<\/p>\n<\/figure><\/div>\nThey need to arrange good lighting and a clean backdrop \u2014 the TV set became a distraction for Gage\u2019s producer during his viral video audition \u2014 set up the camera, and scramble for a \u201creader\u201d \u2014 someone to read the other roles in the scene, preferably another actor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then the actor has to edit the audition to highlight their strongest take and upload it. There are currently no regulations on the amount of pages a casting director can send to a candidate, and actors say there\u2019s often not enough time to properly prepare.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, it\u2019s been going in this direction for some time now,\u201d said Cadden Jones, 41, an actor based in New York who has credits on shows including Showtime\u2019s-1.90%<\/bg-quote>-0.15%<\/bg-quote>\u201cThis was the first year I did not qualify for health insurance in decades,\u201d she told MarketWatch. \u201cI just started teaching.\u00a0<\/p>\n
To put that in perspective: members of SAG-AFTRA must earn $26,470 in a 12-month base period to qualify for health insurance. The median annual wage in the U.S. hovers at around $57,000, based on the weekly median as calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.<\/p>\n
She and her partner, Michael Schantz, 41, an actor who works mostly in theater, are starting a communications consulting company to increase their income.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost if not all of my actor friends have had to supplement their income since the pandemic,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re in trouble as a community of actors who used to make a good living doing what we do. It\u2019s not like any of us lost our talent overnight. I, for one, am very glad that we\u2019re striking.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Jones says that, as the auditioning process moved mostly online after the onset of the pandemic, casting agents \u2014 who work for producers \u2014 are able to see more people for a given role, making the competition for roles even more intense.<\/p>\n
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\n \u201c<\/span>\u2018This was the first year I did not qualify for health insurance in decades.\u2019\u201d<\/span>\n <\/p>\n \u2014 Cadden Jones, 41, an actor based in New York<\/span>\u201cWe don\u2019t go into casting offices anymore,\u201d Jones said. \u201cAll the financial responsibilities have fallen on us. The onus is on us to create our auditions.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s harder to know what they want and you don\u2019t have the luxury to work with a casting director in a physical space to get adjustments, which was personally my favorite part of the process \u2014 that collaboration,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause the audition rate accelerated, the booking rate went down dramatically for everybody,\u201d Jones added. \u201cBut don\u2019t get me wrong. Once the strike is officially over, I want all the auditions I can get.\u201d<\/p>\n
SAG-AFTRA has proposed rules and expectations to address some of the burden and costs actors bear when it comes to casting, including providing a minimum amount of time for actors to send in self-taped auditions; disclosing whether an offer has been made for the role or it has already been cast; and limiting the number of pages for a \u201cfirst call\u201d or first round of auditions.<\/p>\n
Before the negotiations broke down with the actors\u2019 union, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents over 350 television and production companies, said it offered SAG-AFTRA $1 billion in wage increases, pension and health contributions and residual increases as part of a range of proposals related to pay and working conditions. <\/p>\n
Those proposals included limitations on requests for audition tapes, including page, time and technology\u00a0 requirements, as well as options for virtual or in-person auditions, AMPTP said. The producers\u2019 group characterizes their offer as \u201cthe most lucrative deal we have ever negotiated.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n<\/figure><\/div>\nJones said she doesn\u2019t blame the casting directors. It\u2019s up to the producers, she said, to be more mindful of how the changes in the industry since the advent of streaming, the decline in wages adjusted for inflation, and poor residuals from streaming services have taken a toll on working actors.<\/p>\n
