| re: Why are there not laws about profit sharing for this very reason? | |
| Posted by: EvFoDr 09:09 am EST 01/06/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Why are there not laws about profit sharing for this very reason? - NewtonUK 08:02 am EST 01/06/18 | |
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| I love so much of what you said here. It's a great discussion. I was going to add that once upon a time I produced a show, off-Broadway. For about a year I worked on this project. I do not come from money so I had to also work full time to support myself. I worked on the show in the morning before work, at lunch, and after hours of my day job, as well as weekends. During this time we employed a full staff of all the people we know are needed to put on a show. Because the show did not make it to profit, as the majority do not, I never made one cent from this endeavor, but everyone else was paid consistently and fairly as per their union contracts. This is just an anecdote, but I guess my point is that we have a choice if we want to be someone's employee, or we want to be the risk taking entrepreneur shepherding the project into existence. I am someone's employee and the President of the company makes a lot more money than I do. I could start my own company and go out finding business and take a lot more of the profits, but for a variety of reasons I do not. I don't want to run the ship. I enjoy the stability of knowing that I will get paid regardless of he ups and downs of the performance of our products. And since so little of theatre become financially profitable, and so many work for nothing along the way while they create it, I think it's actually healthy for the business that the producers and investors make a killing when something is a big hit. I also think it makes sense that there are no "automatic" rules about actors sharing profit. The other side of that coin is that actors and all the other staff certainly expect to be paid no matter what the show's fortunes, and they SHOULD be. It's the investors, authors, and other creatives who are asked to defer royalties and fees when trying to keep a struggling show going. But the actors and other paid staff people would never share in the downside. So again, I don't think it should be automatic. It should be handled case by case as it was with Hamilton, and A Chorus Line. The latter being even a bit more tricky as those actors were not only original cast but also had an authorship of the material. I hope this doesn't sound like I am against sharing the wealth of a gargantuan hit because I am not. But I am responding to those who think it should be automatic or something Equity should address in a blanket way. |
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| Previous: | re: Why are there not laws about profit sharing for this very reason? - Chazwaza 10:17 am EST 01/06/18 |
| Next: | re: Why are there not laws about profit sharing for this very reason? - Chazwaza 02:58 am EST 01/07/18 |
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