| | | MISSION CREEP: The Increasing Cost of Using SAG Actors August 2021
Hey Everyone. There’s a reason you haven’t heard from me in awhile. Aside from being out of town for a bit, I just finished production on a new feature. I didn’t produce this one—I was helping out some producer friends of mine. While the overall budget was higher than the films I generally produce (it was not a micro-budget film), the budget was still pretty low, and our approach in many ways was similar to that of a micro-budget production. My contribution, for instance, was as Production Accountant, DIT and occasional PA, (I helped out when it was needed and didn’t charge OT). I did these three jobs for the price of one. I am now moving forward as the Post Production Supervisor.
This was my first time in a production office or on set since COVID struck, and a few things have changed that will likely impact your next production, no matter what your budget is. First, until we lick this virus, there are still costs associated with working in a not-quite-COVID-free environment—testing, craft service and lunch restrictions, etc. Second, minimum wage is now $15/hour in Los Angeles. That means if you’re paying your crew, and doing it “legally,” your lowliest employee, (your runner, PA, art intern), will be making $210/day for a 12 hour day. That’s a steep increase from just a few years ago. You might not feel the need to pay this—and surely a lot of micro-budget films pay under the radar of city and state laws, if they pay at all—but be aware that the kids coming up these days, in my opinion, are more apt to demand to be paid minimum wage than way back when I was coming up. When I first got out here in the mid-‘90s and worked at Roger Corman’s company, I had no idea what minimum wage was. None of my PA colleagues ever spoke of it and we never even thought to demand OT (Over Time) of any kind. I made $60/day on my first Corman film, and often worked 15-20 hour days. Times have changed for the better, but crew pay has certainly, probably gone up for your next no-budget film.
But what I really want to make you aware of now is the increasing cost of paying SAG actors. The reason this increase is so important is because if you use SAG actors, (and likely you will, even on tiny shoots), their pay rate is mandated by the union, and strictly enforced. It’s easy enough to find a PA who wants to work for free in return for experience, but SAG actors don’t usually risk getting kicked out of the union (and their reps certainly aren’t on board) by taking less than scale for the particular agreement that applies to your project. So let’s talk about the agreement that most likely applies to the films you’ll make, and how much you’ll now pay to use a SAG actor.
ULB Is Now UPA
As I wrote about last year, SAG completely reworked their lowest budget agreement--the one I talk about in my classes—the Ultra-Low Budget Agreement (ULB). They did this right before COVID hit in February 2020, essentially in the cover of night. Because of the shutdown, this huge change got no attention and it wasn’t until many, many months later that anyone had a chance to use the new contract. This agreement applies to films with a maximum total budget of no more than $300k. You can read my thoughts about this new agreement—now called the Ultra-Low Budget Project Agreement (UPA)—here, but it bears repeating what you will be paying actors when you use this contract. These rates go up every year now, and the newest rates were just increased July 1, 2021, so these calculations are hot off the press.
For years the day rate for a SAG actor using the ULB contract was $100/day, and then $125/day. That rate is now $211/day. It’s important to understand what that rate means: this is what you pay an actor who doesn’t have an agent to work up to 8 hours in a day on your feature. If they show up to work and you use them for one minute, you’re going to pay them this amount for the day. If they have an agent, their day rate is $211 plus 10%, or $232.10/day. If you work them past 8 hours, you owe them OT, calculated at 1.5 x their hourly rate, which if they don’t have an agent, is 1.5 times $26.38/hour, or $39.56/hour.
If you’ve made a SAG film (or taken my “Art & Science” class), you know that’s not all you pay. You also owe P&H (Pension and Health), and like their pay rates, that’s also gone up. It’s now 20.5% of their gross pay. And, because you have to pay SAG actors using a payroll company, you also owe payroll expenses (these include worker’s comp, taxes, and handling charges). For the film I just completed, payroll expenses were 22%. So, here’s how much you’ll spend in a day to use a SAG actor without an agent to work a single minute on your film:
$211.00 – Day Rate (for 8 hours or less)
43.26 – P&H
46.42 – Payroll Expenses
300.68 – Total
This is the least you will pay a SAG actor each day. If you have an actor with an agent and they work 12 hours, here’s how much you’ll spend for that day:
$232.10 – Day Rate (for 8 hours or less)
174.08 – OT (hours 9-12)
83.27 – P&H
89.36 – Payroll Expenses
578.80 – Total
Let me reiterate—for SAG’s Ultra-Low Budget Project Agreement, you could pay as much as $579/day for an actor. Multiplied over several days and for several actors, this gets really expensive fast. |
| | WTF To Do?!?
Fortunately, there are a few ways to control how much you pay actors on your SAG film. Some of them are legit, some less-so. Of course, I would never recommend the less-than-legit ways (cough) to reduce your actor costs, but I feel I should mention them so you’ll know where the line is. I should also mention that the UPA allows you to mix non-SAG actors with SAG actors, so theoretically, not all your actors have to be paid SAG’s scale (plus P&H, etc). I say theoretically because SAG insists you pay “professional” actors, even if they aren’t in SAG, as you would any other SAG actor. Should you do this? Will you do this? Do I do this? Why so many damn questions?!?
