How much should I pay this actor?
- Thread starter sasha1984
- Start date
I think you should spend a little of that money on an experienced producer who knows how to cast name talent. Oh, and also a lawyer. 
A couple of things to consider: His "name" isn't good enough to
make a difference in distribution. I'm not saying anything about
his experience - just his "name". A minor name like his can help
a little on a low budget project but you should speak to distributors.
I suspect you will find that no distributer will express much interest.
But don't take my word for it - ask. You should be exploring distribution
before you spend five figures on a minor actor.
In order to justify spending 22% of your budget on a "name" that
name should be one that will make a difference. He was a minor character
for one season on "Walking Dead". He is, however, third billed on a very
low rated series "Unforgettable" that was canceled and then saved recently
by CBS. So you need to know if his name and face on your advertising
will draw people to pay to see your movie.
That's how you know if spending 22% to 25% of your total budget on
an actor is worth it.
Is $45,000 the actors quote? Where did you come up with that number?
make a difference in distribution. I'm not saying anything about
his experience - just his "name". A minor name like his can help
a little on a low budget project but you should speak to distributors.
I suspect you will find that no distributer will express much interest.
But don't take my word for it - ask. You should be exploring distribution
before you spend five figures on a minor actor.
In order to justify spending 22% of your budget on a "name" that
name should be one that will make a difference. He was a minor character
for one season on "Walking Dead". He is, however, third billed on a very
low rated series "Unforgettable" that was canceled and then saved recently
by CBS. So you need to know if his name and face on your advertising
will draw people to pay to see your movie.
That's how you know if spending 22% to 25% of your total budget on
an actor is worth it.
Is $45,000 the actors quote? Where did you come up with that number?
I guess my definition of 'really experienced' differs from yours, but just because someone may have name recognition with a specitic television audience doesn't mean he carries any weight in a feature (i.e. David Caruso, Roseanne Barr/Arnold/Barr, ALL the guys from 'Friends', Bill Cosby). But if I had $199,000 to spend, I'd buy a box of 'periods' and put some of those 'comma's' away for a rainy day.
Just a thought.
Just a thought.
Wow.
You have come quite a long way from:
04-09-2013 http://www.indietalk.com/showthread.php?t=47446
04-11-2013 http://www.indietalk.com/showthread.php?p=317608
04-18-2013 http://www.indietalk.com/showthread.php?t=47596
04-27-2013 http://www.indietalk.com/showthread.php?t=47765
05-20-2013 http://www.indietalk.com/showthread.php?t=48248
07-12-2013 http://www.indietalk.com/showthread.php?t=49202
You might wanna engage in a sober review of this germane thread currently running: http://www.indietalk.com/showthread.php?t=49804
And I'll pose the same question to you:
I've seen a lotta really cheap films.
And by this industry's standards anything less than $4mil is a cheap, no-budget film.
And the overwhelming majority of them have almost zero public documentation of profitably recouping their expenses through revenues.
[$XXX] THOU$AND! DOLLAR$! is a lotta money to be "redistributing" into the economy.
Maybe you're just a sh!tload more generous than I am, but I'd rather have a nice car for each of my family members or a house for that kind of money.
You don't expect the short to make money.
Great.
How are you going to make back that [production budget]?
Presales?
Magnet/Magnolia, Anchor Bay, or IFC going to pick it up for distro?
Please don't tell me you're going to try to make a buck offa Netflix and Apple with it.
Where did this $45k figure come from? Is that what his agent stated, re http://www.indietalk.com/showthread.php?t=49030?
And if so (or not), why would you offer $5k more than the stated amount without telling us what "extra" you'd be expecting for that additional amount?
(Please don't reference this thread!: http://www.indietalk.com/showthread.php?t=49403&highlight=nudity)
For how many days or weeks would you need him to shoot?
Is the $45,000 based on his day rate, double scale?
I agree with Directorik, you need to ask the distributors and buyers directly if this name means anything, if not, than offer scale plus ten and nothing more.
How much of the $200,000 will go to name talent?
