Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board: Paid Actors vs. Non-Paid

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dexter74656
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Topic: Paid Actors vs. Non-Paid
Posted: 5/08/11 at 1:31pm

Hi everyone... I'm hoping to get some good feedback here. We're a 100% volunteer organization - at least, we have been our last 5 years. This weekend we did our first dinner theater and it was a huge success; to the point where we have a local establishment who has for a while been considering a dinner theater as part of their business wanting to talk to us about being part of this and are very interested in moving forward.

We'll start talking about it this week when his daughter (who is also on our Board of Directors) comes to audition for our summer season, so I want to start to have some thoughts in place for that point.

My biggest concern is that if we're going to add something like this that would be a lot more regular and probably require quite a bit more time commitment from our actors, is that I'd like to consider exploring to officially pay them for the show. But, this is something we've never talked about before and I'm not sure what additional aspects this would bring to the table.

*Obviously there's changes on our back-end/administrative to have paid actors in terms of accounting and governmental regulations.

*Payment might encourage some of them to get on board more/ have a better commitment.

*Payment would also allow us to hold something over them when it comes to the fact that they could be fired and we'd have that over them if it ever came to it.

*How much to pay? Those that have, is it a flat rate? Per show? I'm kind of in the mind to make it that they get x amount of each ticket sold, to kind of encourage the mindset that our success will equal their success.

For anyone that uses paid actors or who have also weighed this before, I'd really appreciate and pros/cons and tips you can offer.

Thanks!

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DeeCeeActs
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Posted: 5/18/11 at 6:46pm

I can only answer from the actor's point of view. When I have been lucky enough to be paid, it has always been a flat fee (or stipend).

A few theatres in my area do actors' benefit performances where the box office is divided equally amongst the cast.

Edited by DeeCeeActs - 5/18/11 at 6:46pm

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JoeMc
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Posted: 5/19/11 at 3:01am

You could test it out on an 'honourarium' bases, which also should include the techies as well!

[western] Gondawandaland
"Hear the light & see the sound!
TOI TOI CHOOKAS
{may you always play to a full house!}

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TonyDi
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Posted: 5/19/11 at 7:06am

I have worked with an interactive, murder mystery dinner theater type group for several years. What they do is pay us $25 bucks per show and with dinner theater, ACTOR GRATUITIES are part of the package for the actors if patrons want to and have a good enough time (and they do) to leave us a tip. Sometimes, between the $25 bucks we get for a show from the company PLUS the tips that can range anywhere from $10 bucks to $40 and even as much as $60 bucks apiece it makes it well worth the time and effort invested. So that can be significant for an actor. We always have GREAT fun because the shows are fun, funny, interactive and we DO get audience members involved always - and the audiences have a total blast 99.9% of the time. Occasionally you'll get a sourpuss in there - or someone who is distruptive if alcohol is served with the venue we work in (often a restaurant - but clubs, civic organizations, fund raisers and so forth). But it's VERY VERY rare that we don't at least make a little something - enough to cover gas for the most part and maybe pocket change. We do it for fun, for the comradery and the love of doing theater in a different manner. And it's been very successful for the last 5 years it's been in existence. And also it's a relaxed way to do things involving patrons in the show - but even if we screw up a line or something here or there - part of the charm is that we can "play" with it enough that nobody cares if you mess up or not. It's just a couple hours of pure fun.

As for the legal requirements of paying actors - everyone is an "independent contractor" and they get paid the stipends, it can and should be recorded by the company but the company is NOT responsible for those stipends or taxes connected to it. That is the actor's own personal responsibility. I mean it's not like we make anywhere near enough to report - it's usually always in cash and therefore not traceable so for the most part unless we make significant amounts (and we don't do EVERY show but rotate throughout the company based on availability, time and committments outside of doing these shows).

