Just days before SAG-AFTRA went on strike, Deadline published a piece on the writers’ strike and the strategy at play for the studio executives and members of the AMPTP. A studio executive was quoted as saying this: “The endgame is to allow things to drag on until union members start losing their apartments and losing their houses.” Deadline confirmed that strategy with “several other sources.” In Hollywood, it seems the cruelty is the point and this is what they really think about writers and actors, that they should lose their homes if they don’t wordlessly accept the studios’ pennies. Well, it’s started. Billy Porter told the Evening Standard that he’s going to sell his home because he doesn’t have any money coming in:
He won’t talk about his work: “Because of the strike. Child, we got to get our money! But one of the reasons I can’t talk about the strike is because of the s**t that I’ve seen some lay people write about us: ‘Just a bunch of millionaires trying to get more millions.’” It’s different in London. He doesn’t feel “that bile from people who survived a pandemic because they could turn on their television and watch us. And they discard us so quickly. Because they think we’re entitled. Meanwhile, we’re getting six cent cheques. It hurts my feelings”.
On the broken residual system: “In the late Fifties, early Sixties, when they structured a way for artists to be compensated properly through residual [payments], it allowed for the two percent of working actors — and there are 150,000 people in our union — who work consistently…Then streaming came in. There’s no contract for it… And they don’t have to be transparent with the numbers — it’s not Nielsen ratings anymore.. the streaming companies are notoriously opaque with their viewership figures. The business has evolved. So the contract has to evolve,” he says, thumping the table, wobbling his berry bowl, “and change” — thump — “period”.
He has to sell his house: “To hear Bob Iger say that our demands for a living wage are unrealistic? While he makes $78,000 a day? I don’t have any words for it, but: f*** you. That’s not useful, so I’ve kept my mouth shut. I haven’t engaged because I’m so enraged. I’m glad I’ve been over here. But when I go back I will join the picket lines. I have to sell my house.” Really? “Yeah! Because we’re on strike. And I don’t know when we’re gonna go back [to work]. The life of an artist, until you make f***-you money — which I haven’t made yet — is still cheque-to-cheque. I was supposed to be in a new movie, and on a new television show starting in September. None of that is happening. So to the person who said ‘we’re going to starve them out until they have to sell their apartments,’ you’ve already starved me out”.
One of the things the actors are doing really well is communicating, very clearly, how the system is broken and how little they’re actually being paid. I’m sure the lesser-known actors have been doing it all along, but the fact that well-known actors like Billy Porter and Mandy Moore are standing with their union and educating the public about the broken residual system, it actually matters. It doesn’t feel like there are many people saying “oh, it’s just a bunch of millionaires crying.” These are working actors, actors who live paycheck to paycheck, actors with long CVs, Emmy Awards and Tony Awards, and they’re selling their homes but still standing with their union. Anyway, if Billy sets up a GoFundMe, I’ll donate.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA – MARCH 02: Billy Porter arrives at NBC’s ‘Carol Burnett: 90 Years Of Laughter + Love’ Birthday Special held at AVALON Hollywood and Bardot on March 2, 2023 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States.,Image: 759970096, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Billy Porter, Credit line: Xavier Collin / Image Press Agency / Avalon
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- HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA – MARCH 02: Billy Porter arrives at NBC’s ‘Carol Burnett: 90 Years Of Laughter + Love’ Birthday Special held at AVALON Hollywood and Bardot on March 2, 2023 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States.,Image: 759970107, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Billy Porter, Credit line: Xavier Collin / Image Press Agency / Avalon
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- Grand Marshall Billy Porter rides in the NYC 2023 Pride March on Fifth Avenue in New York, New York, USA on June 25, 2023.,Image: 785326774, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Grand Marshall Billy Porter, Credit line: Robin Platzer / Twin Images / Avalon
Love Billy! I’m sure he is struggling financially due to the strike, but he also just announced a divorce last month. Downsizing is often part of divorce. I don’t know how much impact that has but I can’t see it having no impact.
I don’t think you mean to, but that’s diminishing to his point. Keep the full potency of the message—he has to sell him home because he doesn’t make what he’s earned/worth.
He has to sell him home because he has no income hun.
Why he needs his income is irrelevant. Loss of income affects every other part of life – it doesn’t matter if there’s a divorce coming up or he needs medical care or if he just has to pay his real estate taxes. With no income he can’t do any of that.
@ Eurydice, I agree!!! Home ownership can be hell and when you don’t have a constant source of income, many times it’s down to having to sell it.
