Over the week I received residual checks for TV episodes that ran on the internet. The total for the different schedules was $1.21. The cost to send them to me was 66 cents. So SAG used 66 cents of my dues to send me 65 cents.
This is what the last defacto SAG strike was about? Getting an internet fee starting point? A foot in the door? Necessary yes, but it seems silly to leave it at that.
These penny checks should all be kept in a general fund and sent to support the old actors home. At least they'd get the whole $1.21
The bigger issue is that I take it as a sign that the segment called journeyman actor is at risk. Less shows and less revenue from those shows means that the future is in making your own content. Form collectives folks. In the old days we called them Theatre companies. We could choose the play, choose the casting, designate a director and put on a show. Now it has to be done the same way but on film and has to be sold to a media outlet where we are the owners as well as the artists. The day of the hired gun is fading away but it opens the door to the bigger possibility; ownership.
Start thinking about the group you want to work with to create a product from start to finish. I think it's the only way you can guarantee you have an outlet for your talent in the coming years. There is so much talent out there but why does it always take a civilian called a producer to bring it together?
Resist the urge the follow the tyrant-brilliant-genius mold unless you are related to a studio boss who likes you a lot.