What would be reasonable per-diem pay?

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zouppaproductions

For actors. I'm just wondering a ballpark figure here because I know the going rate for an actual hollywood film, but what does an indie film budget allow for? And I'm sorry if this has been posted before, but I'm really curious. And for the sake of this question, let's pretend that I have all technical people and crew hired already.

Thanks, I appreciate any advice I could get here. :)
 
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Well... are they going home each night or are you on location away from their home?
Going home each night I give them $20 for gas and feed them while on set (in addition to whatever pay rate they are getting).
 
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Right now this is a largely hypothetical question. I just thought I would ask around because you guys are more experienced in hiring people than I am. I just wanted a ballpark figure so I would know what kind of percentage to set aside when or if I did crowdfunding.

Thanks, though. :)
 
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Well I looked up the per-diem rates in hollywood last night on the SAG site. Previously I had been quoted something like $250 but I think that's just for student film makers (in fact I am pretty freakin' positive that it is only for student film makers covered by an actual film school.), because the rate I saw yesterday was $900 which is reasonable but at the same time made me go :eek: because there is just no way in hell I can get that kind of money. D:

So go ahead, quote numbers at me.
 
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Are your actors in SAG? That's the first question....

If they are, the minimum under the SAG ultra-low budget contract (which I used) is $100/day. You can certainly pay non-union actors less than that, and many are paid nothing.

Of course, it's also going to depend on their credits/level of experience, how good they are, whether they will add something to the sale-ability (sp?) of the movie, and what you CAN pay.
 
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directorik said:
I think you are talking about day rates and not per-diem’s - at
least mlesemann is and you might be also. No way is a per-diem
$900. Both SAG and IATSE have set per-diem rates for location
shoots and none of them are in the $250 or $900 range - not
even close. And no way is a student film per-diem $250.
Per-diem’s are more like $25/$35.

Before I quote some numbers let’s be clear. Are you asking about
non union day rates for actors and crew? Or are you asking about
per-diem rates?
Click to expand...

Oh my God you're totally right! I mixed those two terms up! Wow... that was.. unbelievably stupid on my part.

I am asking about per diem, because at this point I feel like that is what I can afford. And to answer an earlier question, no, my actors probably wouldn't be SAG unless I can pull off a miracle. :lol:

And some numbers for non-union actors would help immensely too. I want to pay these guys, but I need a number no one will be insulted at. You know?
 
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directorik said:
I know you think I'm just avoiding answering, but I'm really confused.

The per-diem is a daily allowance for expenses paid to cast and crew
in addition to their regular day or hourly rate.

I'll stab at it and hope I get it right.

You cannot pay your cast and crew any day rate at all - you will be
asking them to donate their time to your project. But you want to
pay them a little something and you want to know how much you
can get away with so they do not feel insutled. Is that what you're
asking?
Click to expand...

Yes basically.

Sorry for not being clear, I've had a family emergency in the last few days and my head wasn't entirely on my shoulders.
 
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Thanks. The wage question was really all I needed to know, as I said before, the hypothetical here was that I'd already had all behind-the-scenes cast and crew hired I just needed to know the rate to pay the actors, I really don't know how much more clear I needed to be other than that, but it's okay. You answered my initial question and I thank you.

And I would rather not ask people to work for free, resume builder or not, I would just rather start off with paying everyone fairly, maybe not extravagantly, but fairly.

Again, I appreciate it. Thank you.
 
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