Videostatic welcomes music video producer Fuliane Petikyan as a contributor. Many of you in the community also know Fuliane from her work with the MVPA.
SAG? AFTRA? SAG/AFTRA!
If you were not in the "know" regarding the SAG/AFTRA agreement for music videos that was signed on July 21, 2012, you may be hit with a surprise in your next music video contract.
The three-year agreement that was reached with the major U.S. labels — including Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, EMI Music and The Walt Disney Co., plus all their subsidiary labels — lets SAG/AFTRA members get benefit contributions for pension and health insurance from their music video roles. Other major points of the agreement include safe working conditions, minimum pay scales, meal penalties for infractions, reimbursement of wardrobe expenses, turnaround time and penalties for late payments. SAG/AFTRA has a PDF document with a summary of important points.
There are lots of grey areas, however, that could potentially lead to confusion. For example, certain video concepts could call for background dancers in a party scene, but would they be considered background extras or dancers? [Dancers are covered under SAG-AFTRA; Background Extras are not]. Another big issue we should all be aware of is that companies signing the agreement directly may affect their ability to produce non-union commercials in the future. Most companies who do commercials do not pay SAG talent directly. Agencies take over all paperwork and payments.
While MVPA member companies are not in favor of singing the agreement directly due to that potential issue with not being able to do non SAG/AFTRA projects down the line, as a production company, you must still follow all guidelines of the agreement as advised in your contracts by the labels. Violation of agreement term could mean violation of your label contract and those ironclad agreements don’t do much to protect production company’s interests. Click to download and get familiar with the agreement.
Assistant National Executive Director Randall Himes advises that the best way to find out if the label is signatory is to have MVPA members call the sound code department in LA for verification at (323) 634-8150. Also, MVPA board members and key advisors are involved in quarterly discussions with the SAG/AFTRA union. Representatives on the music video side include Kim Dellara and Mari Geraci of H.S.I, Missy Galanida and Isaac Rice of DNA, and Coleen Hayes of Black Dog. Associate label representatives includeKathy Angstadt and Michelle An under the Universal label group umbrella.
While our industry is being hit with another cost, the major points of this agreement are very fair and standard, for the most part, and strengthen practices that are being followed industry wide.
For more information, MVPA member companies are invited to attend an meeting at the SAG-AFTRA L.A. office on Thursday, October 25th, 2012 at 10 a.m.
I have compiled a list of FAQ’s based on the daily calls I receive to help answers some of your questions.
Q. What videos are covered by this agreement?
A. The majority of music videos that are produced in the U.S. will now be covered under this agreement, affecting every single production company that is producing music videos.
Q. Who does this agreement cover?
A. All performers including dancers, choreographers, choreographer’s assistants, models, stunt performers, and lead talent.
Q. Who this agreement does not cover?
A. Background extras.
Q. If my lead talent is not already a SAG/AFTRA member can they be hired?
A. Although the agreement calls for giving preference to performers with experience it is not required that your talent have member status at time of booking.
Q. Do I need to fill out any forms to provide to label or SAG/AFTRA when hiring?
A. Yes you will need out a information sheet which is called a Schedule A.
Q. Do I need to do a Taft Hartley like I would on a commercial?
A. No. Once the Schedule A is filed, SAG/AFTRA will deal with the paperwork directly.
Q.
Is there a scale wage rate I need to follow?
A. All rates on talent are negotiable except for dancers on productions with budgets over $200k, which must abide by this Scale of Wages.
Q. How much in H&R (aka Health & Retirement funding fees, also commonly referred to as P&W aka Pension & Wages) should I bid for talent?
A. Talent H&R contributions are 12.5% of each performers gross compensation. So if you consider the 21-24% in general taxes and add this additional 12.5% you can estimate roughly 31-37% in total for H&R and taxes on each performer.
Q. Does the label pay talent directly or does the production company pay directly?
A. This is all very new and moving so fast that the process varies. Some labels have been making talent payments directly through a payroll company and production does not have to deal with any of the payments. Some labels are requiring production companies to pay directly, which means that production companies should bid these new rates and extras accordingly. The MVPA advises that your payroll companies are set up to process the benefits portion of this agreement to the AFTRA H&R Funds.
Q. Can I use a signatory payroll company to process these payments if my payroll company is not set up to do this?
A. Yes and there are a number of them out there. Please email [email protected] for a list.
Q. Should production companies become signatory to the agreement?
A. The MVPA advises that no production company should become signatory to this agreement directly, under any circumstances. The agreement is written in a way that allows for production companies to make payments to talent on behalf of the labels signatory status without being direct signatories. In addition, all production companies should learn the rules and regulations surrounding the agreement and make sure to adhere to them.
Q. What if the label is not signatory, but the dancers and actors are SAG/AFTRA?
A. If the label is not already a signatory, and you wish to hire SAG/AFTRA talent the label, or any other entity, can sign the agreement on a “one production only” basis.
Have more questions not in the FAQ's? Attend a seminar being hosted by the MVPA and SAG/AFTRA and get answers to your questions directly. More updates and date info on that will follow in the next installment.
Vice President, MVPA/Freelance Producer
Fuliane Petikyan
