As we continue our Low pay/no pay week in print and online at The Stage, performer and Grads’ Club blogger Gemma Barrett gives her opinion
It is with great, and vested, interest I have been reading the various articles in this week’s Stage regarding the evermore pertinent issue of Low Pay/No Pay.
As a 2009 drama school graduate, 85% of my CV reads with fringe or low-budget films where the pay was either: expenses (in these cases I counted myself lucky), profit share (which as indicated by Stephen Spence, operates as a ‘partnership’ and therefore does not qualify for national minimum wage) or ‘revenue share’, whereupon the ticket sales for one particular night a week was divided between the cast (often more lucrative than the profit-share option).
In an ideal world, which is what we should all be striving for, all actors would be paid at least NMW. We have trained and are qualified to do our jobs, we have been cast and employed to do it and we deserve the same rights as the guy who works in the supermarket or the local pub.
An accountant doesn’t have to subsidise his income by moonlighting as a waiter. As a profession our worth is the value that we put on ourselves, and in an industry which is too often rubbished by many delightfully ignorant folk as ‘a bit of fun’ or ‘not a proper job’, it is even more important to stand up for our profession, our working conditions and our rights.
This is the theory. I understand it. I agree with it. Do I want to get paid for doing my job? The job which I trained long and hard for? The job which takes up every hour of my day and which I never clock out of? You’re darn tootin’ I do.
I know that it is the fear of never working again and the hope that “someone will change things on my behalf” that is perpetuating the situation. As long as this is the case, then employers will be allowed to get away with not paying out where it’s due.
I will, however, brave the branding of hypocrisy and cowardice and say that I do not, however, have the resolve to turn down the unpaid work and neither, in the current situation, do I want to. The alternative, for many of us, is simply not working.
It is all well and good to tell young graduates to abstain from these low paid/no pay gigs but in the current situation, what is the alternative? Wait for the phone to ring for that elusive PAID job? Following graduation from drama school I was immediately signed by an agent and did not get a single audition through her for an entire year. I did not have the opportunity to be employed by those companies that would pay for my wares. In the meantime I worked consistently on a LP/NP basis. Should I have sat on a moral high ground and refused to work? Demanded my rights? Frankly if I had done so I wouldn’t have got the job.
I know I am being short sighted, but I don’t think I can afford to be otherwise. One doesn’t want to turn up to that paid job audition and be rusty as a nail on the Titanic. Working on the fringe as it stands does offer exposure to emerging performers: it can be artistically inspiring and keeps the mind occupied and the body limber, it is a place where up and coming directors and writers are allowed to flex their muscles and where actors are able to network with those creative also at the start of their career.
It is my choice to work for free if the company/venue is well reputed and I believe Industry professionals are likely to attend; if the part in question is meaty enough to warrant an invite to said Industry professionals; if the writing/direction/production values mean the show is something to be proud of; if I believe I will learn something from the experience; if there are individual creatives involved that I would like to nurture a relationship with… A lot of reasons why I work for free. Reasons which would still stand if I was being paid. Necessity means the other qualifiers are: can I afford to take the time off/is it flexible around my day job? In my experience most LP/NP fringe companies are understanding of a person’s need to eat and therefore accommodate their actors’ work schedules.
Conclusions? The issue is not black and white. We knew that already. As a young graduate in what is notoriously the most competitive business out there, this is a hard industry to navigate and harder still to stand by your principles. I admire those that do, but providing the company operates on a ‘profit-share’ basis — a legitimate profit-share basis — and treats its actors with respect, I think for the time being I’d prefer to be doing the work rather than talking about it.
Gemma Barrett blogs regularly on The Stage’s Grads’ Club blog.
The Low pay/no pay special issue of The Stage is published today, July 7. For more details, see our In the Paper blog
How do you expect the bar to be raised if you are unwilling to say no? How do you expect payments and conditions to improve if you are unwilling to help create conditions that enable (force? - because they've had long enough) employers and venues to do the right thing?
Many, many well known actors have had long periods of unemployment - before they made it - Chris Eccleston - 2 years springs to mind.
You are not alone and you don't have to work for nothing, seek security amongst others they will help lift you and others out of your self imposed stasis. It starts with being able to say 'No, I'm worth more'.
Your arguments are very clear, Gemma... Unlike many postings on this vexed debate, you set out your case very rationally. That's my very English way of giving you a huge praise...
Yes, many now famous actors did go through long periods of not being employed as actors - and then re-emerged... But, that was at a time when there were far fewer actors in the marketplace & more properly paid acting-work was available.
I strongly suspect that current actors need to do some Low/No Pay 'work' for all the reasons you mention. However, this should be limited. I'm currently trying to work out some suggested ground rules...
Good luck!
Simon
P.S. I'm not an actor, but I do understand the actor's condition.
Simon as a current member of Equity's Theatre Director's Committee actively involved in negotiating the best possible rates for Director's may I respectfully suggest you leave this one to the actors - that is unless you are prepared to negotiate down your own Committee's rates.
Perhaps you could draw up a zero pay rate card for Directors?
http://actorsminimumwage.wordpress.com/
"Am I as much as... being seen?"
I would second Gemma's key point, that it is the individual's choice whether they are prepared to work for under NMW rates. Blind faith that consistently taking on unpaid work will somehow endow a CV with credibility is one thing, but taking the opportunity to work alongside other exciting artists on a project that you have faith in is quite another. The counter to this is that if the work is low/unpaid, in what way is it professional?
This is a grey area. From my own experience, four 'fringe' shows on my CV were nominated Critics Choice by Time Out, whilst being reviewed alongside productions where everyone involved was likely to be on Equity minimum. I have learnt a considerable amount from working on these projects - a major supplement to my formal training - and also been able to 'network' in a far more organic way as a result. Furthermore, my unpaid work has led to me being seen and booking fully paid employment.
Like Gemma, my first agent, though apparently reputable, hardly ever got me seen for work I would have wanted to do. Therefore the onus has been on myself to create a body of work, to get myself and my work out there to as many people as possible. I am aware that some of my contemporaries can afford to wait for the phone to ring - but only because they have an agent who can get them meetings or auditions on some form of consistent basis. What are the alternatives? Wait for divine intervention? Wait for fringe venues to suddenly find money they'll never have to pay NMW?
I am not saying there are not a lot of people operating low/unpaid 'opportunities' who are happy to utilise actor desperation for there own ends. The majority of such work advertised on various websites I would not touch, and I think promoting awareness for young actors about the perils of fringe is a very important thing. But while I can still learn and create interesting work, I will never absolutely discount low/unpaid work. Or at least, not until I'm in the enviable position of being seen regularly for paid work.
Thankyou for your comments Margaret, I appreciate that these are all questions an actor needs to ask themselves and evaluate whether or not they are happy with their approach to the industry.
Having said that, I really do feel that for new graduates it is a different ball game to those actors that are more established, or have a proven track record with endorsable paid credits to their name. A prolonged period of inactivity following graduation from drama school really doesn't look great, particularly with the growing volume of brand spanking new actors each year.
My 'self imposed stasis' is working on a LP/NP basis rather than not at all, I don't *want* to go that long without working in the hope that one day my headshot is plucked from the pile; that is another self-imposed stasis. Even if it's only for my own sanity - each project on the fringe allows me to wake up in the morning feeling like an actor and I truly believe brings me closer to the end goal of creating a sustainable income and a life in the profession.
Chris- think we're plugging away from the same angle. All the best!
Simon - thank you for your understanding of the actor's condition (I believe it's chronic....)
Truly interesting cheers, I think your current subscribers will probably want a lot more stories similar to this keep up the good work.
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