Author Topic: AEA Break Question  (Read 12722 times)

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maggieville

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AEA Break Question
« on: Apr 21, 2009, 01:01 pm »
Is it possible to schedule an equity break in the form of early release?  AGMA usually specifies that this is ok in the contract language but I can't seem to find it in the SPT contract.

Thanks for your help!
Maggie

MatthewShiner

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Re: AEA Break Question
« Reply #1 on: Apr 21, 2009, 11:11 pm »
um, no, not really . . . if you are talking about the five or ten minute breaks, unless they happen to fall that way . . . but often if the break falls in such a way we would have take a ten and come back and only work ten minutes . . . I will usually poll the actors and see if we can work ten and then end early - but TECHNICALLY, I don't think that's legal.

I also do a lot of straight 5 1/2 (which is a straight six, but we take then twenty at the end of day.)
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maggieville

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Re: AEA Break Question
« Reply #2 on: Apr 23, 2009, 01:33 pm »
Thanks for the advice!  I'll steer clear and play it safe.

hbelden

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Re: AEA Break Question
« Reply #3 on: Jul 05, 2009, 07:14 pm »
I once had an actor say we needed a break before the end of the session.  The situation was something like this:  Rehearsal had been scheduled from 2pm - 7pm, and we had taken a ten-minute break from 5:30 - 5:40.  The actor came over to me at 6:35 and said, "don't we have to take a five-minute break here?  There isn't time left for a ten-minute break."  I looked at him, puzzled, and said, "No, 7pm is the end of the day.  That's your break after 80 minutes of work."  He thought about that a little, then said okay.

Sometimes actors are weird.
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smejs

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Re: AEA Break Question
« Reply #4 on: Dec 29, 2009, 02:25 am »
Another Equity Break question - both actors and directors seem to think there's an Equity rule that you don't have to worry about stopping after 1 hr 20 minutes if you're in the middle of a runthrough.  There is no rule in the SPT contract that I can find, and the only thing I see in the LORT rulebook is in regards to once you're into dress rehearsals - still not for a runthrough in the rehearsal room. 

Now, I would balk more if it were a 2 1/2 hr act or something, but it's so hard to enforce the "rule" when the play is 1 hr 30 to 1 hr 45 long.  Lately we've taken an informal poll that folks would like to continue through and then take a 15 minute break. 

Are there any contracts that actually do address this?

Erin

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Re: AEA Break Question
« Reply #5 on: Dec 29, 2009, 03:44 am »
In the COST agreement Rule 48 REHEARSALS (B) states that during a run-through, an act may be completed before a break.
In the LORT agreement Rule 50 REHEARSALS (E) states that during non-stop run-throughs a break of at least ten minutes shall be given at the intermission point. My basic rule of thumb to the director is: if you stop, we break.
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Rebbe

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Re: AEA Break Question
« Reply #6 on: Dec 29, 2009, 05:55 am »
Another Equity Break question - both actors and directors seem to think there's an Equity rule that you don't have to worry about stopping after 1 hr 20 minutes if you're in the middle of a runthrough. 

I was in this situation with a 90 minute, intermission-free play, SPT contract, director and actors wanted to run straight through.  I called Equity and was told it “was a given” that yes, we could do a run-through without taking the break at 80 minutes, as long as it was really a straight run.  As VSM said, if the director interrupts, we break.  I wish they would clarify this in the book, it really opens the door to a lot of other "givens". 
"...allow me to explain about the theatre business. The natural condition is one of insurmountable obstacles on the road to imminent disaster."  (Philip Henslowe, Shakespeare In Love)

MatthewShiner

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Re: AEA Break Question
« Reply #7 on: Dec 29, 2009, 07:46 am »
Doing classical theatre we run into this all time.  My current Act 1 times in at 1 hour 45 minutes - yes, when we run it, we do so without a break.

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Stuart Plymesser

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Re: AEA Break Question
« Reply #8 on: Feb 24, 2010, 12:24 pm »
During a 3-hour production, we were having our designer/crew run through in the rehearsal hall prior to rolling into a tech weekend when our deputy left the stage space and walked over to the side of the room in the middle of a scene.  He then walked over to the SM table and loudly informed me that he realized we should take a ten because we were now 80 minutes into the act.  Mind you, this was not the first run of the show that we had done over the last few days.  I informed him (quietly) that we were allowed to run through a show without a break if one was taken at the intermission point.  He seemed skeptical until I asked him if he had ever done a run of a show with a first act longer than 80 minutes.  He thought for a moment and then walked back into the scene.  We later had a conversation about the previously mentioned Rule 50.E.2. 

As for what Matthew mentioned about ending the day early and putting off the final break until the end, I have found that when I mention that we are due for a ten and will come back with around 20 minutes left in the day, the cast (unprovoked) is the one that typically comes forward and asks to keep working and end the day earlier.
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