. He was also a sheriff in Jack Reacher. Pay just depends on the role. Sometimes he gets paid a lot to work very little. Sometimes he's at a shoot all day for little money. |
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Something to keep in mind about getting into SAG, it can be a trap.
You move to LA, get a job waiting tables and hustle enough background extra work to get into SAG. SAG wants you. SAG will even finance the initiation fee. Welcome. Start paying those dues! You can now be in movies with Tom Hanks! SAG global rule 1. (They even call it something like that) you will not work non SAG. You are a struggling waiter in LA and have been an uncredited background extra in a few films. You start to learn that 80% of work is NOT SAG. SAG is a fantastic deal for those working a lot. (Reagan himself was the president of SAG, as it existed then). SAG can keep “nobodies” from working. |
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Maybe there are more of those than I think, but your description doesn't really seem vague, if that was what you were going for. All I can say about the money is that I recall when that black dude that was on The Shield, and a few other shows, killed his wife, he had what looked like a plain suburban two or three bedroom house. Nothing fancy, but not too bad, either. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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In case anybody is curious what a 3 picture deal for a supporting role for a non experienced child actor is. $15,000 for the first $55,000 for the second $115,000 and options for the third. Those were the numbers for my contract in the 1980s Wound up being replaced at the last minute by someone who went on to become one of the most iconic child/teen faces of the 80s and early 90s, got chewed up by the Hollywood machine (his name comes up in the child molestation accusations that pop up from time to time) and died basically broke of a drug overdose. All I can say about the money is that I recall when that black dude that was on The Shield, and a few other shows, killed his wife, he had what looked like a plain suburban two or three bedroom house. Nothing fancy, but not too bad, either. I have discussed my brush with childhood fame on here before. |
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I'm somewhere behind Rosie in this scene.
I don't remember getting paid much, if anything, as an extra. Damn! Missed the big time! I did get to wear a pretty cool, if ill fitting, 1940s style suit. It was kind of fun, if not particularly exciting. Interesting thread. I, too, have wondered how the non big name actors fare when it comes to pay. Attached File |
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Didn't Gal Godot only get $300k for her role in the blockbuster Wonder Women because she was a relative unknown?
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Someone once told me that at any given time, somewhere in the world is showing an episode of Gilligan's Island and the Brady Bunch. It may not always be in English but it's on somewhere
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I've seen reports that some of the fairly well-known actresses who earn their living in Lifetime movies make several hundred thousand per year. And they are the headliners in those movies. The average annual salary for the other folks in those movies is apparently around 50-60K. View Quote |
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$100 to sit in the stands for 12hrs over night when they filmed “Remember the Titans”.
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In college my g/f was a performing arts major. She convinced me to do a gig for the West Wing. The pay was awesome. I was just a extra. And was paid 2 or 3k per episode (Cant remember exactly because it was 19 or 20 years ago). It was just under the limit before I was required to join SAG. Filming was in Arlington and each episode was 3 nights of 6p to 6a. It was a blast. She did a couple movies and complained about how much SAG took of her income. The percentage is high.
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I know of a popular gaming system commercial that paid the actor $400,000
I think that was a 2 day gig....funny thing is I'm not sure they ever actually ran the commercial i think it was just shelved Everyone got paid nonetheless |
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In college my g/f was a performing arts major. She convinced me to do a gig for the West Wing. The pay was awesome. I was just a extra. And was paid 2 or 3k per episode (Cant remember exactly because it was 19 or 20 years ago). It was just under the limit before I was required to join SAG. Filming was in Arlington and each episode was 3 nights of 6p to 6a. It was a blast. She did a couple movies and complained about how much SAG took of her income. The percentage is high. View Quote It is $3,000 to join, a little more than $200 a year in dues and about 1.5% of your SAG income. (if you make over half a mil, that 1.5% goes down) All arguments about unions being good or bad, you do get some good working conditions, known expectations and a base wage. You also have the ability to get in on good health insurance and a retirement plan. They also handle your SAG work royalties. |
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I was on Romper Room for a week in the 70's. I've never seen a dime!
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The best paydays I ever had came from voiceovers in Fairytaler for Disney. Doing "reality tv" like Storage Wars paid McDonald's wages in terms of hours worked. That really depends on the network. NatGeo pays great, TruTV tries to cheat everybody. Commercials are ok, but ya just never know. A local Indian casino paid me $250 a day for a week to make 4 ads. On the other hand, Safeway actually got away with stiffing me for their ads. I absolutely despise smoking, especially pot. But, a friend spent six months weaseling me into spending 2.5 hours pretending to be baked (alongside two guys who were) for $750 and about $200 worth of taxi rides.
