WORKING WITH SAG!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are trying to work with SAG on the Ultra Low Budget contract as I write this.

They over charged us!!!!

They came up with a ridicluos SAG actor BOND amount.

We went to the SAGindie workshop, and checked our information very carefully all over the WEB. At the work shop and other WEBsites we found statements that there's a 40% bond for SAG Salaries, and to make sure you budgeted for it. We did budget for it, but that was not the correct amount. We tried to contact SAG about the BOND during the time we were writing the budget to make sure this was right, but nobody at SAG would answer this question. That left us no choice, we had to figure out the bond from other sources. So we went with the 40%. That was wrong! It's actually the entire amount you are paying your SAG actor's plus 10% -- plus 15.3% of entire cast Salary for pension and health.

So say your total budgeted salary is $5,000.

You would pay the $5,000
Plus 10% additioanl $500
Then pension and health $765

The total bond would be $6265 plus your actors Salaries which is 5,000 so your total budget should be $11,265 for actors.

SO DO NOT USE THIS 40% when figuring your budget.

SAG hit us with this two days before we were suppose to start shooting.

We would never have gone SAG route if we didn't go to the SAGindie workshop, which is basically selling the new low budget contract, and there information is very very wrong. Do not trust these workshops.
 
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The are plenty of screw-ups among the non-union actors. They'll never make it to SAG.

I do everything on the books. So, I'll have no problems with SAG and look forward to working with SAG and their actors and stunt coordinators. There are also a good number of studio SAG actors willing to work in Indie Ultra Low Budget productions. But, they will not work in a non-union production.

Without a union card, no new faces stand a prayer of a chance of even getting called for an audition in the future.
 
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I have friends who are studio SAG actors. They cannot work on non-union productions because they have to protect themselves. As long as the production is on the books with SAG as an Ultra Low Budget SAG production, they don't mind the drastic pay cut to help out a friend. But, they want to go back to their studio jobs, which is their bread and butter.

They can get thrown out of SAG and lose their work in studio productions if they ever worked in a non-union production and it winds up on youtube and SAG and the studio sees it.

Robert Rodreguez got kicked out of the DGA for doing a production with Frank Miller -- Sin City.

I can get SAG waivers for my returning non-union actors for IC3, if the budget calls for it. Below a certain budget range, SAG waivers aren't even necessary.
 
Robert Rodreguez got kicked out of the DGA for doing a production with Frank Miller -- Sin City.

Actually, I believe RR voluntarily quit the DGA because they wouldn't sign off on allowing Miller to be credited as co-director.

If you are able to deal successfully with SAG, then by all means do so, and more power to you.

In addition to the horror stories posted here, a friend of mine in Portland just finished directing a feature in which she'd cast a name actor for a small but important role. She bent over backward to accommodate SAG's requirements, including overnighting - at $10 a pop - the actor's paychecks each week to SAG.

Her co-producer contacted SAG several times in order to obtain the address where the checks were supposed to be sent. The SAG rep claimed not to have that information and never returned the producer's calls.

When the address was finally obtained, SAG at one point called the actor and instructed her not to show up to the shoot because the check had not arrived that morning. The producer called SAG and said the check had, in fact, been delivered and signed for. While on the phone, the SAG rep searched through the stuff piled on his desk and found the unopened envelope sitting right there.

The actor, meanwhile, showed up each day not knowing her lines, and had almost no memorization skills. Whenever she got stuck she would let out a scream. It came to the point where all of her dialogue was shot in close-up, with the director feeding her the lines from off-camera and her repeating them, one at a time.

She was very rude to everyone on set - including her fellow non-SAG actors, who did show up on time with their lines memorized - and by the end of the shoot she was despised by pretty much everybody.

Was it worth it? Probably. Having her name attached will most certainly help the film sell. But don't kid yourself that a SAG actor is necessarily going to behave more professionally than one that is non-union.
 
I have friends who are studio SAG actors. They cannot work on non-union productions because they have to protect themselves.


I'm wondering what they are protecting themselves from?

The vast majority of SAG members do not earn enough to support themselves through acting in SAG films. So, in order to "protect" themselves, the must skip other acting jobs and instead primarily focus on non-acting jobs (yup, waitressing and pumping gas) as a means to support themselves.

Like I said, your actor's SAG status is not your concern. Stick a big enough carrot under a sliding B lister and you, too, can get a NAME for your film. There's no point in worrying about SAG backlash while you're trying to get your first film off the ground. Being harrassed by SAG after a successful first film is a nice problem to have.
 