Let this be a warning that studio heads, platform streamers as well as every other Tom, Dick and Douche Bag CEO are serious, this is EXACTLY what they want!!! They all DON’T care if you must sell your homes, access food banks or use ALL of your savings!!! They don’t want to PAY decent wages OR residuals!!!
This is a genuine question and I have tried to educate myself but all the info out there seems so convoluted. Do these actors not receive any payment upfront? I feel like we keep only hearing how low residuals are but is that all they are making? Like for example- I have always assumed when Billy Porter signs on for a season of AHS he is paid $X for that contract, and then residuals are on top of that. I guess this is incorrect?
From what I understand, they do receive payment up front. There’s a union minimum, which seems pretty good, and of course many people make more than the minimum, even what seems like a lot of money (Meghan Markle making 50,000 per episode for Suits, eg, reportedly). But a TV season can be 10-20 weeks. Then, in the past, you would receive residuals based on whether or not your show was in syndication on TV (that’s why the Friends and Seinfeld actors get tens of millions a year on a show they made 20+ years ago).
But for most working actors (and I’m citing Paget Brewster here), you don’t know if your show will get picked up by a network, or if it will last more than 1 season. So you get great pay for 20 weeks, then nothing. The residuals come from the fact that your show is still being broadcast, meaning people are making money from your work. You, as the visible artist, should have a share of that income. Residuals are what kept people going if they went into a dry spell, or took time off, or whatever. It was income that could be somewhat steady (situation-based) in a very uncertain industry. Brewster said she always had to make sure the money she made in the good times could last. Until you reach the top .01%, you’re income is never stable.
With streaming, the residuals people were counting on are gone. So your work is still being seen, someone is making a profit, but you, the performer, aren’t getting any money for the work you did. The streaming companies don’t want anyone to know how much they are really making. It’s either a) they are making money hand over fist and don’t want to share it or b) they aren’t making money, and they are afraid the value of their business will tank if that becomes known.
No I think that’s correct, but residuals just aren’t what they used to be. The post about Jessica Chastain actually explains this pretty well (from yesterday.) And that’s why this is more of an issue for the “basic” working actors and not the huge stars (although they are seeing less from residuals as well, but it matters less to them.)
So for example, you do a guest appearance on a show, you might get 3k for that. But then it might take you two months to get another job, so that 3k has to stretch for those two months. But if you build up enough of those guest appearances, maybe you do 10 a year, you get 30k, and in the old days those appearances might have come with good residuals, which tide you over or fill in gaps in your income. So maybe you are a non-famous actor who works relatively steadily but if you go a few months between jobs, its okay because you have those residuals that keep coming in so you always have income. But that’s going away because of streaming. Like we keep talking about Suits and how successful it is on Netflix, but you have to wonder what kind of money the stars are getting even with a billion streams.
and then anyway if Billy Porter signed a contract for 200k for AHS, he might not get that money until production starts, and currently productions are halted, so he’s not getting that. And I have no idea the kind of money he signs for either.
Basically residuals are a way to compensate actors for their role in a show or movie that continues to make money for the studio. That’s going away now because of streaming. So now studios can continue to profit off an actor’s work for decades and the actor never sees another penny.
The issue also is that the residuals were an important fraction of total income. When that was taken away, the upfront income did not increase – in fact it has often been decreasing. More than half of the striking workers do not make the minimum $27,000 per year required for health insurance. And the studios are constantly inventing new ways not to pay people – for example they’ve been hiring writers to pre-write half a season or a whole season instead of just a pilot. And then they don’t renew, and those 6 or 15 episodes don’t count towards you getting health insurance. Whereas in the past if a show went past the pilot it counted as work.
The issue is that payment came in two stages, for the filming and then the residuals from when the product was released. Streaming have basically stopped paying the second part, despite being the dominant part of the industry right now. Look at ScarJo’s Disney lawsuit over Black Widow going to streaming. She was going to be making more money post release than she did up front. Now imagine that happening to all the actors. Not on her scale, of course, but for a successful show or movie, residuals could pay more than the original salary. All gone.
Actors are paid a certain fee per episode, but how much they are paid depends whether they are a series regular or a guest star. Most actors have an agent who take 10% of their earnings, some actors also have a manager who take an additional to 10 to 15%, that’s after the government takes their cut. Residuals can keep an actor afloat during the lean times.
@ Elizabeth, that’s a crucial component that many people don’t take into account. Not only do actors pay a large percentage to their agents, but they also have other expenses that is required to keep themselves seen flawlessly in the spotlight. From stylists to MUA to the need to purchase thousands of dollars for clothing. Unless you are one of the very, very few that have designers offering you next seasons line for you to wear, and paying you 6 FIGURES, these fashion houses ignore your existence.
