Rocco Caruso was pleasantly surprised to learn that Christina Ricci was interested in acting in the short film he was producing. After all, there was no guarantee of pay, and it was being made by a crew of relative unknowns. However, the idea of retelling Little Red Riding Hood intrigued Ricci enough that she was willing to work on the low-budget project.
Because Caruso had signed an Experimental Film Agreement--one of six low-budget contracts offered to filmmakers by the Screen Actors Guild--Ricci, a Guild member, was permitted to work on the project, even though her pay would be deferred. Following the one-week shoot, the film was later picked up by a distributor and aired for television, bumping the film up to SAG's Modified Low Budget Film Agreement and requiring Caruso to pay Ricci the required rates under that contract. But as the producer reminded Back Stage West's readers, a year went by between the time he shot the film and the time Ricci saw any money, and had it not been for Ricci's involvement, the film would likely not have gone as far as it did.
"For filmmakers who are afraid that SAG actors are not going to want to get involved with their low-budget films, nothing could be further from the truth. If the script is good and the actors get a great part, they'll do your film," said Caruso, who, since making that short, produced two other films: the short Through an Open Window, starring Anne Meara and F. Murray Abraham, and the award-winning feature Judy Berlin, which boasts a cast that includes Meara, Madeline Kahn, Edie Falco, and Julie Kavner--both made with writer/director Eric Mendelsohn. As with Little Red Riding Hood, Caruso produced these films under low-budget agreements with SAG.
Having now worked on three projects, all with well-known actors, Caruso could not imagine making a film without the affiliation of the Guild. "It just would never cross my mind to do something without using SAG. There's no reason not to, with all the different contracts they have now, and there are so many options that you have as far as your budget goes."
Paper Chase
Of course, there are still producers who make movies outside of SAG's jurisdiction and hire non-union talent to do the job. Various excuses are commonly heard from non-union filmmakers: "There's way too much paperwork." "SAG is just too big a bureaucracy to hassle with." "It would be such a pain to get insurance." "Why should I have to give a deposit to SAG?" "The thought of mortgaging my film to SAG is terrifying." "I don't have any money to pay actors."
The bottom line, however, is that if you are a producer and you want to hire a card-carrying member of the Guild, there's no way around working with SAG. Yes, there is quite a bit of paperwork involved. Yes, you are required to get workers' compensation insurance. Yes, you do need to post a bond with SAG, which is interest-earning and refundable after the project's completion and the fulfillment of your contractual obligations to SAG. Yes, you do have to follow the rules that apply to your contract, and should you break those rules and not mend the situation you could potentially have to hand the rights of your film over to SAG.
But in response to the hesitations associated with signing one of SAG's low-budget film contracts, the Guild is currently making a strong effort to reach out to low-budget filmmakers who, in many cases, would otherwise be unable to afford to hire union actors.
Said Shawna Brakefield, who heads SAG's Indie Outreach Program, which promotes and encourages independent filmmakers to work with the union, "The feedback we get from the ultra-low-budget filmmakers is that they think it's too expensive to work with SAG. They have misconceptions about working with the union. It's not that they don't want to work with the members; it's just that they're afraid of the union bureaucracy. Some back off on even approaching SAG, because they don't want to be 'found out.' I've had people calling me from pay phones because they think we're tapping their phones!
"Or maybe they think that it's too constricting, as far as the amount of hours you can work the actors, but the truth is that it's actually more liberating. I have worked with filmmakers who were completely antagonistic toward the Screen Actors Guild--who once they went through the process of working with SAG said, 'Wow. My crew stayed fresh. The SAG actors delivered their lines the same way every time. They could pull up that emotion consistently. They actually saved me time during my shoot.' It saves them money, in the end. So while it can seem fearful in the beginning, in actual fact it doesn't have to be that hard."
