A common question for people visiting Stand-In Central is how much stand-ins in film and television are paid.
Usually stand-ins are members of SAG-AFTRA, the labor union merged in 2012 from the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA). As union members, stand-ins are entitled to union wages, which are determined by contracts negotiated with producers. For TV/film stand-ins, contracts vary depending on the production, and with these contracts come different rates for stand-ins.
Current Rates as of July 1, 2018
In recent years, union wages have annually increased for TV/film stand-ins on July 1st.
As of July 1st, 2018, stand-ins on films and many television shows working under a SAG-AFTRA contract (specifically, under Schedule X, Parts 1 and 2), make $199 for 8 hours. Stand-ins on other television shows under a Legacy AFTRA contract (aka “Exhibit A”) make $205 for 8 hours. SAG-AFTRA may permit productions known as “New Media” to hire stand-ins at lower rates than these.
The productions listings on the SAG-AFTRA website list the contract a particular production is working under. That information can be found on specific SAG-AFTRA Local pages under “Career Resources” (where available and when you are logged in). For example, you can find the New York-area production listings by clicking on “Production Listings” on this page.
The SAG-AFTRA website also includes wage tables for films and for television in the “Contracts & Industry Resources” section. These wage tables show the rates stand-ins make under various contracts. You do not have to log into the website to view the wage tables.
Stand-ins on commercials, stand-ins on promos, et al., work under much different contracts, so they work at different rates not covered in this article. (For stand-in pay on commercials from April 1, 2016, through March 31, 2019, click here.)
Also, individual projects may negotiate non-standard contracts with the union, so stand-ins on those projects may make non-standard rates as well.
Additional Compensation
As union members, stand-ins can also make additional money in various ways. Some of these methods may include:
- working overtime
- earning meal penalties (when crew does not break for a meal after 6 hours of work)
- working at night (when working during premium time periods)
- when also photo-doubling (when a stand-in is on camera in place of another actor)
Given the overtime many stand-ins put in, TV/film stand-ins may regularly gross $300-$400/day or more. Of course, some stand-ins regularly work “straight 8s,” meaning they gross only their base rate because they work no overtime hours.
Time Commitment
While the pay may be attractive, the amount of commitment involved when standing in may make standing in unappealing to the average person.
Standing in is not a “day job” in the typical sense. Usually, a stand-in cannot leave for an appointment and come back as one might at a typical desk job.
Oftentimes, a stand-in must be fully available for a full day, several weeks, or even several months — with absolutely no outside conflicts. It is not uncommon for stand-ins to work 12-14 hours in a day — or longer — for five days a week — and sometimes for more days than that. These long hours can infringe upon family and social life, not to mention health and happiness.
This is to say that for someone looking for work, although the pay may be an attraction, the sacrifice involved in working as a stand-in may make the job impractical or even wholly undesirable.
Have questions about the pay rates of stand-ins? Post your questions below! (Note: To get the best answers for stand-in pay rate questions, ask SAG-AFTRA directly.)
Do stand ins have to pay their agent commission?
Hello Monica,
If you are an actor represented by an agent, and if you have to pay an agent commission based on the work you do, whether you have to pay your agent commission for your work as a stand-in may depend ultimately on the agreement you have with your agent and what contract you are working under.
In general, if you are working as a background actor, you would not be paying a commission to your agent for such work. If you are working under the SAG-AFTRA Theatrical Agreement (feature films) or the SAG-AFTRA Television Agreement (most dramatic television), and if you are working as a stand-in, then under those contracts, you are defined as a “background actor.” So, in general, if you were standing in while working under those contracts, you would unlikely pay your agent a commission for such work.
These contracts have a section all about background actors. It is called “Schedule X.” For L.A., it is Part I. For New York, it is Part II. For easy reference, New York’s part says this:
“All compensation paid to background actors employed by the Producer through any agency shall be net to the background actor, except for such deductions or withholdings as may from time to time be provided by law or by this Schedule; it being agreed that the Producer and not the background actor shall bear the agency fee for obtaining employment, and that the background actor shall not be required by the Producer to pay such agency fee directly or indirectly.”
The language seems to answer your question with actual contract language: If your agent is handling your background actor or stand-in checks, then that agent cannot subtract any commission from your check. If the agent wants a commission, then the agent should go to the producer for that money.
Rather than rely on my opinion, you may want to call your SAG-AFTRA local for an answer.
That said, if you are not in SAG-AFTRA, then the standards may be a bit different, especially if the stand-in job is lucrative.