Author Topic: Equity Report for Limited Media Appearances  (Read 3741 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Michelle R. Wood

  • SM Expert
  • ****
  • Posts: 164
  • Gender: Female
    • View Profile
    • website
  • Affiliations: EMC, East Carolina University
  • Current Gig: Resident Stage Manager at Temple Theatre
  • Experience: Professional
Equity Report for Limited Media Appearances
« on: Nov 30, 2015, 02:20 am »
I have one actor appearing under a guest artist contract in my show. According to the guest artist rulebook, 9(A)(1)(b) under Limited Media Appearances says:

Quote
(b) The Producer shall file a report with Equity giving the time utilized for the Recording sessions.

Does that mean we file a report beforehand informing them we will tape, or one afterwards summing up the taping?
"Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration." -- Thomas Edison (Harper's Magazine, 1932)

KMC

  • Forum Moderators
  • *****
  • Posts: 963
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
  • Current Gig: Project Manager, Systems Integration
  • Experience: Former SM
Re: Equity Report for Limited Media Appearances
« Reply #1 on: Nov 30, 2015, 03:41 am »
I am by no means an AEA expert, however do have considerable experience dealing with contracts.  General rule of thumb is the language is to be taken literally.

In this case, "utilized" - the "ed" suffix indicates past tense.  A strict reading of the language would dictate that a report is to be filed after the time has been spent.  Also, a "report" by definition is the formal account of activities that have already taken place.  So it is not logically congruous to file a report for events that have yet to take place.

If it were intended as a projection or estimate, a more logical statement would read (ish): "(b) The Producer shall file an estimate with Equity projecting the time to be utilized for Recording sessions;"

If you have typed the clause verbatim the "R" in recording is capitalized, which means it's a defined term somewhere else in the contract.  Check there to reference the definition of a "Recording session" and what permissions/prerequisites are required to conduct a Recording session.  There may be clauses under that definition that require sending advance notification or projections to, or receiving permissions from AEA, etc... with the report to be filed after the time has been "utilized" as a closure of the process.

But that is a strict reading of the language only, also without context of the full agreement - the seasoned AEA folks around here may have a different reading or working understanding of the clause.
« Last Edit: Nov 30, 2015, 03:50 am by KMC »
Get action. Do things; be sane; don’t fritter away your time; create, act, take a place wherever you are and be somebody; get action. -T. Roosevelt

VSM

  • Moderator
  • *****
  • Posts: 714
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
    • http://www.vernonwillet.com
  • Affiliations: AEA, SMA
  • Current Gig: PSM - Laguna Playhouse
  • Experience: Professional
Re: Equity Report for Limited Media Appearances
« Reply #2 on: Nov 30, 2015, 12:51 pm »
As always, my best advice is to contact your local AEA office and speak to the Business Rep who handles the specific contract directly. "From the horses mouth," so to speak. CYA...
Ordo ab chao

Michelle R. Wood

  • SM Expert
  • ****
  • Posts: 164
  • Gender: Female
    • View Profile
    • website
  • Affiliations: EMC, East Carolina University
  • Current Gig: Resident Stage Manager at Temple Theatre
  • Experience: Professional
Re: Equity Report for Limited Media Appearances
« Reply #3 on: Jan 07, 2016, 11:14 am »
FYI to all who may read this thread later: there's a "Report of TV News Taping/Filming" template for such media appearances in the AEA Stage Manager Packet (http://www.actorsequity.org/docs/production/aea_sm_packet.pdf).
"Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration." -- Thomas Edison (Harper's Magazine, 1932)

 

riotous