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SAG actors on no budget shorts (7 posts)

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Anthony Law Liddle said 1 year, 7 months ago:

So one of my regular actors is a registered SAG member. I know that since everything we’ve made so far is not for profit, then there isn’t really a problem.

However, as my skills are growing, I’ve been putting more and more consideration into entering shorts into film festivals. Since these festivals can award prizes, is there anything in the legal sense that I should be worried about?
“The first thing a writer should be is – excited. He should be a thing of fevers and enthusiasms. Without such vigor, he might as well be out picking peaches or digging ditches; God knows it’s better for his health.” -Ray Bradbury

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delete_me said 1 year, 7 months ago:

While SAG does now have a contract for every occasion budget or no, I wouldn’t be too worried about it. At your level, the chances you’ll actually make a profit on a short project are less than Danny Trejo winning the miss America pageant.

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Da_Cat said 1 year, 7 months ago:

I wouldn’t be too worried about it for Anthony, but I might be somewhat worried about the Actor, because on spec pitches I have seen problems occur.

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Films are never totally finished……
….. they just get a release date!

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numballover said 1 year, 7 months ago:

I’m just going from memory here, so you will want to look at the specific contract, but I’m pretty sure that there is a contract for $100/day deferred. For all intents and purposes that is essentially unpaid when it comes to shorts. Just make sure your clear with your actor that even though the contract says deferred the fact that you probably won’t make anything pretty much means they are working free. But if you do win any sort of cash prize, technically you’d have to pay out the deferred salaries first.

You will also still have to stay legal with other portions of the contract such as things about meals.
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Travis (Banned for Life) said 1 year, 7 months ago:

SAG has this short film agreement:

http://sagindie.com/docs/sag-short-film-agreement-sample2009.pdf

As long as your short is less than 35 minutes, and a budget of under 50K, you can have your actors on deferred payment… I’d suggest using this agreement if you’re using a SAG actor, because while unlikely, it’s still possible that THEY (the actor) could get in trouble with SAG for being in a non-sag film.

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John P. Hess said 1 year, 7 months ago:

@Sidney said:
While SAG does now have a contract for every occasion budget or no, I wouldn’t be too worried about it. At your level, the chances you’ll actually make a profit on a short project are less than Danny Trejo winning the miss America pageant.

Damn… I have $100 down for Danny Trejo.

I’ve had 3 SAG actors on my last two short films playing leads. It’s not a problem so long as they’re willing to do it (and many do because a reel and experience is better than no work at all).

Follow the guidelines others have suggested and you’ll be fine.
All my Best,
John Hess
Creative Industries Media Group | GospelJohn.net

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PlucharC said 1 year, 6 months ago:

@Anthony Law Little – You’ll still want to make sure you’re filling out the paperwork so that your actor will have that work in their work history. Also, while I don’t think you’ll have any problems early on, it’s never a bad habit to do things by the book, especially if they won’t really cost you anything.

Take Care,
Chris
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