Equity Actors- Page 4

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 2/22/05 at 3:13pm

I'm not blaming anyone for my choices. I just get tired of hearing how hard it is for actors to survive on production contracts. If you don't want to do it, don't do it. But Broadway minimum is not poverty-level - not even close.

Updated On: 2/22/05 at 03:13 PM

[Tom1071]

Posted: 2/22/05 at 3:25pm

I don't think anyone said they didn't want to do it. They do it because they want to perform. Everyone (not just performers) wishes they were paid more for what they do for a living. That's just human nature.

You are right, Rath. It isn't poverty level but with the amount taxes NYC residences have to pay, Equity minimum isn't exactly middle class either.

[Joshua488]

Posted: 2/22/05 at 3:26pm

Amen, Rathnait.

When I told my sister that what the Equity wages are, she flipped her lid. "How do I get on Broadway?!" she asked, since she is an artist, not a performer.

Lots of people would do ANYTHING to make the kinds of wages that Equity actors do, and some of them have even MORE bills to pay than groceries, voice/dance lessons, etc. It's all just a matter of how well you're managing your money.

Nobody on a $1381/week minimum should be struggling, unless you've got some serious debt to, like, a loan shark or a hitman.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 2/22/05 at 3:49pm

"You are right, Rath. It isn't poverty level but with the amount taxes NYC residences have to pay, Equity minimum isn't exactly middle class either."

Right - and all of us who live here have to pay those taxes, regardless of our profession.

I often say I wish the great theater city was someplace warmer and cheaper!

[IMsooHyprToday]

Posted: 2/22/05 at 4:25pm

Warmer? like las vegas

[Katecab99]

Posted: 2/22/05 at 8:16pm

All I know is that I will do anything to earn a card someday. Even with all the negatives that people continue to highlight, it's a very big deal to receive that card.

[Feodor Sverdlov]

Posted: 2/22/05 at 8:44pm

I got my card at 9 years old. That was in 1959!!! I still have it.

[jasonvanemburgh]

Posted: 2/23/05 at 12:43am

There's nothing wrong with being non or union. Its a choice. If you want to be a lifelong professional actor, you join the unions. If you want to dabble, you work a steady job and do theatre as a hobby. I guarantee you, that if those twenty somethings on those non-equity tours want a career after them, they will use their experience and join the union. That's why those tours aren't comprised of 30-40 yo actors. By that time they are either in Equity and working as actors, or they are raising three kids with a white picket fence...or have two cats and never miss Will and Grace, as the case may be. Is there talent in non-equity work..of course there is. A player in minor league baseball could get a hit off Roger Clemens..but to do so on a consistent basis, is another thing. If you go and see Twelve Angry Men on Broadway, your going to see 12 Great Performances. The non-equity production of the same show? 3 great performances, 4 competent performances, 3 fair performances, 1 bad performance, and one that breaks the illusion every time it opens it's mouth. Like I quoted before the great Sanford Meisner said that it takes 20 years to become an actor. He needs a union that supports him to be around that long. And as for that one poster who is an expert and is "in the business", I think he's just upset because there is no union for ticket takers.

[BWAYboi_yes]

Posted: 2/23/05 at 2:47am

And if there were a union for ticket takers, I'd join. Why wouldn't I? I'd sure like to get paid more. That's why actors join Equity- they want more money. That's why Equity is around. I'm not discrediting the actors who join, of course, they join for the money. I MUST MUST MUST disagree about Equity performers being outstanding. They are not ALL good, not even all mediocre. Some are just plain bad. I could just as easily walk into 12 Angry Men and see the horrible performances for which you reserve to be nonEquity. It's the all-powerful attitude that makes people WANT to branch out and do non Equity tours. It's just that simple.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 2/23/05 at 3:05am

The ignorance vomiting forth on this thread is astonishing. Someone PLEASE get a mop fast!

Broadway ticket takers are in a union. The ushers are in a union. The orchestra is in a union. The director is. The crew is. And the actors and stage managers are, too. --FUNNY how bwayboi doesn't have the guts to include that stage managers don't deserve fair wages and treatment. He can only harp on actors.

And while you folks go on and on and on about TALENT and MONEY, some of the biggest factors include conditions--especially on the road: days off, breaks, hotels, safety, overtime, vacation, health care, etc etc etc. If you think for one second that actors don't deserve these protections, you are crazy.

