88% Unemployment Among Equity Actors
My colleague Adam Natale pointed out this piece in Playbill Online about the feasibility of living in Manhattan on a chorus member’s salary. The article contains few surprises, except perhaps for the most naive Broadway aspirants:
- Getting work as an actor is tough, even with an Equity card.
- If you can find work, the wages are still nothing to get excited about.
- And, oh yes, rents in Manhattan are murderous.
What I found interesting, though, were some actual stats from Actors’ Equity about their members’ collective employment. Apparently during the week of Aug. 20-26, only 12% of Equity members living in New York City were in an Equity show (including Bway, Off-Bway, and Off-Off-Bway).
I can’t think of a single other profession with such horrifying employment prospects. At least if you try to make it in the NFL you’ll pretty well know by age 25 if you’ve got a career or not. Actors, though, can spend a lifetime struggling to “make it”. And keep in mind, these stats only include members of Actors’ Equity Association, which represents a relatively successful minority of the total number of actors out there.
Meanwhile, I wonder how many of those ostensibly unemployed Equity actors are working under pseudonyms in non-Equity shows. Given the continuing rise of DIY theatre and the obscene barriers that Equity places in the way of their members who want to participate in non-Equity labors of love, I’d guess quite a few.
Agreed. Here’s a related article from the Village Voice about a campaign to gain some flexibility in AEA’s rules for the letters of agreement:
http://www.villagevoice.com/theater/0735,eisler,77610,11.html
Though it’s not a direct quote from an AEA representative, I do find somewhat ridiculous Equity’s idea that “actors are already ’subsidizing’ Off-Off-Broadway”. How, exactly? By sacrificing all the lucrative union jobs they could otherwise be landing?
This is the problem I’ve always run into with AEA: they would rather their actors NOT work than do work for little or no money. And it seems to be unique to AEA - SAG and AFTRA have both created successful deferred payment and limited exhibition contracts that are not prohibitive to the spirit of the situation - that is, we’ve got no money, we’re putting everything into the product, but if it hits, then we’ll all get paid. But AEA has STAUNCHLY and arrogantly stands aloof to the plight of low budget theater makers.