$100 for a day's work?

M

MaximusXXX

Okay, so my film's budget is ever progressing. I intend to get a kickstarter ad done soon and always saving up with every payroll I receive.

One of the issues with my film is specific cast.

For some scenes, I need to have specific females in terms of physicality. For instance, not just an attractive woman but specific measurements, such as legs, hair colour, etc, etc, etc.


I was thinking of using indy models as they are often cheaper ( because the agency doesn't take 40% of the cut ).

But I know most people are up for a job on their off-day for extra money.


Does $100 for a day sound reasonable? They wouldn't be working too hard I might add, no more than 6 hours of actual activity which would be $16.50 an hour. I figure I'd need 2 one day and maybe 2 another day for $400 on them.


This is one of the few cast positions I have considered paying.
 
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MaximusXXX said:
Does $100 for a day sound reasonable? They wouldn't be working too hard I might add, no more than 6 hours of actual activity which would be $16.50 an hour.
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How hard they work or the actual activity isn't the issue. You are asking
someone to give up that day from other, paid work. I suggest you figure
out exactly how many hours the actor is expected to be on your set - from
the call time to the dismiss time.

$100/day sounds reasonable - very, very low, but reasonable. Calculate
how many hours they will be on your set to come up with an accurate
hourly rate. If your call time is 10AM and they leave your set at 4PM then
it's $16.50/hr.
 
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I posted a call on craigslist for body doubles for nudity scenes to match the specs of existing actresses -- height, weight, hair color . . . a handful showed up (one at a time) to earn about $25 ea. The key is to act professional and have a sharp website they can check out before contacting you.

Good luck
 
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Thanks for the quick responses guys.


@directorik, I'm going to be shooting on a weekend, most people do not work weekends. This would be for someone's off-day. Not someone to miss their job.



To be sure however, the minimum wage in Ontario right now is $10.25/hr.

For someone working 8 hours that's $82, before taxes.


So even if I did ask them to take the day off from a minimum wage job, or hell, even if they made $12 an hour, it's worth it.


So I guess I think it's very reasonable. I'm not paying them to act....did I forget to mention that? They literally just need to look hot. I have make-up and costume people.
 
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MaximusXXX said:
@directorik, I'm going to be shooting on a weekend, most people do not work weekends. This would be for someone's off-day. Not someone to miss their job.
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Missing time from work isn't the only thing to consider though. If I've been working hard all week my time off on the weekend is worth a lot more to me than the time I spent working. So it's not just a question of whether the money is worth it or not - it's whether the experience of doing your project, or the exposure from it, is worth more to them than their leisure time. If it is, they'll probably do it for whatever you're able to pay - if it's not then it's going to cost you a lot more to get them to give up their free time for you. Telling them all you need them for is to stand around and 'look hot' probably isn't the way to convince them it's worth their time unless they're in desperate need of validation on their looks.
 
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Larry David is doing a movie in our area and they had a call for 300 unpaid extras to sit in the audience for 5 hours today. It's for an HBO movie. They probably found enough people who wanted to say they were in a movie even if they didn't get paid.
 
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Well, while this forum has been helpful in numerous aspects for me. I also detect some rife pessimism as well.

Someone working a minimum wage job will get roughly $70 in take home for the day. It's usually a lot less enjoyable than being part of a comedy film, even if all you're doing is moving around with the filmaker's direction.

I wasn't asking for psycho analysis. It's $100 for not much work, plain and simple. I know I'd take that gig on an off day in a heartbeat.
 
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MaximusXXX said:
Well, while this forum has been helpful in numerous aspects for me. I also detect some rife pessimism as well.

Someone working a minimum wage job will get roughly $70 in take home for the day. It's usually a lot less enjoyable than being part of a comedy film, even if all you're doing is moving around with the filmaker's direction.

I wasn't asking for psycho analysis. It's $100 for not much work, plain and simple. I know I'd take that gig on an off day in a heartbeat.
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Well why are you asking for opinions, then?
 
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I was asking what people thought of the pay.

Not about how people view their off-days or if they need to be invested in the film.

I guess ItDonnedOnMe's reply was what got me. I mean, I have many friends helping out with the project and I treat them accordingly, but when I say I need a hot body for a scene or two, it means just that. Not to be cruel, and I want that person to be reliable so I'm paying them to show up. Is $100 sufficient, or is that fair but nothing special?