An actor chooses to become Equity because he or she wants to these protections. And to be paid fairly. And we can go ROUND and ROUND and ROUND and RROUND and RRROUND forever on this issue. But it all comes down to choosing what you want. And if you want to be non-Equity--fine. And, if you want to work on Broadway or Off-Broadway or a leading role at a regional theatre, so you join Equity--fine. And if you want to sit around and crap on the unions--fine. And if you want to unleash your baggage about not making it in the business and having to take an office job and not being able to feel sorry or happy for the actors who did make it--fine.

You do what makes you happy. :) But you ain't gonna change a thing.

[IMsooHyprToday]

Posted: 2/23/05 at 3:09am

well put jrb.

[BWAYboi_yes]

Posted: 2/23/05 at 11:56am

If anything, I'd say Stage Managers deserve a raise. They've got to put up with all those Equity actors.

[Tom1071]

Posted: 2/23/05 at 12:11pm

The union for ticket takers is called IATSE Local 306. It's the Usher and Projectionist Union and so beside the point.

[Bobby457]

Posted: 2/23/05 at 12:14pm

Well said JRB- I was on the production contract negotiation committee and sitting there and listening to the crap some producers spew. One of them actually said...."Actors get paid too much money, they are buying houses and cars things!" It was all I could do to not stand up and knock his teeth down his throat.

If you are Equity and you dont like what Equity is doing....then go join a committee....voice your opinion there. If you dont want to join a commitee...then be quiet!

[BWAYboi_yes]

Posted: 2/23/05 at 12:21pm

They're buying houses and cars and things?!? Wow, this is getting serious.

[Tom1071]

Posted: 2/23/05 at 12:22pm

It is pretty silly how people are going on and on about this like they can do something about it. No matter what is said here everyone will still pay their money at Wicked and help pay those so called "astronomical salaries." Updated On: 2/23/05 at 12:22 PM

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 2/23/05 at 12:27pm

I'm not jealous - if I were, I certainly couldn't have the close relationships that I do with friends who are Broadway actors, and I wouldn't imagine I'd want to pay to see shows, which I obviously do quite frequently. My problem is the handwringing over $1381/week minimum. Anyone who really feels they can't live on that needs to go back to school and get another degree, and try something higher-paying. I've lived in NYC for 16 years so I know what it takes - and that is a very decent salary. And that's only minimum. It goes up from there.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 2/23/05 at 2:08pm

And Rath--where exactly did anyone complain that the Broadway minimum wasn't enough?? I believe people were trying to defend at least the status quo as bwayboi believes that actors should make less--way less.

And bwayboi--too bad for you that the stage managers and actors are in the same union huh? Your comment clearly indicates a childish notion of the relationships between Equity actors and stage managers. You are as arrogant as you are ignorant--and it doesn't make for a pretty combination. The people you work with should get a raise for having to put up with that.

[Cassoipeia]

Posted: 2/23/05 at 2:36pm

I'm in Equity. While I never thought that I would be supporting unions, I'm glad I'm in this one...ultimately, a union is about protection. More so than pay, more so than getting into auditions, it's saying that there are minimum safety standards, etc., etc. that an Equity production must abide by. Historically, unions in this country were formed in order to preserve workers safety (not pay, like so commonly thought of today)...and Equity is no different. I became Equity after getting a lead during a regional play, and it got me into the audition that got me an incredible starting point now in NYC.

It's been broken down many, many, MANY times here before, but it's up to the actor and their own ambitions as to whether or not they decide to pursue Equity. Granted, it's not for everyone. I graduated from a BFA program, and some very talented people in my class decided that Equity is not for them - for one reason or another (I'm not going to even going to generalize as to the reasons). It was the right choice for me, but I realize that it may not be the choice for everyone else.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 2/23/05 at 2:36pm

From this thread alone:

"That $1381 minimum that some of you are all up in arms about doesn't really go very far.

One of my dear friends is currently in the ensemble of a Broadway show right now. Her contract is negotiated for a little over $1400 a week. After taxes, agent commission, and 2% Equity working dues are deducted from her paycheck she brings home a little over $700. Her rent which she splits with a roomate is about $1500, which means that one week of her take home pay is already gone. Factor in bills, groceries, voice lessons and dance classes and that's pretty much it for her.

I know another person who is also in the ensemble of a Broadway show who has a second job as a Realtor because he barely scraps by on his Production Contract salary."

