tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078779326914378322.post5289974457359067616..comments2024-03-22T14:40:33.276-07:00Comments on Blood, Sweat, and Tedium: Confessions of a Hollywood Juicer: Christmas? Already?Michael Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02569781786039595929noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078779326914378322.post-68428560319164306012010-05-05T07:32:42.447-07:002010-05-05T07:32:42.447-07:00I just did a Christmas gig too... but I love doing...I just did a Christmas gig too... but I love doing Christmas any time of year because I love nothing more than to dress Christmas trees. I'll take Christmas any day over another boring apartment. I did a Christmas gig in February once. That one I found ridiculous. That was just too early. Mind you none of these were for network or cable television.Art DepartMENTALhttp://artdepartmental.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078779326914378322.post-13524874527199575572010-05-03T22:10:55.084-07:002010-05-03T22:10:55.084-07:00Thanks for answering my questions. They were tota...Thanks for answering my questions. They were totally nosy and I appreciate that you were cool enough to answer them anyway. <br /><br />Here's hoping for a better 2nd half of the year for all of us...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078779326914378322.post-52950302683250097432010-05-03T10:25:40.066-07:002010-05-03T10:25:40.066-07:00Anonymous --
On the show mentioned in this post, ...Anonymous --<br /><br />On the show mentioned in this post, $28 was the day-player rate -- the core crew gets $26/hr. Either way, you're only grossing eleven to twelve hundred/week (depending on overtime), with a take-home between seven and eight hundred as per your deductions. Since most sit-coms work a three weeks on, one week off schedule, that means taking home maybe $2500/month, which might work fine in Costa Rica, but doesn't go far in LA.<br /><br />Things get worse with the low budget feature contract, where a three tier structure of steadily descending hourly wages dip into absurdity. I've misplaced my current union rate card, but as I recall, the super low budget rate is something like $17/hr. And as discussed in another recent post, the New Media Rate is beyond absurd -- there is no rate. It's minimum wage or whatever you can negotiate on your own with the producers. <br /><br />Welcome to the Brave New Media World.<br /><br />I have no idea what the average IA juicer makes, nor am I sure there is any such thing. The free-lance world is all over the map. Some guys have contacts with Reality TV and game shows allowing them to work beyond the usual sit-coms and episodics. Others work lots of commercials as well as TV, and then there are the feature crews. On a big feature, those guys can pull in over 2K/week for months on end.<br /><br />All I can tell you is my own experience -- working a mix of network and cable shows with occasional outside gigs (TV promos and/or a rare commercial), I usually average something under 45K/yr before taxes. It's just barely enough to keep from going under. Thus far, 2010 is looking like a much worse than average year for me. So it goes on the free lance roller coaster.<br /><br />In general, younger guys do a lot better, since I'm at an age where I can't take the really heavy rigging calls. One day is fine, but five days a week slinging 4/0 for ten to twelve hrs/day would probably land me in the hospital. <br /><br />It still beats driving a desk, but for how much longer, I really don't know...Michael Taylorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02569781786039595929noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078779326914378322.post-72491247270814122662010-05-02T21:23:56.641-07:002010-05-02T21:23:56.641-07:00so cable rate is only $28/hr? how the hell does a...so cable rate is only $28/hr? how the hell does anyone live on that as a freelancer? don't taxes make that almost impossible?<br /><br />how much does the average union juicer (working on a mix of network & cable shows) make per year?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com