Working as a stand-in on a short stint for actor Chloe Fineman proved unusually lucrative for actor Sarah Pribis.

As told to Business Insider, Sarah ended up making close to $6500 for the two-day stand-in gig for Fineman. Sarah was not familiar with the rates and other terms when standing in under the SAG-AFTRA Commercials Contract, so the eventual payday came to her as a surprise.

Why Almost $6500?

Why nearly $6500? Some of the factors Sarah reported included:

  • higher than expected wages (stand-ins make $469.90 for 8 hours on most commercials)
  • weekend work (which doubles the base pay to $939.80 for 8 hours)
  • overtime of 10-12 hours (Saturday and Sunday overtime is simply double time all day, but not compounded — so double time based on $469.90, i.e., about $117.48/hour, all day long)
  • multiple spots (for two days of work, production could have shot two commercials for no added pay to Sarah, but it shot eight commercials, giving her multiple additional days’ of pay).

These figures total maybe around $5,700, so other factors may have increased Sarah’s final take-home pay. (Business Insider verified her claims with documentation Sarah provided.)

When Paid

Sarah reported being paid about a month later.

The SAG-AFTRA Commercials Contract reads that “Extra performers shall be paid within 15 working days.” (Stand-ins are considered extra performers in this case.)

If they aren’t paid in that time period, the commercial producer must pay “liquidated damages” — i.e., late fees — to the performer at $4.49 per day, subject to some caps.

A performer typically has to grieve to SAG-AFTRA by filing a claim inquiry form in order to reap late fees.

Nature of the Her Work

As for the nature of the stand-in work, Sarah characterized it this way:

You can’t be on your phone, because you’re looking into the lens like the talent would be. So it’s not lazy work where you can kind of just sit there, scroll your phone. You do have to be alert and attentive.

The Business Insider story also explains the range of Sarah’s jobs as an actor. One includes playing a toenail in a Kerasal commercial:

 

Read the Business Insider article on Sarah Pribis’s experience:

Did you work on any of these commercials? Share your experiences in the comments below!