From Mandy Moore to Kimiko Glenn, striking SAG-AFTRA members are sharing just how hard it is to make a living in Hollywood.
Many of the performers we talked to worry about earning at least $26,470 per year from their acting gigs and residuals—the minimum required to qualify for SAG-AFTRA health insurance. Adams was able to quit waiting tables after she got her SAG card. It was a huge relief, she says, to know “this insurance will follow you for the next year whether you have jobs or not.”
Even in years when work was scarce, residuals from network series reruns once helped actors hit that threshold. Character actorrecalls, “You could make your health insurance, you could feed your family, you could pay rent, you could live a nice middle class lifestyle.” Then, he says, “Cable came along. The formula changed, and I started making less money for the same amount of work, or even more work. Now with the streaming phenomenon, the formula changed again. And it’s ridiculous.
Not only are the residuals sometimes insultingly small, but it can sometimes seem like the studios don’t want to pay them at all., but she’s fed up with waiting on the residual checks for her second season, which aired in 2021.I want to get paid!” she says, while taking a break from picketing outside Paramount studios. “We shouldn't have to have to protest to get money that we're already contractually obligated to receive for work we've already done.
After talks between SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers broke down in the dark of night on July 12, the union said that the studios rejected its proposal to increase penalties for late payments. “Though they admit that their companies consistently pay late, they have stated that they still will not pay on time, even with increased penalties,” it wrote in a“We've always had to work second jobs, sometimes two or three side hustles,” Haynes says.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
SAG-AFTRA strike: Hollywood actors join picket lines; no talks scheduledMembers of SAG-AFTRA protested at eight different sites Monday and are returning to the picket lines Tuesday. No talks have been scheduled between the two sides.
Read more »
U.K. Actors Union Equity to Hold Rallies in Solidarity with SAG-AFTRA StrikeTwo simultaneous rallies will be held in London and Manchester on July 21.
Read more »
What Are Actors Allowed to Do During the SAG-AFTRA Strike?Giving some clarity to what an actor can and can't do during the strike.
Read more »
Tom Cruise Asked SAG-AFTRA to Let Actors Promote Projects Amid StrikeTom Cruise met with reps for SAG-AFTRA to propose allowing members to continue promoting their studio projects amid the strike
Read more »
SAG-AFTRA’s Duncan Crabtree-Ireland Joining AI Panel With Voice Actors At Comic-ConSAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland will be here at San Diego Comic-Con this Friday as a panelist on the National Association of Voice Actors’ s…
Read more »
Why Some Actors Are Still Working During The SAG-AFTRA StrikeDespite the members of SAG-AFTRA going on strike starting on July 14, 2023, some actors are still able to work on movie and television show sets.
Read more »