That can be a problem working with strangers.

How about my non-union production with a lead actress showing up 40 pounds heavier than when she was auditioned and measured for her costume when she can't fit in the costume and is too sick to do stunts. I had to let her go and surgically remove her character with the cast from the script. No time to recast. All the money spent casting her, her costumes, and accessories went to waste.

The non-union stunt coorrdinator made so many sexist and racists jokes, the whole cast of actresses wanted him gone.
 
They can get thrown out of SAG and lose their work in studio productions if they ever worked in a non-union production and it winds up on youtube and SAG and the studio sees it.
I've never heard of this happening. SAG doesn't actively look for members who appear in non-union films. Essentially it would take a name actor to get their attention. Then they'd use them as an example.

SAG actors I've used went by different names -- not their SAG screen names. Usually these are actors who joined SAG too soon and don't get enough or any SAG work.
 
Non-union actor have too many attendance issues as well. The same actress who showed up 40 pounds over weight also missed the first day of rehearsals and after the second day, we didn't hear back from her. Another one was a raal diva who couldn't find shooting locations and missed the whole first shooting day, holding back the rest of the cast that day who had scenes with her. Two days later, she got lost again and called every 5 seconds in a panic. One of my crew guys had to leave to ffind her and bring her to the production while at the same time another actress was histerical over the stunt coordinators racist and sexists remarks. I told him a half dozen times to knock it off with those remarks and he refused. The actress was ready to leave with all the other actresses. So, I fired the guy and he refused to leave. I when at him again with 2 other crew guys and we were ready to have the cop get him to leave when he walked away and called me later to ask if he could come back the following day. He is the first guy I ever fired who ever refused to leave. He can't take rejection. He called up my crew guys and they told him the same thing - he's fired.

When my crew guy came with the very late actress, we decided to cut her role short because her attendance as a lead was holding back the whole production.

SAG actors have to show a willingness to work to keep their union cards. If they pulled these no shows with excuses they can't find the shooting location, SAG will let them go. A willingness to work means showing up on time everyday.

We had an Eastern European union actress and AFTRA actresses giving the actresses with attendance issues a mouthful about their lateness and attendance. The one who could not find the shooting locations called me on the phone, crying that the union actresses were chewing her out over her attendance. She wanted me to talk to them. I told her the union actresses are absolutely right and she needs to straighten out her act. So, I have no need to talk with the union actresses. Then, I had to tell her, the crew and I had to cut her for attendance issues. She cried again. But, that was the end of her.

That's why I'm going union. Enough is enough.
 
Okay, this thread kinda has me a little scared. My lead actor for my next feature has become SAG, and I will not re-cast; it is his role.

I would definitely fall under the "Ultra Low Budget Agreement", which seems fine, but what about this deposit that I'm supposed to pay? The agreement doesn't specify how much the deposit is supposed to be, or when I'm supposed to get it back. The OP obviously had a bad experience, in this respect -- what about those of you who've had good experiences? Can you share your experiences, and what I can reasonably expect?
 
I would definitely fall under the "Ultra Low Budget Agreement", which seems fine, but what about this deposit that I'm supposed to pay? The agreement doesn't specify how much the deposit is supposed to be, or when I'm supposed to get it back.
That's because there isn't a set amount that applies in ever case.
You will have to call when you are ready to set shoot dates and
sign on to the agreement. I have never had an issue with SAG
on any of their low budget agreements (well, their first one several
years ago was a mess and caused problems). You will get back the
deposit when you have fulfilled your end of the contract.
 
Cool. Anything I need to know/be prepared for, before talking to them? Say, for example, should I already have an attorney by that point? Should the budget be completely set, or are they cool with just knowing shooting dates?

Thanks!
 
Cool. Anything I need to know/be prepared for, before talking to them? Say, for example, should I already have an attorney by that point? Should the budget be completely set, or are they cool with just knowing shooting dates?

Thanks!
You don't need an attorney to sign the SAG paper work. But you
should have the entire budget set. The Guild will need to know your
production fits their criteria.
 
Another follow-up question. In a separate thread (don't remember which one), it was mentioned that SAG does not take any of the non-SAG actors into account, or something along those lines.

Would that mean that if I have only one SAG actor, that the deposit they require would only be based on how much I need to be able to pay him?

Thanks, again!
 
I have never done specifically what you want to do. My only advice
is to speak to the actor to find out how he understands the rules
and then contact SAG. They will help you.
 
