How long does it takes to get paid – Casting Collective Artiste Help (2024)

FAQs

How long does it take for extras to be paid? ›

Payments can take up to 8 weeks to be issued. Quite a lot of the time payments come through to us sooner, especially on larger productions. They can take a bit longer on small and commercial jobs. As soon as we receive the funds from the production companies we pay it out to our extras.

The industry standard is approximately 4-6 weeks from the day you worked, but it can sometimes take up to 3 months. Commercials and corporate jobs often don't pay until after 90 days from the invoice. All payments will be made by BACS directly into your bank account.

In most cases, SAG-AFTRA says you'll be paid within one to two months of the movie airing on TV, but there are exceptions.

Casting Collective applies a 20% commission (plus VAT) deduction from your earnings for all bookings. Importantly, the commission is only deducted when you, as the Artiste secure and get paid for actual work through Casting Collective. If there's no work, there's no commission deducted.

How much do Film Extras get paid? Film Extras tend to be hired by the day, so they can generally expect between $100 and $200 for their work. However, individuals with union status may earn more for background acting.

As of May 22, 2024, the average hourly pay for a Film Extra in the United States is $23.55 an hour. While ZipRecruiter is seeing hourly wages as high as $55.53 and as low as $7.93, the majority of Film Extra wages currently range between $13.70 (25th percentile) to $26.92 (75th percentile) across the United States.

Typically, direct deposit takes two or three days. Some direct deposit processing times can take as little as one day (or same-day processing), and others up to four days.

Ideally the casting process should start about 10 weeks before filming begins.

Adam Sandler's four film projects of 2023 propelled him to an annual salary of $73m (£57m), making him the highest-paid performer in Hollywood, according to Forbes magazine.

Commission Fees

The vast majority of acting agents are paid on a commission basis, earning a percentage of their client's earnings from gigs and projects they have helped them to book.

How do casting agencies get paid? ›

Casting is generally hired by producers and paid by the production company, advertising agency or production studio to manage the various elements of the production that involves securing actors, as opposed to talent agents who only get paid when the talent they represent are hired.

To support the introduction of the 28-Day Payment Promise, Uni-versal Extras is increasing its Artiste commission by 2%. This means that after March 1st 2024, our commission will be 18% as standard.

Extras don't get film credits or lines. But they can get union wages, meals and perks — such as getting to read novels on the job.

There are many ways to make a living as an actor. For some, it means starring roles and a foot-long IMDb page. But that certainly isn't the only way. Background acting—or “extra” work for movies and TV—can absolutely be a full-time profession if you know how to go about it.

It's possible to get work applying directly to TV and film production companies, but most people get into this business by joining a casting agency such as Uni-versal Extras. In common with other agencies, Uni-versal Extras charges a registration fee, but this is quite modest.