On this budget level your best bet would be to hire several names, like 3-4, since chances are you won't be able to get just one major name that buyers will go crazy over.
Also you wouldn't want to hire the expensive talent for roles that would require them to stay for the whole shoot. You hire one name for two days, another for three, one for a week etc.
If you have a good project, you can even hire semi-names and recognizable faces for bit parts for scale. You would be surprised who you can get.
Is the $45,000 based on his day rate, double scale?
I agree with Directorik, you need to ask the distributors and buyers directly if this name means anything, if not, than offer scale plus ten and nothing more.
How much of the $200,000 will go to name talent?
On this budget level your best bet would be to hire several names, like 3-4, since chances are you won't be able to get just one major name that buyers will go crazy over.
Also you wouldn't want to hire the expensive talent for roles that would require them to stay for the whole shoot. You hire one name for two days, another for three, one for a week etc.
If you have a good project, you can even hire semi-names and recognizable faces for bit parts for scale. You would be surprised who you can get.
For a relatively brief but pivotal role?
Typically, the sage: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SitcomCharacterArchetypes
Maybe uncle bill left him the money in his will.
/american movie reference.. apparently i cannot upload images on this forum
Hi Sasha, congratulations on getting your funding for a feature. I'm in a similar boat with you right now, so I've thought a lot about this and other producer issues too lately.
Unfortunately at $199k, you're in no mans land. Not enough money to do what you need, too much money to be able to ask people to work for you for free. While it's a decent chunk of change, it doesn't make the whole process any easier.
As for your actor, the biggest piece of advice I can give you is to talk to distributors. Tell them that you have "X genre" film. We're looking at attaching "Y Actor" and see if that gets a positive response from them. If it gets your feature to the point where they're now interesting in picking up your film then the figure may be in the right ball park. If they show no interest, or ask who he is, you may be flushing your money down the drain for little or no reason.
Now don't get me wrong, there may be other reasons you'd consider bringing him on for that price tag.
The next group of people you can ask is investors. Are they now interested in putting in more money with this person attached?
Alternatively, you may be able to parlay his participation into a decent crowd funding.
It may also help you attach other talent that may put you in a more favorable position for distribution or further financing. It can even put you in a situation where more people are willing to donate their time and resources just to work with that actor.
I've only seen him on the Walking Dead. I have no idea how popular he really is. You'd have to do your research.
One further piece of advice, be careful with your budget. Just seeing this one item, it looks like you're dangerously close to being top heavy with your above the line costs.
You can. Go to the original image, copy the link, and paste it. Do you know how to post youtube video? Instead of writing YT in brackets, write IMG.
Click QUOTE if you don't know what I mean.
ah but then i would have to upload the image somewhere else first before I could hotlink it ..
or i guess hotlink to the other site directly with the image, but some forums look down on that sort of thing. i didn't want to break any rules
Go to google images. Find the image you like. Click on the image, and right beside it you will see three options:
Visit Page
View Original Image
Search by Image
Click on View Original Image. Once you get to a white page with only the image, copy the image, then paste on your post. Put
I don't care what anyone tells you, Dallas Roberts can make a difference in distribution deals.
If you have a weak story and no Dallas Roberts, your film may barely make it anywhere.
If you have a weak story and Dallas Roberts, your film may be on shelves at Wal Mart.
If you have a solid story and Dallas Roberts, you're really in luck.
If you have a weak story and no Dallas Roberts, your film may barely make it anywhere.
If you have a weak story and Dallas Roberts, your film may be on shelves at Wal Mart.
If you have a solid story and Dallas Roberts, you're really in luck.
I frequently upload my own images to my account photobucket.com then (basically) hotlink to there.
Otherwise, I hot link to a bunch of other site images and rarely do they get policed by that site's IT managers then cut off.
Kinduva non-issue issue.
That's pretty lame, deleting the OP and rendering the entire input/opinion/advice from everyone who contributed to be a complete waste of their time.
Agreed. That's the last time I answer any question from her. This
is a public forum. The questions and answers help everyone. I'm
wondering if I should delete my answer...