Again, talking about indy models or regular people.
 
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Zensteve said:
ItDonnedOnMe's reply seems quite reasonable to me. :huh:

Ah well. Good luck with your shoot.
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Just because it irked me the wrong way and I don't want to sound like I just jumped on her for no reason, here's my breakdown:


If I've been working hard all week my time off on the weekend is worth a lot more to me than the time I spent working.
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So is it worth more to sit at home watching television than making $100 on a relatively easy workload?

it's whether the experience of doing your project, or the exposure from it, is worth more to them than their leisure time.
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And if they work a boring job that pays less a day than what I'm offering?

if it's not then it's going to cost you a lot more to get them to give up their free time for you.
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So give me a dollar amount please. $100 for 6 hours of work for someone who works a minimum wage job is not enough....what is then?

Telling them all you need them for is to stand around and 'look hot' probably isn't the way to convince them it's worth their time unless they're in desperate need of validation on their looks.
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Or...you know, want to make money for doing little work?





This is what made me a little taken back by her response. And don't get me wrong, I worked some crap jobs. I worked park maintenance for a while where I got paid minimum wage for unplugging toilets plugged with brown nuggets the size of a rabbit's head and trying to piece together a torn garbage bag with maggots all over the place. Not to mention cleaning up vomit.

So if someone offered me $100 to stand around and look hot? Yeah I'd freaking take that.
 
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So it sounds like you already know the answer to your question - I'm not sure why you were asking in the first place then. I totally agree, based on the assumptions you're making, $100 is a reasonable amount. I was just pointing out that you're making those assumptions - that they work minimum wage in a boring job and don't have much worth doing in their free time. That might be true - but it also might not be, and it depends entirely on the person. So the answer to your question is... ask them.
 
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I'd make the point of:

Why are you paying a 'hot body' $100 to do 'little work' when everyone else on the film is working for free and doing a lot more work?

You say yourself that this is one of the few cast positions you consider paying (also assuming you're not paying crew) - in that case, why is someone's performance 'standing around looking hot' worth more than other cast's performances? Why is it worth more than the crew..?

At least be up front about who you're paying and who you're not paying. I think it's really bad to hide who is getting paid from those who aren't because they find out anyway, and at least if you're up front then you know they agreed to those 'terms', whereas finding out mid-shoot that someone's getting paid and you're not - potentially at the expense of your rate.. Well things can get messy.
 
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Excellent points, jax.

Those working hard do not need to be paid? A woman just standing
around looking hot is worth $100? Why pay her anything at all? The
other cast members who are acting aren’t being paid. The crew isn’t
being paid. The make up and costume people don’t get paid to help
this girl stand around and look hot for $100.

I said in my post that $100/day is reasonable. What I find unreasonable
is your reasoning behind your rate and your decision to not pay the
people who are working. That isn’t pessimism nor is it psychoanalysis,
it’s opinion.

You’ve made up your mind - your mind was made up before you
posted. Now you don’t like what people are saying. I don’t understand
why you asked. Make your movie the way YOU want - pay who YOU
want to pay. When you ask for opinions you’re going to get opinions
you don’t want.
 
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Oh be sure that everyone in the film gets something.

No, not everyone is getting paid cold hard cash, but that's not how this production works.


I, above all, am not paying myself anything. I am pouring my own money into the project and everyone apart of the film knows this full well. I get plenty of food for everyone and pay the little things like gas, bar settings, etc, etc.

I work around most people's schedules too. One friend of mine, and it's mostly friends who are helping me in the film, showed up for a Saturday to shoot. We had fun, and when I wrote the script, he fits the character perfectly so it's not like " I need you to study the role " type of situation.

The make-up girl and the camera guy are like partners so to speak. They're invested in the film like I am. Basically from their prospective they are happy I'm willing to fund the project and see it through and they can be apart of that.


As far as everyone knowing I'd be paying a woman $100 a day? Yeah, they all know. We joke about it. One friend of mine part of the cast even said " I should have sex change surgery so I can get paid ".


I mean, it's the type of film where we need eye candy. And yes she'd probably have a couple lines for effect.


I'll play my cards accordingly. If I know the girl's situation, I'll probably try and pay her $50 rather than $100.
 
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