Acting : Should Actors Pursue Audition Pay? A Former Casting Director Worries It Would Lead To “Death Of Developmental Actors” by Richard "RB" Botto

I think this is the first time I've heard about audition pay, Richard "RB" Botto. It sounds like a tough situation. I'm interested in seeing how this is addressed in the SAG-AFTRA and AMPTP meeting.

I say no - chalk it up to part of the job and a chance to network for free.

A hard "no" on this one. Not only is it a job interview but it would lead to less actors being afforded the opportunity to audition due to the cost that producers won't want to pay. And would more experienced actors get paid more than up and coming? That alone could get messy. When you go into acting, you're going into business for yourself. No one else gets paid for starting a business.

As a producer-director and former casting director, I say yes. Each audition takes the actor probably half a day, given prep time, travel, and the actual audition. Even if they have other auditions that day, typically they can not be doing paid acting that day. // When free-lancing for a major aerospace company their Director of Visual Communications was a great guy and really respected talent, both in front of and behind the camera. Though the company was not SAG-AFTRA signatory, we always paid actors the SAG rates. He probably would have been just fine also paying them for auditions.

Loving the different viewpoints and the healthy debate. Let's keep it coming.

I have heard of rehearsal pay, never heard of audition pay.

I have also never heard of audition pay. On the one hand, I get it. An audition does take prep time and you may have to turn down paid work that day to audition. How fortunate you are to be in that position. However, most actors aren't. I don't see an audition as any different than a job interview.

What would be the pay structure? Flat rate for all auditioning or based on experience?

I agree with Stiglitz this is probably not the best hill to die on. It will no doubt mean less actors will be called to audition. There is another post in this lounge about actors fighting to get paid what they are worth and how sometimes a more experienced actor has to accept SCALE because it may lead to no work. The argument always by production "is not in the budget." While it may be in the contract for audition pay, I agree enforcing it would be a mistake. It will lead to less actors auditioning, and newer actors most likely won't get a chance. The industry will become even more competitive than it is now. Think about it, if we already have to struggle to get paid what we are worth, do you think the studios are really going to work audition pay into their budget? I can see this leading to studios including it in the talent budget as a reason to not pay more for your work when you are cast; and if you think trying to get paid above scale is hard now, this will only make it harder to fight for your worth.

Instead of SAGAFTRA insisting on audition pay, I would like them to raise scale and add that if an actor is being asked to do things besides act, (i.e learn a new skill or fight instead of a stuntperson) those are bumps. I get a bump if I get wet, so I should get a bump if I have to fall down.

Should we get paid for job interviews?

Depends on the circumstances

Example

The dean of my business school requested that I be one of the candidates to be interviewed by an oil company. The organization prepaid all our expenses to and from the interview. (I forgot dinner the night before at Houston with the executives and other candidates. Two other of the 7 were from my college.)

End result

The company normally offers the candidate the job by a letter in the mail. In my case, I was planning my first trip to Europe. The interviewer called me and offered the position because she thought I might change my mind since they knew I wanted to work in their international division. The first time the company called the candidate.

https://www.bing.com/search?q=grants+that+pay+for+interviewing&qs=n&form...

That's not the same @Tasha Lewis. Expenses were covered but you weren't actually paid for your time. Some studios may fly someone into read/do a screentest, but that person is not compensated for their actual time.

If I got paid for every job submission and interview, I wouldn't have to work again.

The "death of development actors" SHOULD be a thing. Having been in the space for three decades, as a producer and as a manager of significant talent, the practice of using actors in auditions to work out a scene - almost always actors who the producer and director HAVE NO INTENTION OF HIRING - is unethical and abusive. DEVELOPMENT actors should be paid. This is a business, not a hobby, and costs in development are a necessary business expense. Abusing actors like that is simply thieving their labor, plain and simple.