How do actors get paid on commercials?
Usually a non-union actor works on a buy-out deal, and does not get residuals if the commercial is a non-union shoot. (You should contact the union to confirm whether your shoot is union or not; if it is, even if the actor is non-union they need to be paid union scale.) Even without a full buy-out, the usual contract allows for a certain number of showings within a certain time period before the residual payments are made. And residual payments step down each time they’re shown in each market–i.e. if it’s a national spot, each time it’s show in a certain market (like the northwest, east, etc.) the actor gets the full payment, then the second time less, etc. Again, this usually only applies to union actors. As far as agent pay, usually a non-union actor pays the agent themselves. You would send the payment to the agent, and they deduct their 10% before they send the pay to the actor. (Some agents negotiate scale plus 10% for pay.) Recurring actors for future ads? The only problem in th
