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Let me do a mini thread for the masses. It’s okay if you don’t understand how the entertainment industry works. Ask. Freelance work is exactly that, meaning you don’t have a full time job, it could be a year or two. Sometimes it’s a once off thing. Let’s break it down:
Movies: they can shoot for 3months to a year even two based on budget and technicalities. If you’re lead, you can get paid good money. Some get paid per call, meaning you can do all your scenes over a few days. If your rate is 10k, you shoot 2 days, you make 20k
Soapies/telenovela: a global actor means you get paid a fixed salary per month, whether you worked 1day or 10 days. Most prefer this cos you kinda breathe for a year. The pits is if you’re a call actor at 3,5k per call & they call you twice to shoot all your scenes for the month
Drama: a season is 13 eps but some get 26. Leads get a package, call actors get a call fee. This takes 3-6months to shoot. As soon as you’re done, just like movies- you look for next project.
Theatre: usually 6 week rehearsal at 50% of negotiated rate. Then full pay when show opens until the end. Usually get paid weekly. When people flock to see theatre shows, an extension or another run is added. Theatre is more work & less pay compared to soapies. Theatre is love
Industrial Theatre: more educational, example AIDS awareness. You rehearse a theatre piece that travels to schools, companies, etc. it can be 10days with 3shows per day. Here you do own makeup, props, setup and one of you can be the driver. No hotel. Fee way less than theatre.
Please note that all this applies to crew as well. They also job hop, job hunt like all of us. You just don’t see them. Check credits of different shows.
Agents: they’re the first to know about castings and will send people on their books for auditions. Shows have specs, meaning you won’t be sent for all auditions but there are skanky agents who send their faves & leave others out.
Agents work for and with artists. Not the other way. If you feel your agent is not working for you, change them. Also as artists we’re still responsible to get our own gigs. So we must always be aware and alert.
Payments when you have an agent: fee- tax- agent’s commission= your pay. If my fee is 20k less 25% tax =15k then less (10-15% of gross to agent) R3k leaves you with R12k.
Then there’s managers: they’re also entitled to 10-20% of your booking fees. We call it a management fee. This is for MC work, appearances, endorsements, etc. Management fee also includes them running around getting you water, joking....
Managers field calls, get bookings, chase payments, negotiate, book accommodation, basically all the admin work, they travel with you, talk to media, do damage control. Yes some are OTT because some artists are OTT but that’s what they do.
Extras: Eish... okay, I’m worried I might not be objective here but being an extra is the hardest thing to do. I was an extra once, and only once. When they asked us to come back next day, I said no. I was in continuity, I never went back, they didn’t pay me, I didn’t care.
Okay, now that I removed the anger. Extras add color to the show. They’re the guys who pass behind the leads, sit at restaurant tables, do the toyi-toying, etc. This is where people think you have to start to work your way up. I disagree BUT yes, a lot of people start here
Extras don’t get paid a lot of money. It can be anything from R200-R400 p/day. They bring own wardrobe & shoes. They sit, wait to be selected based on what scene requires. It can be all day &they’re not in dressing room like leads. Meals? They wait their turn after cast & crew
Fine Artists: these are people who draw/paint and their artwork is in galleries or on the pavement. Trust me both artists have the same struggles.
Artists can sell independently or go through the gallery. The glamorous on is the gallery but know that only a fraction of that goes to the artist. Just because you bought Rami painting at R80k at Smith Art doesn’t mean Rami got 40k. In fact she’d be lucky to get 10k.
The red tape around art galleries especially when it comes to black artists is ridiculous. In short, artists are paid by exposure. Next time you want a fine piece of art, find the artist directly and pay them top dollar for their craft
Musicians: Tjo! Okay. If you’re signed to a stable, you can sign for 5yr or 3album deal. Don’t know if it changed. Contracts are hardcore, the list of people that go onto your payroll to make your brand work, will make you dizzy. Let’s just say the artist makes the least money
Your money is not from album sales but from performances. Album sales money it’s after the stable has made its money back. You could sell platinum and have dololo cash to show. And most signed artists don’t own their masters. And no, it’s not a joke.
Even live performances don’t get you a lot of money especially people who perform with live bands. You pay everyone first, then pay yourself last. Hence you see musicians taking every gig, traveling everywhere, exhausted. The struggle is real.
That’s why most artists go independent. Then the frills fall off cos they can’t afford PR & all the stuff that came with a stable. Then we crucify them for bad marketing, don’t go to their shows, they don’t sell. Some go back to stables, others give up. Then we call them has-been
Now you understand why someone at their peak would do everything to gather the coins. The exhaustion gets one to use substance to keep up with their performance cos we paid to see them. At the end they need something to help them sleep. Next day, the cycle begins
On top of all that, artists are always chasing payments, deposits. You try to not say no to gigs, even ‘exposure’ offers are considered cos so and so will be there & they are responsible for gig tenders. You act, you sing, recite, paint, make stars beautiful, hoping for the best
We move from one show to the next and you say: ‘oh no, not him again! Why soapies are recycling actors?’ We’re so immune to that, we don’t care, we’re here to work. We can’t afford to khekheleza. Lifespan is short and not everyone will boast that they’ve been doing it for 25yrs
Saw people laughing at some of the Amapiano guys saying they look old, they must rest. They can’t rest because they keep feeding a monster that doesn’t get full. When the hits come we dance like crazy, yet we can’t appreciate the work and hustle that goes into it.
I haven’t even touched on royalties and needle time and payola. It’s a lot. I wish musicians could show you their royalty cheques. You’ll laugh. Yes, royalties of your favorite songs.
Speaking of royalties takes me to session musicians. That’s the band, backing vocalists on albums. Did you know session musicians get paid to come play on an album in studio? At 4K-7k per session you get them to lay instrument or vocals on the whole album, never to be paid again
I haven’t touched on voiceover artists, orchestra, choirs, library music composers & compilers, show callers, song writers, media, journalists, news anchors, the list is endless but will pick it up again soon.
I know most judge artists by what they see on TV. What you’re seeing is the tip of an iceberg of what we do. I personally have more than one job. We all operate on multiple streams of income, some jobs are easier than others. If we don’t operate like that, we can’t live
Then again, we sometimes work with people who rob & undercut us. They take our product and content and spin it to get rich. We get disappointed, we get tired, we get depressed, we die. We die paupers. Then we get buried at Heroes Acre.
I’m tired.
I’m tired.
You’re free to ask questions, might not answer all of them though. And please don’t apply for a block. You keep saying I must move on, I suggest you do the same. This is a general overview of about 25yrs in the industry. I ask that we focus. Thank you 
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Oh, forgot to ask the twitter journalists to not copy and paste and make articles. Niyadika, shem! Work harder please.