The general rule for reducing your actor cost is to use as few SAG actors for as few days as possible. There are several ways to accomplish this:
- Write a script with as few speaking parts as possible. This is the tried and true way of saving money on actors.
- Cast non-professional actors. If you don’t cast any SAG actors, then you can pay them whatever, (keeping in mind minimum wage laws, if you’re inclined to not break labor laws). And because you can mix SAG and non-SAG, you can still use SAG actors for your key roles, if necessary.
- Reduce the number of days you work your SAG actors. If a SAG actor works one hour on Tuesday, 2 hours on Wednesday, and 1 hour on Friday, you will pay for three days of work (remember, that will be at least $300/day, or $900 total). If you can possibly schedule all their work for one day, then you’ll save $600.
- Run as little through payroll as possible. You could, theoretically, make an agreement ahead of time with a SAG actor to only pay them for 8 hours a day, even if they’re working more than that, by putting them down on the Exhibit G (the SAG timesheet) for 8 hours. This is the amount that goes through payroll and is subject to P&H and payroll expenses. Then, you could pay them the balance of what you owe them for the additional hours worked as a “publicity fee” or as a “producer fee,” and not run that amount through SAG payroll. Is this legit? Why are you peppering me with these questions?!?
When I teach my classes or lecture at film schools, I always say you have to get radical to make a micro-budget feature. Feature films, if conventionally made (meaning you’re paying for everything), are expensive, even if you pay the lowest rates for everything. To make a feature for even as much $100k, which is less than movies cost, means making big adjustments over the way films are normally made. SAG is the one place where this has always been difficult to do. They lay down the rules and you generally need to adhere to them, or you (or the actors) pay the price. SAG has decided for the most part to make it incredibly difficult to use their actors and not spend a lot of money on your movie.
The really important idea to keep in mind, however, is that performances are always going to be the most important thing to get right on your film. This is the area, along with your script, that you can’t skimp on. While I hate paying lawyers or permit offices, I’m happy to pay for good acting. That’s where I want my money to go, (just not this much, if possible).
Addendum: The Micro-Budget Project Agreement
I would be remiss if I didn’t also mention the creation of an all-new agreement at the very end of last year called the Micro-Budget Project Agreement. Please, though, don’t get your hopes up. If I were running SAG and had created something called the Micro-Budget Project Agreement, believe me, it would be very different from this. The key points to understand about this agreement are that it applies to projects with budgets of $20k or less, and that those projects are intended to be “free-to-the-consumer.” Examples of this kind of use are film festivals; non-paying, non-public showcases; public access TV; in the classroom; or on free-to-consumer new media platforms. Rates to the actors are negotiable.
To my mind, this agreement doesn’t apply to most of the projects I might be planning, since the intention of those projects is to end up on a commercial platform, like any of the VOD platforms available. So, if you’re trying to make a commercial feature film to sell to consumers, this agreement is not for you. You’re basically stuck with the UPA. Also note: if you have a student film or a short film, there are separate SAG agreements for those. |
| | | | | Manic and DriverX Available on Hulu |
| I was scrolling around Hulu the other day and was pleasantly surprised to see a film I was a producer on over 20 years ago screening on the platform. Jordan Melamed's Manic is a terrific drama about a group of troubled teens in a psychiatric institution and the dedicated doctor trying to help them adjust to the real world. The description sounds like a downer, but while the film is intense at times, it's also filled with humor and hopefulness. Joseph Gordon-Levitt--coming off his hit sitcom 3rd Rock From The Sun and looking to play something more substantive--is Lyle, a teenager grappling with anger management issues. Don Cheadle plays Dr. Monroe, the therapist working against the odds to help these kids. Zooey Deschanel is also featured in the film, along with several other very talented young actors. It was co-written by Michael Bacall, who went on to write 21 Jump Street, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World and many other films.
We shot the film in 2000 on a $300k budget using digital cameras--the first two Sony PAL PD-150's in the U.S. (they were demo models given to us from Sony). Manic premiered in the 2001 Sundance Film Festival and was later released theatrically by IFC Films. I haven't seen it in years, but I'm incredibly proud of this film--the performances, the look of it, the authenticity of the script. I'm thrilled to see it hasn't disappeared from circulation. |
| | You probably already know that my recent film DriverX is also streaming on Hulu. The film was released theatrically by IFC Films back at the end of 2018, and has been on Hulu since May of 2019. I produced and financed this one, and taught a 12 hour online class about the making of the film last year. I hope to teach that class again in the coming months. You won't get a better look into the making of a micro-budget feature than this class--the good, the bad, and the ugly. Stay Tuned! |
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