For those who have worked with actors who are professional actors, or for anyone who has worked on a film that may know - what are the types of things that an actor can have in their contract that stipulate what they want out of the production or how they want to be treated, what they will or will not do?
Actor's Contracts
- Thread starter PhantomScreenwriter
- Start date
Work hours, pay rate, turnaround, overtime and meal penalty, travel and transport,
lodging, location/studio facilities, nudity and smoking clauses should all be contracted.
These will be in the Equity (AUS) and SAG-AFTRA (US) contracts. If you're working
outside of these contracts you might still want to copy as close as you can those
contractual expectations.
Actors want to be treated well - everyone does so I'm not sure what you're asking
here. What each individual actor may do or not so will be part of the negotiation
once you offer the job.
Thanks for your response Directorik. I'm wondering if there's anything that an actor can or can't stipulate in their contract. For example are they able to have a clause that says they have veto over who else is cast in the film? Can they pretty much ask for anything to be included in the contract?
As mlesemann said, they can demand anything they want in their contract.
I've heard of really odd contract stipulations where they only bathe in a particular brand of bottled water to simple demands of particular personal assistants and/or makeup people. If that can be in the contract, anything can.
It's up to you to determine whether the cost is worth the benefit of having that person in your production.
Yes they can.
Can they ask for 10% of the gross box office takings? Yes.
Can they ask for final cut? Yes.
Can they stipulate that they will only be involved if a particular crew/cast member is in the production? Yes
Can they have all decisions routed through them for all casting decisions? Yes.
Can they ask that they travel without anyone else, in a particular type of vehicle? Yes
Can they ask for a particular class of accommodation? Yes
Can they ask for a higher pay rate than scale? Yes
San they ask???? YES YES YES
If you say yes. Will they get it? Depends on the negotiations.
A contract is simple a written agreement of what both parties agree to. The contract scope changes depending on the terms.
I've heard of really odd contract stipulations where they only bathe in a particular brand of bottled water to simple demands of particular personal assistants and/or makeup people. If that can be in the contract, anything can.
It's up to you to determine whether the cost is worth the benefit of having that person in your production.
Yes they can.
Can they ask for 10% of the gross box office takings? Yes.
Can they ask for final cut? Yes.
Can they stipulate that they will only be involved if a particular crew/cast member is in the production? Yes
Can they have all decisions routed through them for all casting decisions? Yes.
Can they ask that they travel without anyone else, in a particular type of vehicle? Yes
Can they ask for a particular class of accommodation? Yes
Can they ask for a higher pay rate than scale? Yes
San they ask???? YES YES YES
If you say yes. Will they get it? Depends on the negotiations.
A contract is simple a written agreement of what both parties agree to. The contract scope changes depending on the terms.
That would be great thanks. PM sent to you
@Sweetie, thanks very much for providing that information. I always thought that there were certain guidelines in actor's contracts as to what they could ask to be included not that they can pretty much stipulate what they want - whether they get that though is obviously a different story.
This is the type of behind the scenes information I like to discover.
A contract starts with a blank page. Both parties can ask for anything
they want. The guideline are set as the contract is written - not before.
You can do it too; you can ask for anything you want - no certain
guidelines.
Thanks Directorik. I'm not needing to use any of this information at the moment but it's good to know for future reference
Contact an entertainment lawyer and get a standard contract, which would set out the basic terms.
That said, don't try and do your own contract, because a blank standard contract can have pitfalls that only an experienced lawyer can understand.
That said, don't try and do your own contract, because a blank standard contract can have pitfalls that only an experienced lawyer can understand.
Thanks for the advice, this is good for people to know.