In Broadway's golden age, those who we consider legends now shared apartments with each other, didn't live lavishly, and didn't feel the need to. They were so happy to be in the theater that they were willing to live that way and stayed within their means - to do what they loved. And, as theater tickets were about $5 then, they could afford to go see all the other shows as well.

I have three roommates - at my age, certainly not how I want to live, but because of it, I can afford discounted theater tickets and don't have to deprive myself of seeing shows. We all have to learn to live within our means - and for a lot of us, that is a lot less than $1381 a week. I can't even imagine how that realtor/ensemble member is living if he has to have a second job to supplement his production salary.

One of my closest friends is a Tony-winning Broadway actress who doesn't work regularly on Broadway and doesn't make those huge star salaries when she does - so she supplements her down times with voice-over and audiobook work. I have never heard her ONCE complain about money, or theater salaries. She works at other theaters for a lot less money from time to time, because she loves to perform. She's been around a long time. She does what she has to do to live the life she wants, but she does not live above her means. She's a responsible adult who does what it takes to pay the bills, and is thrilled that she's been able to make a life in the theater, even though she's not particularly famous and certainly not rich.

I'm all for actors making a decent salary and living well, and certainly health benefits and pensions. What I can't abide is being asked to feel sorry for those who need to complain about a Broadway production contract salary.

Updated On: 2/23/05 at 02:36 PM

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 2/23/05 at 2:45pm

Ok--fair enough. I take back my saying that no one challenged the minimum's being enough.

But I would like to say that the notion that actors should feel happy just to be working is rubbish. It isn't a gift bestowed upon us when we are cast--it's business. An actor has a commodity for a producer to rent. This isn't to take away from the art and the passion and love for the art.

And, an actor deserves to get as much money as they can whether it's an agreement between an agent and producer or a union and producer. An actor should be just as entitled to making good money as any other profession.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 2/23/05 at 2:54pm

jrb, you are trying to live in an ideal world. None of us live in one - ask the many assistants in theater offices, of which I was one for many years - without union protection, I had low salary, sometimes insurance, sometimes not, worked long hours, was treated like dirt for the most part, and I know that still goes on and why? Because a lot of producers, press agents, general managers, etc., feel that it is a privilege to work for them, whether you are an actor, an intern, or an assistant. And, a lot of us assistants felt/feel that it was worth the hassle in order to be associated with the theater. Because we knew that it is very competitive and many people who wanted our jobs would never have them. I did it for as long (perhaps a little longer) as I could take it. And I'm glad I did.

In an ideal world, theater actors would all be paid like movie stars and so would teachers. But this is not an ideal world. To be able to make a living doing what you love is a big step on the road to loving your life, and puts you ahead of the majority of the population.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 2/23/05 at 2:58pm

Rath--I don't live in any ideal world. I do believe in fighting for what you can and for having a sense of self worth for my talents. I choose that attitude.

[Feodor Sverdlov]

Posted: 2/23/05 at 3:20pm

I have found this thread interesting. I got my card very simply - I was cast in a show that was Equity and I needed to be a member of the union to be in the show. It was a no-brainer. It certainly wasn't a dream of mine or any kind of ambition in the least. It just was. I was a kid. I was lucky enough to work for the next 22 years. By then I was married with a couple of kids and decided to leave the show business (except for an occassional directing job) and pursue the "regular" world of business. That was over 22 years ago; but I've maintained my membership all these years. I don't know why. For quite a few years, it was a security blanket when I was first starting in corporate business; then, my wife was a member, so I stayed because she was in the union; then, I don't know why. After the first 22 years, it just became a habit!

[Switz78]

Posted: 2/23/05 at 3:26pm

can't we all just get along? and agree to disagree. this argument is like a Bush/ Kerry debate . Everyone is entitled to their opinions and has the freedoms to express them however they choose. There are always going to be people who don't agree with you, who cares. You live your life, they'll live theirs and you never have to cross paths. THE END.

Oh and here's an idea- just because you make a lot of money doesn't mean you're the best at what you do. (be it a movie star or a businessman or whatever) And the man running our country makes something like 50,000 a year. To run the DAMN country)

Also to the person who said one week of their production contract pay goes to rent, boo hoo. I have loans from school and bills and rent and I use up more than one weeks paycheck on rent. If you want more STUFF, move to Astoria or someplace cheaper or invest some and buy a place. It is more possible than people think.