As I mentioned in my last post, SAG and AFTRA are now focusing on getting independent producers to use union contracts on all projects. In fact since January 1st of this year, both unions are enforcing Global Rule One on all internet projects. Global Rule One states that any union performer can not enter in to a contract with “any producer who has not executed a basic minimum agreement.” Until now, unions have allowed internet projects to slip under the radar.

So for independent internet producers, there are three choices: 1) Work strictly with non-union actors, 2) Convince union talent to perform without a contract, effectively asking them to violate their union responsibilities or 3) Sign a union contract. Using non-union talent is an unsavory prospect. I’ve found some great non-union actors but it often takes too much time to find these diamonds in the rough. Convincing union talent to work without a union contract is shady and may hurt your reputation. While non-union producers are not obligated to ensure performers meet their union responsibilities, any successful producer will have to use union talent at some point and this could come back to haunt you.

Both AFTRA and SAG offer generous new media contracts. We chose to go with an AFTRA contract for a few reasons. 1) We think the terms are better. As long as the product is under $25,000 per minute, everything is negotiable between the actor and the producer on consumer pay products. 2) AFTRA has always been helpful with finding out information. Calling a SAG office is like getting frisked in order to pick up your dry cleaning. They make it impossible to get information in a timely fashion and you are constantly being yelled at for asking questions. 3) SAG may or may not go on strike and I can’t deal with a work stoppage.

Check below the fold for a side by side comparison. Any producer looking in to creating media on the internet should consider becoming a signatory of one of the two contracts.

Category                                         AFTRA                                                  SAG

Performance Fee               Completely Negotiable                  Completely negotiable
Pension Contribution       14.5%                                                14.8%
Residuals                            Completely Negotiable                  Pro rated 6% after 6 months
Turnaround                       12 Hours Rest                                  12 Hours Rest
Meal Period                       Meals every 6 hrs                           Meals every 6 hours

Tags: Actors, AFTRA, AMPTP, New Media, SAG, Sean Jaques

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 7th, 2009 at 1:28 pm and is filed under New Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.