Are there any public, modern financial case studies of actor finances?

March 5, 2020 11:34 AM

I'm very interested about the financial world of actors, like all the income sources and tax deductions one would have as a low-mid tier actor. Broadcast royalties, likeness marketing, video sales, streaming rights, day rates, etc. I know some minimums are in SAG-AFTRA publications but it would be interesting to see the whole picture for an anonymous, like a year's worth of finances.

It's a very complex field that is constantly changing so something from an ancient textbook might be pointless today. That said, maybe film industry business textbooks could be a good source. I'm worried they could be very inaccurate if completely made up though. That's why case studies are helpful. They exist for many other fields, anonymously.

posted by basehead to Media & Arts (5 answers total)

You want to google for articles / speeches / powerpoints by "business managers" which is Hollywood-speak for personal financial managers who do accounting, bookkeeping, bill paying and personal staff payroll, etc., for talent, literary and executive people who make decent money.
posted by MattD at 1:53 PM on March 5, 2020

I think you mean a 'high mid tier actor', as the BLS says the median wage is $17 a hour, and they wouldn't have most of the things you listed. Acting salary has an incredibly sharp salary graph, really tilted towards the top say 1000-2000 actors currently working.
posted by The_Vegetables at 2:43 PM on March 5, 2020

You could google the percentage of SAG actors who qualify for insurance -- the number is usually startlingly low, like 10 or 15%, which means almost everyone who is an actor makes less than around $30k per year. And I think some massive proportion of that are earning zero or near zero.
posted by BlahLaLa at 3:27 PM on March 5, 2020

This is self promotion, but our book, "Theater Careers," addresses just the issues you're interested in. It's a little old now, but relatively nothing has changed much.
posted by tmdonahue at 4:21 PM on March 5, 2020 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks so far. I realize that most actors make almost nothing, but that's definitely not the kind of person I'm talking about. When I said low to mid tier I sort of meant like z-list to b-list, as in they still act regularly and get paid for it so in the scheme of things they're in the upper echelons already. I just think that might be more interesting than the 'so and so gets $20 million for a film and a % of the backend' situation of an a-lister, since that's even more atypical.

So you know, the kind of guy/girl you see guesting on TV shows or in small parts regularly.

@tmdonahue, I looked at the book but it seems to be the literal theater like on stage? Isn't that completely different from a business perspective? Your 'show' is not seen other than when you perform it so I don't imagine there are income streams beyond what you get paid to perform each show?
posted by basehead at 4:27 PM on March 5, 2020