Actors/Performers
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There are five categories of Actor/Performers:
On-Camera Principal Actors
Principal performers are the credited cast of an on-camera, narrative project.
Types of Film, Television and Commercial Principal Work
- Main
- Lead / Series Regular: The story is about their character. They are the main roles of the project.
- Guest *
- Supporting / Guest Star: These are the major characters the main roles interact with.
- Under 5 / Co-Star: These are the minor characters the main and major roles interact with.
- Principal
- Section 6 of the commercials contract clarifies what constitutes a principal, including speaking dialogue, or silent, recognizable and alone with, or demonstrating, the product.
How They Get Employed
The Traditional Way: Auditioning for other people’s stories by submitting themselves to casting or production, often by an agent and/or manager.
Industry Relationships: With writers, directors, producers, network & studio executives, and casting directors.
Creating Content: Either to be sold to a network or studio for production, or for independent distribution online or in film festivals and competitions.
Social Media: By building a large or niche audience or using it to effectively showcase useful skills for filmmakers and clients.
DID YOU KNOW? Series Regular, Guest Star, Co-Star, Lead, Supporting, Recurring, & Under 5 billing credits are not defined in the CBA, even though they have career value and productions often barter higher billing in lieu of higher pay.
Types of Background Actors
General Background - Person of atmospheric business which includes the normal actions, gestures and facial expressions of the background actor’s assignment.
Special Ability Background Actor - Background actor specifically called and assigned to perform work requiring special skills such as tennis, golf, dancing (including square dancing), swimming, skating, riding animals, driving livestock, non-professional singing (in groups of 16 or less), mouthing to playback in groups of 16 or less, professional or organized athletic sports (including officiating and running), amputees, driving which requires a special skill and a special license (such as truck driving but not cab driving), motorcycle driving, insert work, and practical card dealing.
Stand-In - Background actor used as a substitute for another actor for purposes of focusing shots, setting lights, etc., but not actually photographed. Stand-ins may also be used as general background.
Photo Double - Background actor who is photographed to substitute for another actor. A general background actor who is required to do photographic doubling shall receive the stand-in rate.
In commercials, basically the definition of an extra is anybody who doesn’t fit the definition of a principal (as described in Section 6 of the contract).
How They Get Employed
Background Casting Companies like Central Casting, sometimes using a call service.
Want to Know More?
The SAG-AFTRA Background Digest is a handbook for working background that will tell you everything you want to know!
Types of Voiceover Work
General Voiceover - Off-screen dialogue or narration in live action or animation film, TV, radio, new media, video games, and commercials.
Audiobooks - Recording the reading of a book for the purpose of creating an audiobook version.
ADR - Voice-matching or replacement dialogue for a project.
Looping - Performing and recording background voices and dialogue to add atmosphere and realism to a scene.
Dubbing - Recording and performing dialogue in a project in a different language than the original performance.
How They Get Employed
Voiceover Actors typically have voiceover agents or submit themselves using voices.com and other online VO casting databases.
Types of Stunt Work
Stunt Coordinator - the head of the stunt department. Also breaks down the script and creates a budget for all stunt work. Attends all production meetings, plans and designs all stunts for the production. This includes coordinating with other departments (wardrobe, camera, props, transport, etc) about special requirements to execute the stunt.
Stunt Double - a stunt performer made to appear to look like a principal performer for the purpose of performing a stunt.
Stunt Performer - a general term used to cover a non-named character who performs a stunt on camera or a stunt performer who has an off camera job (rigger, water safety, etc).
How They Get Employed
Stunt Coordinators make recommendations to production, who make the final decision on who to hire/cast.
DID YOU KNOW? At the meeting of August 7, 1933, Ivan Simpson proposed the Guild's motto and it was officially adopted: "He best serves himself who serves others.”
Types of Performance Capture Work
Principal Performer - The principal actors and the stunt performers.
Troop Performer - Characters that are there all the time. Performers experienced in performance capture movement.
Background Performer - Crowd work.
How They Get Employed
The same way as Actors, Stunt Performers, and Background.
DID YOU KNOW? Many working actors don’t volunteer to serve the Union, because they think they’re too busy acting.
Charlton Heston was the President of SAG from 1965-1971. During his tenure of 6 years as President, Heston starred in 11 films, including Planet of the Apes, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Escape from the Planet of the Apes, Julius Caesar, The Omega Man, and Antony and Cleopatra.
And that was before the internet, instant messaging and cell phones!
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