With respect to Charles Dickens, the period between your audition and the closing of a deal is "the best of times and the worst of times." You know they want you, but how much? And your participation is usually limited to saying yes or no to a deal that has been worked out between your agent and the casting director.
Just remember: billing is at least as important as salary. From the top down:
- Star: Name usually above the title.
- Also Starring: Name after the title.
- Guest Starring: Most often used in TV. Name usually will appear before the story, after the above.
- Co-Starring: Name after the above, usually at the beginning, sometimes at the end, of the show.
- Featured; also called "end titles" in film: Name appears at end of story, in the "crawl" - the names move upwards from bottom of screen.
- Separate card: Name appears by itself on the screen regardless of type of billing. Naturally, "Star" and "Also Starring" are almost always separate card. "Guest Star" and "Co-Star" separate card billing may require some dickering. "Featured" is almost never put on separate card.
Regarding money, you'll be hired on a daily basis (called "day player"); on a special three-day contract (television only); or on a weekly basis (called "freelance"). Most likely, if you're working for "scale" (minimum union salary), an additional ten percent for your agent, called "scale plus ten," will be added to your paycheck.
As you move up, your salary will increase. But be careful. As theatrical casting director Ron Stephenson puts it, "An actor should get a raise periodically, but an agent shouldn't price an actor out of the business." And bear in mind producer William Kayden's comment: "Usually that part is budgeted. Sometimes well 'steal' money from another role, but generally, if you can't get one actor for your price, you get another." Sticky, isn't it?
If you're hired as a day player to work for two days on, say, Space Sluts in the Slammer (that's a real movie, by the way!) and the producer sees he's going to need you to work longer (say, four days), obviously he must pay you for the extra time. However, he can convert you from day player to weekly contract player (called "weekly conversion") to save money. Assume you're making $500 per day. Four days would be $2,000. He might convert you to a week at, say, $1,800.
However, the reverse is not true. If you're contracted for a week and work only one day, he's still on the hook for a week's salary.
According to SAG, you've got a firm engagement if: the studio or producer gives you written acceptance; you're given a contract signed by the producer; you're given a script with intent to hire you; you're fitted (other than wardrobe tests); or when you're called and agree to report.
However, once your agent calls the casting director to confirm you said yes, for all practical purposes, you've got a deal. The speed of this industry requires a telephone conversation to be considered a contract; sometimes you'll be working the next day.
If there's no time to assemble a full-fledged contract, as further protection you're supposed to get a "booking slip." It's messaged to you along with the script, or sent to your agent, or given to you on the set, and is a memorandum briefly outlining your length of employment, what you'll be paid, how you'll be billed, and your start date. Don't bet your inheritance you'll get it.
If you're hired but not given a specific date, and another job offer comes along (jobs come in clusters - for reasons, see your local guru), you or your agent must give the producer 24 hours' notice. If he gets back to you and gives you a specific start date - that date and job become binding to you both. If he doesn't get back to you, you're free to accept the other job.
To further clarify the negotiating process, here's what agent Jack Rose had to say. Pay special attention to what he says at the end:
"There are many types of negotiations, so I'm going to give you a very simple one... They call for an actor to work for a period of time to do a film. They tell us how many days they want the actor, and how much they want to pay. At that point, we say, 'Well, that's not enough money.'
They say, 'Of course that's enough money.' And then we say, 'Well, on the last film the actor got X numbers of dollars per week.' Now, some casting directors already have that information in front of them, so you can't lie to them. Once you lie to those people forget it; forget about dealing with these people again. And you know which ones work that way, so you say, 'Yes, but the actor has another project that we're probably going to have to sign him for, unless you offer him more money.' Or, 'You want him for a week; your film's going for three weeks, let's make it a two-week guarantee.' And you come to some kind of compromise that way.
"Then you get into billing - if they're going to give billing or not and the position of the billing. Those are the simple terms of a basic negotiation... Unless your agent is a good negotiator, you're going to wind up making very little money, and just working as a day player."