Another follow-up question. In a separate thread (don't remember which one), it was mentioned that SAG does not take any of the non-SAG actors into account, or something along those lines.

Would that mean that if I have only one SAG actor, that the deposit they require would only be based on how much I need to be able to pay him?

Thanks, again!

Yes - if you only use one SAG actor, the deposit is based on him.

I used a mix of SAG and non-SAG actors on my feature ("Surviving Family), produced under the ultra-low budget contract.

SAG did give me a headache. But I used my attorney (who only works on indie films) to push when I had problems.

Regarding the return of the deposit: I found out that there were delays in properly crediting my pension & health contributions. Once I was able to get a name and phone number in that department, and track down the problem, it resolved quickly and the deposit was returned.

I've used only non-SAG actors in my previous short movies, but decided that if I was going to make a feature, I needed to use SAG actors. They were outstanding, I have no regrets (despite the headaches), and I'd do it again.
 
Yes - if you only use one SAG actor, the deposit is based on him.

I used a mix of SAG and non-SAG actors on my feature ("Surviving Family), produced under the ultra-low budget contract.

SAG did give me a headache. But I used my attorney (who only works on indie films) to push when I had problems.

Regarding the return of the deposit: I found out that there were delays in properly crediting my pension & health contributions. Once I was able to get a name and phone number in that department, and track down the problem, it resolved quickly and the deposit was returned.

I've used only non-SAG actors in my previous short movies, but decided that if I was going to make a feature, I needed to use SAG actors. They were outstanding, I have no regrets (despite the headaches), and I'd do it again.

Thanks a bunch for the info!
 
SAG!!!!

I'm the original poster of this thread.

My whole hearted advise is to try and get your actor to do the film with out SAG. Unless he has a name that will help sell your film then it's worth it.

SAG is a pain in the ass. We were able to get our deposit back, and in the end we would have paid the actors the same money, without all the pain SAG put us through. Tell the actor you will pay him the $100 a day, and we won't be a SAG signatory though.

Check it out!! I found out just recently that if a SAG actor signs onto your film, but you are not a SAG signatory, and say the film does fantastic, and you make millions, and then the actor gets in trouble with SAG -- you can then pay the SAG wages to the actor, and SAG will back down.

If the film doesn't do well SAG won't say a word, they won't care a bit. They are way to busy to deal with a actor in a film doing no money--they will only be interested if the film reaches a MASS MARKET, and makes money. Then you can settle with SAG later on.

Forget about using SAG unless you have a named star in it.

THE DEPOSIT will be the whole amount you are paying the actor plus 25%, and you will have to prove you have the salary in the bank. Example say your one actors works for 14days thats $1400 for the actor the deposit would be $1750, so you will need $3150 before you even start shooting. Be prepared to hand over all aspects of the film including: business entity, budget, schedule, screenplay, and cast list before you can shoot. Not to mention all the other useless archaic paper work, and you must shoot the film with in 30days(unless you okay longer time with SAG) of a signed contract with actor--so no shooting only on weekends.

It's all a bunch of crap that is unneeded unless you are using actors that have a solid sellable name. DO NOT GO SAG!!!
 
If a producer cannot follow the SAG rules then I fully agree with
Dleo. SAG exists because too many producers do not honor their
agreements with actors. It’s too bad that the good ones like Dleo
are forced to follow rules meant to keep the bad ones from not
paying actors.

I suspect most of you posting and reading here will be surprised
to hear that there are some producers out there who agree to pay
actors $100/day and then do not pay. The actor then has no real
recourse. Suing can take a long time and in many cases a contract
isn’t put in writing so winning can be uncertain.

SAG makes it difficult for the good producers because so many bad
ones cheat actors.

Just to be clear, I agree with Dleo. Do not use SAG unless you
absolutely must.

Check it out!! I found out just recently that if a SAG actor signs onto your film, but you are not a SAG signatory, and say the film does fantastic, and you make millions, and then the actor gets in trouble with SAG -- you can then pay the SAG wages to the actor, and SAG will back down.

If the film doesn't do well SAG won't say a word, they won't care a bit.
This has been said right here on this thread. The producer is
NEVER at any type of risk because they have not agreed to follow
SAG rules. The actor is and only if the movie does well - really
well. If a SAG actor is willing to work for you without using the
agreement, that is up to the actor and the actor alone. I often
use SAG actors on my non union films.
 
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