Basically, as a non-SAG nobody, you're just a sheep among wolves, trying not to get eaten... |
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I was on Romper Room for a week in the 70's. I've never seen a dime! View Quote As for pay (WAG) the older Romper Rooms probably did not pay or payed shit, especially local market. The later ones, into the 80's (I do not think it lasted much into the 90s) may have been under SAG and payed slightly better than shit, however, again, local markets might have still be non union. |
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https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3374198/
I went to high school with this guy. He's doing pretty god damn well financially. He has some nice cars and has a bad ass condo. I had no idea he is the lead in a bunch of the movies. Last time I seen him in CO, he was in real world back in 2007, he made out with a dude and came out of the closet on MTV real world. His little bro got so much shit from so many people for his brother being gay. Times have changed. A TON. He always had the FINEST tail chasing him around (female)! Apparently his mom tried to fuck my brother, they made out. She was crazy drunk, breaking shit in the house, he called my brother over to help restrain her later that week. He then tried to kiss my bro, he was like WTF. He kept it to himself until after Mike came out of the ol closet. He's a really good guy, great friend (back in the day). |
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https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3374198/ I went to high school with this guy. He's doing pretty god damn well financially. He has some nice cars and has a bad ass condo. I had no idea he is the lead in a bunch of the movies. Last time I seen him in CO, he was in real world back in 2007, he made out with a dude and came out of the closet on MTV real world. His little bro got so much shit from so many people for his brother being gay. Times have changed. A TON. He always had the FINEST tail chasing him around (female)! Apparently his mom tried to fuck my brother, they made out. She was crazy drunk, breaking shit in the house, he called my brother over to help restrain her later that week. He then tried to kiss my bro, he was like WTF. He kept it to himself until after Mike came out of the ol closet. He's a really good guy, great friend (back in the day). View Quote |
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I was on Romper Room for a week in the 70's. I've never seen a dime! View Quote |
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Not Much.
In his book If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor, Bruce Campbell goes over the the costs of working in California and has a chapter called Anatomy of a Paycheck. From the book: We all hear about how much money actors make. Admittedly, some earn more for a single job than the gross national product of small countries, but I would like to offer a little perspective. Let's say that you starred in and coproduced Army of Darkness. This was a second sequel, and by all accounts, you're entitled to earn a little moola for your efforts. Just to pick a figure out of the air, let's start with $500,000 -- a king's ransom. Now get your calculators out and stay with me. First thing you do is subtract twenty-five percent of that amount to cover agents and managers -- $125,000. That leaves you with a whopping $375,000. Okay, before you buy that big house, slice that figure in half -- between federal and state taxes, all at the highest rate, and someone to prepare a more complex tax return, you're left with $187,500. That was fast, wasn't it? But wait, there's more -- if you had been divorced just prior to Army, your ex would be entitled to half of the take from that film. After taxes that's $93,750, and it leaves you with the same amount. You're thinking, "That's still some serious coin!" I couldn't agree more, but between a long production schedule and studio squabbling, Army took two years to complete, so crunch those numbers again and divide by two -- that leaves you with $46,875 a year. You, too, can become a rich movie star. View Quote |
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Most metro areas have people (often fully or quasi government) that have the job to attract films and TV shows to the area. Huge incentives and tax breaks are often offered. Many states have funds to give out. Canada has really stepped up its game for this. (Also filming in Canada has a lot of benefits) View Quote |
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Not Much. In his book If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor, Bruce Campbell goes over the the costs of working in California and has a chapter called Anatomy of a Paycheck. From the book: View Quote As I talked about in an earlier thread. keep in mind, that there does come a level (different for different people based on what they have done) where the money from acting starts to get supplemented with "not acting" income, that you are only getting because of your acting. It could be 500 bucks to make an appearance at a comic book store, or it could be a 500,000 dollar guarantee to do both days at a comic con. Of course one of those is small time, the other is an A list person. Hell, you can be a D list guy, but are into something, lets say motorcycles. You might be able to pick up a few bucks and some gear as a "brand ambassador." Kind of a pitchman that is not actively pitching. Just being seen in stuff and always being positive about it. People also get paid to put stuff on their social media. |
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Naah, not really trying to be super vague. Pretty easy to figure out. I have discussed my brush with childhood fame on here before. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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In case anybody is curious what a 3 picture deal for a supporting role for a non experienced child actor is. $15,000 for the first $55,000 for the second $115,000 and options for the third. Those were the numbers for my contract in the 1980s Wound up being replaced at the last minute by someone who went on to become one of the most iconic child/teen faces of the 80s and early 90s, got chewed up by the Hollywood machine (his name comes up in the child molestation accusations that pop up from time to time) and died basically broke of a drug overdose. All I can say about the money is that I recall when that black dude that was on The Shield, and a few other shows, killed his wife, he had what looked like a plain suburban two or three bedroom house. Nothing fancy, but not too bad, either. I have discussed my brush with childhood fame on here before. |
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Aw, that's a goddamn shame. I spent 5 years in hell hole engineering college and was paid $45k when I graduated. Poor babies. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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I've seen reports that some of the fairly well-known actresses who earn their living in Lifetime movies make several hundred thousand per year. And they are the headliners in those movies. The average annual salary for the other folks in those movies is apparently around 50-60K. |
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Didn't Gal Godot only get $300k for her role in the blockbuster Wonder Women because she was a relative unknown? View Quote |
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I'm somewhere behind Rosie in this scene. https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/390133/62d71756-4542-468b-a110-0476e524182b_screenshot-662794.JPG View Quote It's a miracle that we can see anyone! |
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Aw, that's a goddamn shame. I spent 5 years in hell hole engineering college and was paid $45k when I graduated. Poor babies. View Quote "You get paid HOW much just to play 'dress up' and read somebody else's words?" Oh well. I'm sure I'll make better choices in my next life. |
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I wonder what kind of shady shit they have to acquiesce to personally (Harvey Weinstein style). I bet they are taken advantage of quite often.
