March 2023
CHAPTER 4: UNIONS: Actors’ Equity
On Feb. 16, the union issued a formal RFP (request for proposal) to “guide stakeholders through a process of determining a potential new name for the union,” as well as to establish how a process of changing the name and rebranding the organization would work. At Equity’s 2021 convention, a resolution passed titled “In Solidarity, Change the Name of Our Union.”
CHAPTER 4: UNIONS: United Scenic Artist
Since the USA Local 829 has officially released its new negotiated fees and royalty chart (effective January, 2023), I am updating the fees and royalties found in the Union chapter in the original book.
“Under the least expensive style of scenery for a single set drama, the designer will earn $10,766 up front, $2,542 advance on royalties, and $482 per week as additional weekly compensation. For the most expensive style of scenery for a multi-set musical, the designer will earn $29,084 up front, $6,796 advance on royalties, and $745 per week as additional weekly compensation.
At first, lights are always rented for each Broadway show, not knowing if the show will hit or miss after opening night. The technical supervisor and designer know how to best budget for rentals after the design plans are developed between the three designers. The range of minimum payments to lighting designers is $8,612 fee and $2,542 advance with an AWC of $482 for a single set drama, and $23,268 fee and 6,796 advance with an AWC of $482 for a multi-set musical.”
Costume designers have unique categories of payment. Most shows require multiple costumes per actor. People do not wear the same clothing two days in a row, and characters in a play are no different. Each character may require multiple costumes to be designed and built. In addition, it is considered more difficult to design a period piece in sixteenth century China or Elizabethan London than it is to design contemporary street clothing. Costume designers are paid either by the number of actors or the number of characters (one actor can play more than one character in a show). Additional payments are required for a show in a non-contemporary period or foreign traditional dress.
RATES HAVE BEEN SIMPLIFIED! IT NO LONGER MATTERS FINANCIALLY WHETHER THE SHOW IS CONTEMPORARY OR A PERIOD PIECE. Between one and FIFTEEN (change!) characters in a play earns the costume designer a fee of $10,766 and a royalty advance of $2,542. Over FIFTEEN characters in a MUSICAL pays a fee of $29,084 and a royalty advance of $6,796. The AWC, as with the other designers, is $482 for a drama, and $745 for a musical.
ADDED: Sound and projection designers are now covered under this union’s agreements.
CHAPTER 15: ACTORS
Production contracts (Broadway shows & Broadway touring shows) were finalized. Here are just a few of the changes: Increased salary and health fund contributions, along with two fewer “10 our of 12 rehearsals,”lower weekly rehearsal hours after opening, additional personal days, and more.
Specifically for stage managers: increased paid pre-production for 2nd Assistant and they will no longer be included in the term “Actor” with a capital A. They get to be recognized as a separate entity! Additional gains include: pay for some split tracks/combos, creation of a short-term actor contract, better provisions regarding hair, intimacy, cleaning of theatres, and much more.
CHAPTER 15: ACTORS (Diversity Report 2021)
--In 2021, Equity issued 6,116 new contracts for five jobs: 1) principal actors in a play, 2) principal actors in a musical, 3) chorus actors, 4) stage managers and 5) assistant stage managers. ...
--Of the 6,116 new contracts, 28.6% were for BIPOC members (up from 24.8% in 2020), 52.3% were for white/European American actors (down from 54.4% in 2020) and 3.6% went to individuals who preferred not to self-identify their race/ethnicity (down from 4.6% in 2020). ...
--With regards to gender, 46.9% of all Equity contracts went to those who identified as men, 44.4% went to those who identified as women and 0.9% went to those who identified as nonbinary and third-gender members, with 0.2% of members preferring not to identify with regards to gender. ...
--The vast majority of contracts went to cisgender professionals: 50.5% of contracts for principals in a play went to men, 52.4% principals in a musical went to men, 54.0% chorus actors went to men, 58.92% stage managers went to women and 60.2% of assistant stage manager went to women
CHAPTER 22: THEATRE OWNERS
Jujamcyn Theatres and International Entertainment Holdings Limited, the parent company of Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG), have decided to combine operations, according to a joint announcement on Feb. 14. Financial information was not disclosed, but the transaction is expected to be finalized this year.
The entities are two of the five owners of commercial houses on Broadway, along with the Shubert Organization, the Nederlander Organization and Paramount Group. Jujamcyn owns five theaters: the Al Hirschfeld, August Wilson, Eugene O’Neill, St. James and Walter Kerr. ATG is the landlord for two theaters: the Lyric and the Hudson. The new joint organization, which has not yet been named, will control all seven houses.
Jordan Roth, current president of Jujamcyn, will become the largest individual shareholder of the new company; Roth will sit on the board and serve as creative director. Mark Cornell, current CEO of ATG, will become the CEO of the new venture.
Jujamcyn was founded in 1956 by James H. Binger, who named the company for his three children: Judith, James and Cynthia. Roth joined the company in 2005 as resident producer and became vice president a year later. In 2009, Roth purchased a 50 percent stake in the company and took over as president when then-president Rocco Landesman stepped down to run the National Endowment for the Arts.
British-held company ATG bought the Lyric from Live National Entertainment in 2013. In 2015, the organization signed a long-term lease with Millennium & Copthorne Hotels to take over the Hudson. The transaction to merge the two businesses is subject to regulatory approval and usual closing conditions."
# # #