There’s no doubt that residuals are an important piece of an actor’s income, but how do they work? Residuals, specifically for actors, can be complicated, but we’re going to break down both why and how a performer receives them through the Screen Actors Guild, or SAG-AFTRA. SAG residuals differ from residuals for artists who are members of the Writers and/or Directors Guild. Yet educating yourself on a crucial tenet of film finances like SAG-AFTRA residuals allows actors to better advocate for themselves and makes anyone a more savvy filmmaker.
Actors residual checks
First, let’s define SAG-AFTRA residuals
The Screen Actors Guild, or SAG-AFTRA, sometimes referred to as just SAG, is the union that represents actors and performers in Hollywood. They are the entity that sets the rates for and distributes residual pay to eligible principal performers. But what are residuals?
SAG RESIDUALS DEFINITION
What are residuals?
Residuals are a form of financial compensation paid to a principal performer after the project they worked on is initially exhibited, when the film, TV show, new media or commercial they were in is re-used or re-distributed. Residual pay occurs after, and in addition to, the artist’s initial fee for their contribution to the work.
A performer would get a residual check through:
- TV show reruns and/or syndication
- Physical media sales like DVDs and digital rentals
- A commercial extends its airing cycle
Residual checks for actors
How do SAG residuals work?
To receive SAG residuals, you must book work from a SAG signatory. A SAG signatory is a company that has signed a contract with SAG-AFTRA to abide by their rules and regulations in order to hire its members. You do not always need to be a member of the union to be employed by a SAG signatory, and you can still receive residuals as a non-union actor as long as the production you worked on was a SAG signatory.
As a performer, you are paid a fee upfront for your time on set and performance. This fee also covers the initial exhibition of the project, whether it be a movie’s release in theaters, the first airing of an episode of television, or the initial airing cycle of a commercial. It is not until after the terms of the initial exhibition are fulfilled that one begins to receive SAG residuals.
Here’s more information on what residuals are and how they work:
Do actors get paid for reruns
Therefore, the more a project is re-used after its initial exhibition, the more money a performer stands to make from residuals.
How much do actors get paid for reruns
How much do actors make in residuals?
The amount a performer earns in SAG residuals varies greatly. It depends on the size of their role, the project’s budget, runtime, as how much they were initially paid, and the platform the work is being re-distributed on. For instance, the rate for a rerun of a TV show on a network differs from the rate of a show being licensed on a streaming platform. These rates are agreed upon by SAG-AFTRA and the major studios. All of these factors are fed into an equation that determines how much each actor will receive in a residuals payment.
Here’s a great breakdown of the different type of residual rates and their potential payouts:
How much do actors make for reruns
SAG RESIDUALS VS. ROYALTIES
Actors do not typically get royalties from movies. That’s because a royalty is payment made for the use of intellectual property in a project. Typically an actor is paid for and receives residuals for their services rendered, i.e., their performance. Which means that actors do not get royalties from streaming either for the most part. Yet if the project was the actor’s idea or based on their life, they could then get royalties from a movie.
Furthermore, royalty contracts are typically negotiated by an actor’s representative and not by SAG-AFTRA like residuals are. While royalties are a fixed rate or percentage of the usage fee for a piece of intellectual property, an actor’s residuals pay will decrease over time.
Residual checks for actors
Who is eligible for SAG residuals?
Principal performers are eligible to receive residuals. It’s a broad category, but includes some notable exceptions. Actors with speaking parts, singers, dancers, stunt performers, pilots, etc. Background performers and body doubles are not considered principal performers, and therefore, don’t receive residuals. Also important to note is that your performance must make the final cut in order to receive a residual check for a project. Therefore, if you appeared in a scene in a movie that was cut from the final product, you won’t receive SAG residuals.
Given that so much of the acting work in the entertainment industry is project-based, residuals can help sustain actors as they bounce from job to job. Residuals also allow the actors to reap the benefits of their contribution to a popular work fairly. Therefore, it’s no wonder that residuals have been at the center of many of the SAG strikes over the years.
Up Next
What is SAG-AFTRA?
You may now be an expert on residuals for on-camera talent, but that’s only one matter SAG-AFTRA arbitrates for its members. Representing actors, SAG-AFTRA is one of the most important and powerful guilds in the entertainment industry, and no matter which side of the camera you’re on, one should be familiar with it. Learn about the guild’s history, how you can qualify to join, and the benefits of doing so in our next post.
Up Next: What is SAG-AFTRA? →
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