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The entertainment industries of television and the movies generates hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars of income for the Los Angeles area. About 20% of the people get about 80% of the money. Someone has to be living in all those $1 million to $5 million dollar homes that litter the hills north of the city and there's a reason half of the sports cars in America are sold in southern California. View Quote |
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Quoted: You can't drive for takeout without seeing signs for location shoots in Santa Fe. The film office does a pretty good job of bringing in business. View Quote I asked the site director why they didn't use a sound set*. He said it would have cost them $500,000 and they'd have used the same amount of stuff**. *There is a movie studio in Albuquerque. It's roughly in the area where Rio Bravo meets I25. That's also the area where they filmed the opening of one of the Terminator movies (Salvation?), where they drove past a bunch of burned-out cars and buses. **There were three tractor trailers in the parking lot, plus a dozen or more small and large vans, all stuffed to the gills. |
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Acting good money sense. Robert De Niro doesn't keep making shitty movies because he wants to. He does it because he's spent it all before the first camera rolled. View Quote http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2017/02/25/robert-de-niro-snaps-at-wife-for-spending-all-my-money.html Apparently she's sort of like Amy from Amy's Baking Company. |
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As I talked about in an earlier thread. keep in mind, that there does come a level (different for different people based on what they have done) where the money from acting starts to get supplemented with "not acting" income, that you are only getting because of your acting. View Quote |
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The entertainment industries of television and the movies generates hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars of income for the Los Angeles area. About 20% of the people get about 80% of the money. Someone has to be living in all those $1 million to $5 million dollar homes that litter the hills north of the city and there's a reason half of the sports cars in America are sold in southern California. The illusion exist, because all you see are the winners. It's the same for a lot of professional endeavors. For instance, some people still think getting a law degree is a gateway to affluence, and there are attorneys that really do become fairly wealthy. But for every one of them, there are a hundred attorney's who earn a very modest living. But the wealthy ones get talked about, the not so wealthy, don't. |
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I know a guy who has been in Hollywood for decades. Always an extra. He has been an extra on Big Bang Theory since the show started. You will see him in the background of many shots when there are other people in the scenes. He likes the work but doesn’t make didly-squat. He is waiting for retirement, apparently SAG has a decent pension.
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I know a guy who has been in Hollywood for decades. Always an extra. He has been an extra on Big Bang Theory since the show started. You will see him in the background of many shots when there are other people in the scenes. He likes the work but doesn’t make didly-squat. He is waiting for retirement, apparently SAG has a decent pension. View Quote |
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Last weekend we went to the wedding of a friend who has done some extra work. You're right again: he made $10 per hour (less than I did as a security officer).
He says that one of the hardest things to do is to make the papier-mache logs and styrofoam railroad ties look heavy when they are throwing them around! He says that nowadays there are LOTS of CGI in crowd scenes! He was doubled several times in one crowd scene (IIRC it was The Lone Ranger with Johnny Derp). |
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Last weekend we went to the wedding of a friend who has done some extra work. You're right again: he made $10 per hour (less than I did as a security officer). He says that one of the hardest things to do is to make the papier-mache logs and styrofoam railroad ties look heavy when they are throwing them around! He says that nowadays there are LOTS of CGI in crowd scenes! He was doubled several times in one crowd scene (IIRC it was The Lone Ranger with Johnny Derp). View Quote I mean, they are using his likeness. |
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Quoted: I bet it's more like the 99/1 rule for people who truly become wealthy at it. ...maybe even less than 1%. The illusion exist, because all you see are the winners. It's the same for a lot of professional endeavors. For instance, some people still think getting a law degree is a gateway to affluence, and there are attorneys that really do become fairly wealthy. But for every one of them, there are a hundred attorney's who earn a very modest living. But the wealthy ones get talked about, the not so wealthy, don't. View Quote Sure, the really wealthy is going to be less than 1%. Like everywhere else. But the next 10% is still doing well. |
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