It has worked out extremely well for over 5 years now and continues to thrive in our area. Depending upon the number of people in attendence - and we've had anywhere from 25 in small venues to over 150 people eating dinner, seeing the show and being part of the interactive nature of what we do. And people LOVE these shows. Many of them are parodies of familiar shows turned into murder mysteries. We just finished our THIRD RUN in the last 2 1/2 years of THE ALTOS - a fun-filled murder mystery based upon the TV show THE SOPRANOS (only LOWER) but we've done Lucy and Desi, The Honeymurders (based upon Gleason and Carney's Honeymooners), they're doing a tribute to Sam Spade - Murder at Cafe Noir next, they've done one based upon The Maltese Falcon - but these are all commercially available shows that are parodies of familiar things. Then the company owner is a writer and has written a couple of mysteries they've done in years past. So it's a good formula if you can make the money for the company, enough to pay the actors and if the venues will allow for actor gratuities to be made - and we've never failed to make a buck or so here and there - and it's FUN to do.

Hope it works out for you. If I were you I'd survey the various methods and see what works best for you. It can be lucrative and everyone involved is taken care of financially. Cool concept. Good luck with it.

TonyDi

Edited by TonyDi - 5/19/11 at 7:09am

"Almost famous"

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Rorgg
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Posted: 5/20/11 at 9:24pm

For the last year or so, I've been working on both sides of the pay-line, so I might have something to add.

Originally posted by dexter74656

*Obviously there's changes on our back-end/administrative to have paid actors in terms of accounting and governmental regulations.

Shouldn't be any more regulation than paying a pit player or something like that. Just draw up an independent contractor agreement for them to sign prior to rehearsals.

*Payment might encourage some of them to get on board more/ have a better commitment.

Possibly. But really, you want to HIRE the people who already have commitment. What payment will do, if you advertize it ahead of time, is expand your pool of auditioners, allowing you a choice from a bigger pool.

*Payment would also allow us to hold something over them when it comes to the fact that they could be fired and we'd have that over them if it ever came to it.

Again, ideally you won't hire anyone like this. Where it is useful is leverage for things like wanting to flake rehearsals for other things, or if you really don't want them to alter appearance or whatever.

[/quote]*How much to pay? Those that have, is it a flat rate? Per show? I'm kind of in the mind to make it that they get x amount of each ticket sold, to kind of encourage the mindset that our success will equal their success.[/quote]
I've worked in 3 different arrangements:
1. A very small paid theatre paid a flat $20 per performance.
2. A larger paid theatre gave a rehearsal stipend (500-750) and then a per-show payment (35/50) ... the large-cast show paid less per. Unde4rstudies get the stipend, but only get paid for shows they perform.
3. A for-hire murder mystery company pays $55 per performance with a small premium for long drives.
You can also do a small stipend for the entire run (something I've taken as a director)

Hope that helps!

Edited by Rorgg - 5/20/11 at 9:24pm

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dri1962
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Posted: 10/18/11 at 8:38am

HI,

It sounds like there are a few options for payment.

How much rehearsal time do you think is required for a 1 1/2 to 2 hour show?

2 hours a week? 4?

If there are 4 characters needed, how many actors would you need to recruit to cover that?

Thanks...

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dri1962
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Posted: 10/18/11 at 10:07am

Thanks

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Rorgg
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Posted: 10/25/11 at 12:01pm

Few more data points needed to cover your questions: straight play or musical? Musicals add in the music and choreography, so of course those need some additional time to polish.

The nature of the show also matters -- some farce can require extra time because of the physical bits needing to work the timing. Plus, some shows are just simpler to learn than others.

But typically? 10 hours a week for an amateur production for a couple months, 3 for a musical. A professional show might up that to 15+, but the rehearsal period is shorter.

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JoeMc
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Posted: 10/25/11 at 11:42pm

Why not a flat fee, you could offer a $/minute per showtime. Either for the season or for a single show.

[western] Gondawandaland
"Hear the light & see the sound!
TOI TOI CHOOKAS
{may you always play to a full house!}

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Directing
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