Expert: Kenneth D. Plonkey - 12/6/2008

Question
Dear Kenneth,

I have some questions about actors and agents. Typically, if an actor/ess makes $15,000 for a film how much does the agent take out of that? If an actor makes $25,000,000 for a film how much would the agent take? How does the agent determine how much of a salary the he/she should ask for for the client who is wanting to act in the film?

You may not know this, but since TV films cost between $750,000 - $3,000,000 how much of that total budget goes to talent? Usually in a TV movie what range does an individual actor make?

thanks,
Blaine B.

Answer
Dear Blaine.  Typically an agent takes 10% of an actor's contract, doesn't matter how much. It is the agent's job to be able to know how much his client's services are worth and to negotiate as good a deal as he can.  I do not know how much of a tv movie's budget is allocated to actors.  The individual may make from SAG minimum C. $750 a day to a set price as large as can be negotiated by an actor's agent. I hope this is helpful, but these matters fluctuate greatly from film to film and actor to actor. Best wishes, Doc