Greater Flexibility
Beginning in 1969, SAG offered a low-budget film contract to producers wanting to work with the Guild's members. In recent years, SAG has become much more flexible with independent filmmakers who are working under a wide variety of budgets--from a few thousand to up to $2 million. As the late 1980s and early 1990s saw an explosion in the number of independent films being made, SAG's members wanted to offer more flexible agreements for this new batch of independent filmmakers. SAG actors were willing to lower their rates or defer their pay if necessary in order to gain this much-sought-after experience.
Since 1996, SAG has offered six low-budget film agreements, as we now know them. All of these contracts allow filmmakers the opportunity to work with SAG's talent pool, at a significantly reduced rate compared to SAG's Basic Codified Agreement, which requires that its members be paid the minimum daily film scale rate of $636 or the weekly film rate of $2,206. All films produced under one of these six low-budget contracts must be shot entirely in the United States. It is mandatory that producers get workers' compensation insurance, as well as pay a bond to SAG. The deposit is refundable (with accrued interest) once the film is completed, as long as the producer follows the applicable guidelines stated in the contract he or she has signed with the union. Should the producer refuse to follow the rules of the agreement, the film's negative would become the property of the Guild.
The low-budget contracts are divided into six categories: The Student Film Agreement (for student projects costing no more than $35,000 and having a length of no more than 35 minutes); the Experimental Film Agreement (for films with a budget of less than $75,000); the Limited Exhibition Agreement (for films costing no more than $200,000 and intended for screening in film festivals, limited run art houses, or on basic cable/public television that allow for an "experimental/independent producer" type of format); the Modified Low Budget Agreement (for projects made for less than $500,000); the Affirmative Action Low Budget Agreement (for films costing less than $2,750,000 and which cast 50 percent of the roles with performers of color, women, seniors, and/or performers with disabilities), and the Low Budget Agreement (for films with a total budget of less than $2 million).
The Guild's headquarters in Los Angeles offers a free workshop the second Wednesday of every month for filmmakers seeking information about the low-budget film agreements. Interested filmmakers may also call SAG's theatrical contracts department, at (323) 549-6828, and speak with a representative. The Guild also has an informative website devoted to explaining its low-budget film agreements, at www.sagindi.org.
Other worthwhile resources include Independent Feature Project (IFP)/West, which is a member-based organization for independent filmmakers and the publisher of the quarterly Filmmaker Magazine. In addition, Myrl A. Schreibman's new book The Indie Producer's Handbook: Creative Producing From A to Z (ifilm Publishing) has an informative chapter that explains each of the SAG film contracts.
The most flexible contracts are the Student Film Agreement and the Experiment Film Agreement. Under both agreements, SAG actors' pay is deferred, meaning that the producers are not required to pay their SAG actors upfront for their work. You may also hire non-union actors to work on the film. Filmmakers using these two contracts are allowed to screen their works in film festivals, but should their films be purchased for theatrical or televised distribution, the project would then fall into one of the higher-level agreements, requiring that SAG actors on your film be paid the allotted rate. It is recommended that you discuss this possibility with your SAG rep should you be planning to try to sell your film. That way there are no surprises.
When a filmmaker is ready to inquire about working under one of these SAG contracts, she should call the Guild's theatrical contracts department and request that a SAG representative call her back. It is recommended that she contact the theatrical contracts department no later than four weeks prior to the production's start date. SAG's Shawna Brakefield added that the earlier you get started, the better, as there are a number of steps that need to be completed before a production can qualify for one of the SAG agreements.
Initially, a business rep will interview the filmmaker briefly over the phone to get a sense of what the script is like, what the film's budget range is, and how many performers will be involved. The rep will then estimate which contract would be right for the filmmaker, send the producer customized paperwork, and request a certain number of forms be filled out and sent back. The Guild will require a number of things before a filmmaker can qualify to work under one of SAG's film agreements, such as copyrighting your script and getting insurance policies in place. "Until all of those things are in place, you won't be able to officially use SAG members," said Brakefield.
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