Bruce Faulk, 57, who has been a member of SAG-AFTRA since 1992, said that for work on a one-off character part or a recurring role on a network show, he might receive a check for hundreds or even thousands of dollars in residuals. And \u2014 crucially \u2014 he knows how many times a particular show has aired.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Residuals are paid to actors each time a TV show or film is broadcast on cable and network television. They are based on the size of the role, and budget of the production, among other things. Residuals as they are related to streaming services, however, are far harder to track.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What\u2019s more, residuals decline over time, and can often amount to just a few cents per broadcast.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Actor Kimiko Glenn, who appeared on episodes of Netflix\u2019s-2.58%<\/bg-quote>Faulk sympathizes. \u201cA lot of checks from HBO-1.03%<\/bg-quote>Like Jones, Faulk said this will be the first year he won\u2019t qualify for SAG-AFTRA health insurance, which covers him, his wife and his son. This despite him having worked enough over the past 10 years to qualify for a pension when he turns 67. \u201cMine is up to $1,000 a month now,\u201d he said, noting that it will keep increasing if he keeps getting acting work..<\/p>\n
Schantz, who had a three-episode arc on NBC\u2019s-0.39%<\/bg-quote>\u201cOne of the most concerning things I can think of right now is the conversation around value. How does the broader culture value storytelling and the people who make stories?\u201d he said. \u201cThe arts always tend to fall to the wayside in many ways, but it was striking during the pandemic that so much of our attention went to watching movies and television. There\u2019s obviously something inside of us that feels like we\u2019re part of the human story.\u201d<\/p>\n
Actors battle other technology<\/strong><\/h2>\nWhile big companies like Disney+1.14%<\/bg-quote>,<\/span>-0.49%<\/bg-quote>,<\/span>Those five companies have not responded to requests for comment from MarketWatch on these issues.<\/p>\n
Since his audition tape went viral, Gage has booked regular work, and he found even greater fame when he went on to star in Season 1 of HBO\u2019s \u201cWhite Lotus.\u201d In 2023, he will star in nine episodes of \u201cYou,\u201d now streaming on Netflix, and in the latest season of FX\u2019s \u201cFargo.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, he told the New York Times: \u201cI had never judged my apartment until that day.\u201d He added, \u201cI remember having this weird feeling in the pit of my stomach afterward, like, why am I judging where I\u2019m at in my 20s, at the beginning of my career?\u201d<\/p>\n
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\n \u201c<\/span>\u2018There\u2019s enough Bruce out there where you could take my likeness and my voice and put me in the scene.\u2019\u201d<\/span>\n <\/p>\n \u2014 Bruce Falk, 57, a member of SAG-AFTRA since 1992<\/span>But advances in technology are not just hurting actors in the audition process. A debate is raging over the use of AI and whether it\u2019s fair that actors should be expected to sign away the rights to their image in perpetuity, especially when they might only be getting paid for half a day\u2019s work.<\/p>\n
\u201cAI is the next big thing,\u201d Falk said. The industry is concerned about companies taking actors\u2019 likenesses and using AI to generate crowd scenes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEven an actor at my level \u2014 that guy on that show \u2014 there\u2019s enough Bruce out there where you could take my likeness and my voice and put me in the scene: the lieutenant who gives you the overview of what happened to the dead body. At this point, I could be technically replaced. We have to get down on paper, in very clear terms, that that can\u2019t be done.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers also said it agrees with SAG-AFTRA and had proposed \u2014 before the actors\u2019 strike \u2014 \u201cthat use of a performer\u2019s likeness to generate a new performance requires consent and compensation.\u201d AMPTP said this would mean no digital version of a performer should be created without the performer\u2019s written consent and description of the intended use in the film, and prohibition of later digital replicas without that performer\u2019s consent.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCompanies that are publicly traded obviously have a fiduciary responsibility to their shareholders, and whatever they can use they will use it \u2014 and they are using AI,\u201d Schantz said. \u201cYes, there are some immediate concerns. Whether or not the technology is advanced enough to fully replace actors is an open question, but some people think it\u2019s an inevitability now.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo let companies have free rein with these technologies is obviously creating a problem,\u201d he added. \u201cI can\u2019t go show up, do a day\u2019s work, have my performance be captured, and have that content create revenue for a company unless I\u2019m being property compensated for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Schantz said he believes there\u2019s still time to address these technological issues before they become a widespread problem that makes all of those auditions \u2014 however cumbersome \u2014 obsolete.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe haven\u2019t crossed this bridge as a society, but God only knows how far along they are in their plans,\u201d he said. \u201cAll I know is it has to be a choice for the actors. There has to be a contract, and we have to be protected. Otherwise, actors will no longer be able to make a living doing this work.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n