Full Version: Any News On The Actors' Pay Deal?
Someone posted on here that a strike was planned for w/c 22/9. Is it still likely to be going ahead, anyone know?
Can anyone explain to me who is supposed to benefit from the proposed deal? If the minimum wage is raised as per the proposal understudies/covers will lose responsibility pay - where is their incentive to learn three parts when the ensemble member next to them is on the same money and does not have the worry. Companies will be able to call cast in for rehearsals, followed by performances for no extra pay - illness and exhaustion is an issue now without producers having carte blanche to work their cast into the ground. Oh, silly me, the producers are the ones who stand to benefit!
SOLT have come back with a revised offer.. Equity are currently discussing this with all the current WE casts and I believe are advising them to accept it.
QUOTE(Haz @ Oct 3 2008, 05:24 PM) 
SOLT have come back with a revised offer.. Equity are currently discussing this with all the current WE casts and I believe are advising them to accept it.
This article in today's Times pretty much claims a deal. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol...icle4870915.ece
Sunday perfs: Yay!!
I've posed this question to a dozen people, and no one has given me a satisfactory reply.
Where does all the money go?
Ticket prices increase year on year. Actors' pay is embarrassing. Most writers make a pittance. Theatre owners keep complaining about not having enough money for basic repairs. The majority of shows don't break even, much less turn a profit, so the producers aren't raking it in.
So where does the money go?
It seems to be an even bigger problem on Broadway, where plays rarely recoup.
The best I can come up with is advertising. I imagine that's quite expensive. But if that's the case, then it's even more depressing than I thought. I'd much rather that the artists involved with the projects (writers, actors, directors, etc) profited. Or even the producers/investors, because without them, there would be no West End/Broadway theatre.
I studied economics at uni, and I still can't figure out how this business works.
Where does all the money go?
Ticket prices increase year on year. Actors' pay is embarrassing. Most writers make a pittance. Theatre owners keep complaining about not having enough money for basic repairs. The majority of shows don't break even, much less turn a profit, so the producers aren't raking it in.
So where does the money go?
It seems to be an even bigger problem on Broadway, where plays rarely recoup.
The best I can come up with is advertising. I imagine that's quite expensive. But if that's the case, then it's even more depressing than I thought. I'd much rather that the artists involved with the projects (writers, actors, directors, etc) profited. Or even the producers/investors, because without them, there would be no West End/Broadway theatre.
I studied economics at uni, and I still can't figure out how this business works.
QUOTE(rainbow_carnage @ Oct 3 2008, 08:07 PM)
Where does all the money go?
Ticket prices increase year on year. Actors' pay is embarrassing. Most writers make a pittance. Theatre owners keep complaining about not having enough money for basic repairs. The majority of shows don't break even, much less turn a profit, so the producers aren't raking it in.
[...]
The best I can come up with is advertising. I imagine that's quite expensive.
Ticket prices increase year on year. Actors' pay is embarrassing. Most writers make a pittance. Theatre owners keep complaining about not having enough money for basic repairs. The majority of shows don't break even, much less turn a profit, so the producers aren't raking it in.
[...]
The best I can come up with is advertising. I imagine that's quite expensive.
Advertising is only a small part of it. By far the largest expense is salaries. Theatre is a very labour-intensive business: it's not unusual for there to be over a hundred people directly working on a musical or in the building where it's playing. That lifts the salary bill to the region of two to three million pounds a year.
QUOTE(rainbow_carnage @ Oct 3 2008, 08:07 PM)
I've posed this question to a dozen people, and no one has given me a satisfactory reply.
Where does all the money go?
Ticket prices increase year on year. Actors' pay is embarrassing. Most writers make a pittance. Theatre owners keep complaining about not having enough money for basic repairs. The majority of shows don't break even, much less turn a profit, so the producers aren't raking it in.
So where does the money go?
It seems to be an even bigger problem on Broadway, where plays rarely recoup.
The best I can come up with is advertising. I imagine that's quite expensive. But if that's the case, then it's even more depressing than I thought. I'd much rather that the artists involved with the projects (writers, actors, directors, etc) profited. Or even the producers/investors, because without them, there would be no West End/Broadway theatre.
I studied economics at uni, and I still can't figure out how this business works.
Where does all the money go?
Ticket prices increase year on year. Actors' pay is embarrassing. Most writers make a pittance. Theatre owners keep complaining about not having enough money for basic repairs. The majority of shows don't break even, much less turn a profit, so the producers aren't raking it in.
So where does the money go?
It seems to be an even bigger problem on Broadway, where plays rarely recoup.
The best I can come up with is advertising. I imagine that's quite expensive. But if that's the case, then it's even more depressing than I thought. I'd much rather that the artists involved with the projects (writers, actors, directors, etc) profited. Or even the producers/investors, because without them, there would be no West End/Broadway theatre.
I studied economics at uni, and I still can't figure out how this business works.
See my new topic on West End budgets.
I read somewhere that the new deal on offer to Equity members would cost Phantom an extra £150000 per year. My immediate response is to ask how the proportion of Phantom's income spent on actors now compares to the proportion spent when the show opened 20 years ago. I'm sure £150000 is less than Michael Crawford was earning a year back then, for example.
QUOTE(Haz @ Oct 3 2008, 05:24 PM)
SOLT have come back with a revised offer.. Equity are currently discussing this with all the current WE casts and I believe are advising them to accept it.
It's touch and go.
Depends on the cast you talk to.
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