Antic Disp. - Wilde Play @ Jermyn St.

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There was a 'job' ad placed on CCP today which caught my eye and then took my breath away. Great Play, very good Central London 'showcase' venue, good parts up for grabs. And then of course there's the "pay". It seems that with Antic Disposition whoever they are that gone are the days of "Profit Share". Yes "Profit Share" - that amorphous term that in many attempts over a a number of years at good venues and sometimes with good Plays, never once delivered a penny in "profit". However, Antic Disp are now not even offering the miniscule prospect of even that. £200 - flat fee for 4 weeks performing and what, at least 2-3, more like 3-4 weeks Rehearsals. £200 for up to 8 weeks work. That's £25 PER WEEK. That's little over £3 PER DAY. How much is Travel going to cost the Actor on this? Lost earnings from non-Acting work? How much will rent/mortgage/bills/life cost over this period when £3 a day will be earnt? I know the Jermyn St Theatre is crazily expensive to hire and that making a profit there is tough beyond belief, but really. Not even the chance to off-set huge lossed with the tiny possibility of Profit Share? And the worst thing is, there will be dozens if not hundreds of Actors who will bite their hands off for the chance. Guys, if things are EVER going to get better instead of worse when you thought they couldn't get any worse, then we really do have to look at how prostituting ourselves for so little/no money, whether it be £50 per day (or simialr sums) on a Corporate or Short Film or frankly whatever, how working for such morally terrible and fiscally unsustainable wages/pay can be of any benefit really to us and our careers and therefore the Industry in general. Equity are there to help if they can although they are a weaker Union now than they were, but really, we have to take responsibility for our careers now, even when we are so keen to "make it" as Actors, by not and never accepting work that will end up costing us so much money rather than paying us for our talents and services. I'd love to know how Antic Disp and anyone else can justuify such payment terms I really would. Me? If I couldn't afford to a lot more to my Actors, then the show wouldn't happen or I'd carry on looking for funding to make sure I could. When even the possibility of some sort of proper pay in the form of "profit share" goes out of the window then what levels are Actors now stooping to in order to further their careersis my question.

17 years ago
4,084
42

Antic Disposition

Employer

RESPONSE FROM ANTIC DISPOSITION

Hi all,

Sorry to have taken so long to join this conversation, but we have only just heard about it.

I think there are two issues being debated here, one of which is easy to settle, one of which is not.

First, as several of you have noted, there was a problem with how this casting was advertised. When we submitted the details of this casting to CCP, we never thought that it would be advertised as a fully paid job. We certainly didn't intend it to be. Our casting notice made this absolutely clear:

"Fee: A flat fee of £200 will be offered to cover expenses."

I don't think anyone reading this wording could suggest that we were anything other than frank about the payment on offer. Unfortunately, as Robbie the admin guy said near the top of this thread, CCP made an error and advertised this casting as 'paid'.

We can absolutely see why someone who was notified of this as being a paid job would naturally be disappointed when they discovered what the payment was. But the listing of this job as 'paid' was not a decision made by Antic Disposition. It was the result of a simple administrative error made when CCP posted the casting.

The second issue is the question of suitable payment for actors. This is the trickier one! The relative merits of fixed fee versus profit-share can be debated ad infinitum, and are all but impossible to pin down.

Most fringe companies like us can only afford to pay very modest sums as a fixed fee, especially for shows at expensive venues like Jermyn Street. However, even when it is small, a fixed fee does at least guarantee an actor *some* income in return for their time and talents. By contrast, as several of you have mentioned, although the potential reward may be greater, profit-share on the fringe all too often amounts to a share of nothing at all, since so few shows actually break even.

At Antic Disposition, we like to think that by offering a fixed fee, we are at least endeavouring to make sure that none of our actors will be out of pocket if they appear in one of our shows. Several actors we've worked with have been pleasantly surprised that we pay any money at all, as they have done so much profit-share fringe work that has ended up paying nothing.

Of course, we understand that not everyone is able (or willing) to work under this arrangement. But just because a producer isn't paying Equity rates doesn't automatically mean that they are out to exploit their actors. Antic Disposition, like many other companies, is offering the best deal we can currently give. Ultimately, only you, the actors, can decide whether it is good enough for you.

All the best,

Ben Horslen
Antic Disposition

17 years ago
41

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