How many times have we heard of many actors that have fashion houses refusing to dress them even IF they are paying for the clothes??? Unless you are Blanchett, Lady Gaga, Usher or Jay Z, you are screwed.
Also, working actors/and writers (im a striking writer) generally have agents, managers, lawyers – which take 25 percent of gross salary which you still have to be taxed on. So a big number can effectively be very small at the end of the day. Agents/managers/lawyers don’t get part of your residuals. And the way I’ve always heard it is b/c these jobs can end on the drop of a dime, and you may not work again for months/years – residuals used to keep you afloat.
@ Z, it’s actually criminal that agents/lawyers take such an enormous chunk of salary from your income. You are the one with the talent that is making money for THEM!!
Though I understand the need for agents, the excessive percentage that they want is not actually sustainable for your livelihood. Their percentage for utilizing their contacts and reaching out to gain you employment is still a staggering percentage. As for attorneys, it’s understandable but most of them have their paralegal to prepare, or draw up from a massive database of contracts, which are simply altered depending on the circumstances. I understand the profession to certify for legal reason and legal representation, but it’s still expensive as hell!!!
(I am a certified paralegal.)
Billy Porter is a gem, a SUPER TALENTED gem who also went to one of the best colleges in the country. He is VERY smart and politically aware.
This is who I want to hear from. Not the assholes who have made their f*ck you money (like Zach Levi and Stephen Amell or even Jamie Lee Curtis (who I adore but man, she totally whiffed it)).
Plenty of famous people are working actors who are only famous because they manage to keep working, not because they bagged a big project. So many of them have one off jobs (one or two eps of a tv show) or are a mid to minor character in a movie. These people are the ones who are suffering from the abusive pay scale in Hollywood.
And writers have it even worse.
@ BlueNailsBetty, agree!! And there are so many nepo babies in HW that shouldn’t follow in their parents footsteps as they are simply awful!!!
The writers are the ones that create the content and more than likely, it’s picked up. Then we have those that manage and process the projects that is ultimately released, all while the writers continue to work on the scripts and are always under the gun to keep their sitcom going and successful. We have the vast and wonderfully diverse collection of entertainment for those who work behind the scenes.
This is what all actors should be saying when asked about the strike. Hopefully Jamie Lee and the scabs are reading it and learning what to say.
This hurts my heart, I was blessed to see Billy twice on Broadway in Kinky Boots. He brought the house down each time. Loved it.
I hope people remember that even if a working actor is well-paid on a project. That payment (after the Gov’t takes a chunk in taxes) may have to pay out to a variety of people from it. Agents, managers, stylists, and assistants. They are a walking corporation. So a 1 million paycheck can shrink to tens of thousands quickly in liquidity for them. On top of family, divorce, and children to support. When income stops, it’s devastating. And a giant F U to studios using influencers to market movies like Barbie and they happily take the money.
Billy is spot on about the pandemic, how many shows did we binge-watch on streaming platforms over and over? Not one of them made a penny from it. In comparison, Bob Iger’s total compensation in 2021 from Disney was $45.9 million. Yet he is perfectly content to starve union actors, writers, and crew members out. While he eats cake.
Billy Porter is a national treasure and must be protected at all costs!
Actors are independent contractors, not employees (with very few exceptions) so fees paid to agents & managers are tax- deductible as business expenses. Some celebs/actors have even been able to get the IRS to accept cosmetic surgery as a requirement to continue working in their fields, therefore deductible. Same for wigs, “costumes.”
I hope that all strikers can reduce their living expenses enough to get through this. People who own homes, even with mortgages, can often borrow against their equity.
Yes they can…but borrowing that money is also dependent on the bank feeling that you will have income to pay it back with in the future. And a strike and overall decreased income due to streaming will make getting a bank to say yes very difficult….
A friend of mine is an actor in LA. She broke her paycheck down like this.
35% to taxes
33% to reps (lawyers, agent, manager, publicist as needed)
32% take home!
Yeah that $10k pre tax pay has to stretchhhh. Most actors at her level try to get as many commercials as possible.
I love Billy Porter so damn much. He’s a true Pittsburgh legend & does so much for his hometown, we adore him here! He’s working with a big wig local restauranteur to turn a legendary abandoned music hall into a community space with a roller rink & so much for. Everyone who has met him has only glowing things to say & I love that he stands with his ppl