Actors’ Strike Over Ad Pay

Re “SAG’s Stalemate With Ad Industry Costs L.A. Plenty,” June 16: Thanks for your update on the Screen Actors Guild/American Federation of Television and Radio Artists strike against commercial producers. Actors are not seeking a wholesale restructuring of the way commercials are paid. We are simply asking commercial producers not to dismantle the current system. They propose to replace pay-per-play for national commercials with a flat fee, creating an earnings cap for actors while allowing advertisers unlimited usage. We feel this is blatantly unfair and want to extend pay-per-play to cable usage. Cable has grown explosively since our cable contract was last negotiated, yet our earnings are capped at $11 a day, no matter how often our commercial may air or on how many cable stations.

The stereotype of the lazy actor sitting poolside while residual checks pile up is completely inaccurate. A more realistic portrait would show an actor hustling to 50 or more auditions before landing a commercial, and even then there are no guarantees of usage of any kind. An average commercial might pay around $5,000, with the rarest of spots generating $15,000 or $20,000 over its 21-month life span. Many actors have other full-time jobs, and even those of us who are lucky enough to act full-time do so by working in films, television, voice-over, print and theater. So, yes, we can survive even a lengthy strike, although we all hope the producers eliminate the proposed rollbacks and return to the table with meaningful offers.

BOB BANCROFT

Member, SAG and AFTRA

Santa Monica