No More Mr Nice Guy

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Nice guys finish last. Isn't that what they all say? Well, I'm beginning to think that is true. I have spent the last few years going from a background actor to a featured actor or even principle actor. It's not easy. There are headshots to be taken, registrations at various casting companies, acting classes, getting an agent, publicity, etc. And of course, all of this is not free.

Background actors are actors who are called by a casting company to be in the background. The pay is not much. If it is a non-union project, you get $64 for 8 hours of work. You do get overtime if the project runs over 8 hours. But if you work 8 hours or less you get a check for $64. Now after taxes, you are lucky if you get $50. You get no lines to say and are usually treated like cattle. However, if you pay attention it is a good way to see what the movie industry is about and see how the principle actors (those who have main parts and have lines) are. You should not put this background experience on your acting resume.

Stage actors or theatrical actors work in the theatre. If you are working on a non-union production you will get paid $0 or next to nothing for each performance. The upside is you have to audition to prove you can do the role. And it really teaches you your craft of acting. You have to take direction, you learn from other actors and it is great to put on a resume.

Student films: are films to help you get experience working in front of the camera. Pay = $0 and you most likely will get lunch, but not breakfast or dinner. They always promise to give you a copy of film but most likely you will have to beg, beg, beg to get this. They always promise copy, credit and a meal. You can put this on your acting resume if you have speaking lines. Some of the best places to get these are USC film school, AFI film school and University of Chapman film school.

After awhile of doing background work, theatre and student films you are ready to move up to professional actor. Professional actors get paid to act. You continue to audition for roles that have speaking parts and they pay you money. You can make anywhere from $109 for 8 hours to $324 for 8 hours. Not bad money depending on if this is an AFTRA job or a SAG job. Now the difference is AFTRA is on videotape stuff on TV. And SAG is a SAG project on TV or a feature film which can be low-budget film or high budget. And if you go over 8 hours, you will get overtime.

I started acting in grade school, acted in high school. I joined my local comunity theatre groups and did theatre for years. I went to college, enrolled in some theatre classes and still continued to act for free. I then moved to California and became interested in acting in feature films. I started doing background extra work. I worked on commercials, television and feature films. I loved learning how different theater was from film work.

After all this experience, I enrolled in some acting classes and learned commercials, improvisation, cold reading techniques, voice, screenwriting and scene study. I auditioned for an agent and now have representation.

All of this did not happen overnight. It took years of studying, learning and working on my craft. Now I know acting looks easy but it really is not. Unless of course you look great and get on a crappy show, which there are a lot of on TV these days. These are what I call the dumbing down of America TV shows.

Now I have my share of working for free. I have paid my dues people. No more free student films, no more PSA's (public service announcements). No more free print ads. I am a professional actor & writer and I deserve to be paid a decent wage for my efforts.

This country was made strong by Unions. The corporations would love it if everyone worked for free or slave labor because they get richer on the working man's back. People fought hard to be represented by Unions because Unions get people a fair amount of pay for doing a good job. They make sure that you have safe working conditions.

As an actor with a disability, this means a lot of support. If I work on a SAG job, the Union makes sure that there is a medical personnel person on hand at the set. They make sure that I get a chair to sit on so I am not standing in the hot sun forever. We get a shady area to be seated. We get meals. We get a restroom facility. You would think that these items would not be a luxury but a necessity. And yet, non-union projects don't care about these items.

If we work over 8 hours, there is a guarantee that we will receive overtime. If the film or production runs over 12 hours, more money. And they have to pay you within a certain time frame like within 2 weeks. On non-union projects, you can wait 1 month or 2 months to get paid. This happened to me recently.

And so, no more Mr. Nice Guy. I refuse to work on non-union projects. If you want a professional actor like me, pay me accordingly. I've paid my dues and I have earned the right to join a professional union like SAG.

And for those people who want to bust up unions, do your homework on the industrial revolution. Unions help people. Corporations are greedy like Wall Street.