I am a SAG background actor. I work an average of four days per week on TV, film, and commercial union productions. Because I do this full-time, I qualify for medical benefits and pension credits, and I probably pay more dues each year to SAG than many members do who classify themselves exclusively as actors.
I have one issue that I feel very strongly about. It is about being "featured." When I first started in this business I joined SEG (Screen Extras Guild). Whenever I was featured I received a special "bump" for doing a "silent bit"—an action performed by a background performer that advances the story, such as a waiter serving something to a character. When SAG absorbed SEG and took over the background actors, the silent bit bump was taken away.
Several times per month I am featured on various TV shows—so much so that people who know me (and sometimes people who barely know me) come up to me and say, "Hey, I saw you on so-and-so show last night." They do not mean that they saw me walking or sitting at a desk in the background; they mean that they saw me up close, interacting with the principals. I'm highly recognizable on several aired projects per month, and I do not receive one penny more than a background actor crossing 20 feet in the distance.
I have close-ups on camera. I interact with principals—where you see someone reacting, but wonder why he or she is not talking. I have my hair and make-up done in the trailer sitting right next to the stars. I have had a full character name in the script at times, and once I even had a stand-in. The stand-in was getting paid more than I was.
I am asking SAG President Alan Rosenberg to support the reinstatement of a silent bit bump for union background actors. To avoid frivolous claims, it would have to be very specific. For example, to qualify, a background actor would have to interact with the principals in a specific way that moves the story along, or he or she would have to have a close-up on camera or be referred to by the principals and then shown on camera. Even if the bump were a mere $50, it would make a lot of people very happy who do this work every day and walk away from the set feeling used by production.
—A SAG Member