Doing the producer hustle is hard, here are some helpful working with unions and permits information that I hope will help you in your adventures…

As a producer, I support using union actors. Though I support the use, SAG-AFTRA is, realistically, not the most efficient at helping producers use those actors easily. The explanation of what is needed and how to do it, for indie producers, is a bit confusing at times, to say the least. As a multi-hyphenate, it should be made as easy as possible for producers to navigate the SAG-AFTRA system. So that’s what this is: My best effort to layout how to get things done related to producing (and working with unions).

QUICK LINK: PRODUCER'S CHECKLIST

SAG-AFTRA’s “Production Center”: Where to get started on becoming a signatory for your production:

http://www.sagaftra.org/production-center

Click on the type of content you are creating (New Media Series, Theatrical, etc.) on the left side menu and use DocuSign to fill out the appropriate Preliminary Information Form. Coming in the fall/winter 2021, the Producers Portal will be a fully online system from SAG-AFTRA for producers ... until then ... the above is your best bet.

SAG-AFTRA is moving towards what they call a "platform agnostic" approach (ie. You create the project and then you can put it wherever you like rather than having to decide if it will first go online or to festivals or to a theatrical release). The new SPA, UPA, and MPA are platform agnostic. If you are making a series (rather than a one-off), then you would use a New Media Agreement. Special Note: The NEW Micro-Budget Agreement is a TITLE REGISTRATION-ONLY Agreement that allows you to register your project and then go and film! To fall under the "MBA", your project must (1) Have a budget of <$20k [or if a series, per episode, AND (2) Must NOT contain any nudity or stunt work that would need a stunt coordinator. If you are just filming the PILOT of a series (and you have a $20+k budget) then you can use SPA instead. These agreements should cover the signatory aspects for most projects checking out this page. If you do not fall under the online signatory options, you likely have the budget to have an accountant or employee who can do the paperwork.

For last minute or direct contact to a department, here is SAG-AFTRA’s contact list:

http://www.sagaftra.org/contact-us

Documents: [If NOT doing a Micro-Budget Agreement] You will get sent various documents to complete before, during, and after principal photography.

All Documents, if you want to look before you are sent them can be found in the above linked Production Center pages under the specific agreement you will be signing with SAG-AFTRA.

To Note: I did a production and at least 2 of the documents that they sent me were inaccurate, so verify rate and Pension & Health percentages at the start with the assigned representative. Yes, what SAG-AFTRA sends you should be accurate, and any mistakes should be their responsibility to then cover the difference, but they won’t, it is up to you to verify accuracy.

PRE-PRODUCTION:

You will need to submit your preliminary budget, a preliminary cast list (yes, you may not have cast anything yet, just put a guess), and a few other documents. The SAG-AFTRA budget document makes no sense for any modern productions so just send them the top sheet budget summary that you have listed out yourself, they will accept that as that makes the most sense.

For full approval you will need to send them employer documentation (ID if you are an individual or Articles of Organization/Incorporation if the employer is a company).

PRODUCTION:

You have 2 items to complete:

(1) Production Time Report (AKA Exhibit G; filled out and signed by actors at every day of filming), submitted the end of every week. [I have successfully done this all digitally by using an iPad and an Apple Pencil, and then exporting as a pdf and submitting that.]

(2) Performer Employment Contract (this is SAG-AFTRA’s actors contract. For short films and New Media SAG-AFTRA says you do not have to pay the actor, you can offer deffered rates…ie. New Media – We pay you when we monetize (ie. make any money off of the project). For Short Projects it is a minimum $206/day deferred where you only pay if your film goes beyond film festivals.).

A Note on Paying Actors: Everyone else on the crew of a film gets paid. You should pay your actors. Below will cover what you need to do. If you respect your crew enough to pay them, you should pay ALL your actors. The SAG-AFTRA short project rate is on par with anything you are paying any other member of the team. Give your actors the respect you give the rest of your team and pay them.

POST-PRODUCTION:

(1) The Final Cast List (filled out at the end of production … only SAG-AFTRA members for short projects and new media contracts, or full cast if UPA or MPA). Get it out of the way on the last day to make your life easier.

(2) Final Budget (“Final Cost Report”). Same as pre-production, send them in your format, it is easier and much more sane. [Not required for all productions.]

(3) Performer Compensation*:

     ( i ) PAY YOUR PERFORMERS: Use a payroll company. The cost of using a payroll company is far less than the annoyance of deducting taxes by state and paying the proper state and federal entities. I've done it the hard way and I will not be going back to it. Wrapbook is one and has a summary of what they do, as well as other payroll companies that know SAG-AFTRA contracts;

     ( ii ) Pay SAG-AFTRA Pension & Health Contributions -- some payroll companies do this for you, so only pay the P&H directly if the payroll company you choose does not already cover it.

NB: If your production is over a week long, you will have to start sending payment before production ends.

DONE! (With SAG-AFTRA)

OTHER ITEMS:

PAYING CREW AS EMPLOYEES:

There is debate on the proper way to pay Crew and it appears that paying as W2 employees is the proper route, which would involve dealing with the same tax payments as the above SAG-AFTRA actors.

For further information check out this interesting post on the subject.

NEW YORK CITY PERMITS:

Information on Permits: http://www.nyc.gov/html/film/html/permits/permit_required_fee.shtml

It is a one-time $300 payment and gives you access to be on locations. It is worth it if you are filming outside in Manhattan or in a Park.

To Note: If filming in a Park or even on the sidewalk bordering the Park, you must ALSO get permission from the Park Administration (it is a simple form you fill out usually): http://www.nyc.gov/html/film/html/permits/parks.shtml.

If you do not have a login, you sign up and the process is quite easy:

https://nyceventpermits.nyc.gov/film/

To Note: For Permits, you must print and register for one permit per day. If you don’t know which day you will need it, you need to setup a SEPARATE permit for each potential day. The online form is a little confusing and allows you to setup a permit that spans more than a single day, but then the Permit Office will tell you last minute that you filled out the form wrong and need to start from scratch again.

The Office gets busy and you usually won’t hear back from them until 24-48 hours before your first permit comes into effect. At that point you will need to fill out and print the permit notice forms and place them at the outside location to give you legitimacy.

Both the Mayor’s Office and the Parks Department are very friendly and helpful. When in doubt, if you are filming outside, get a permit.

FILMING ON THE SUBWAY:

Here are some helpful links:

Subway Photo Permit Info: http://www.nycsubway.org/wiki/Subway_FAQ:_Photo_Permit_Information

NYCRR 1050.9c applies to the NYCT and MaBSTOA; 21 NYCRR 1040.4f of the same document applies to SIRT:

http://www.nycsubway.org/wiki/Subway_FAQ:_Photography_in_the_Subway

Essentially, as long as you are handheld and do not setup any lighting or the like, you can film on the subway without a permit.

Proof:

NYCLU Letter with the Long Island Railroad/MTA: http://www.lirrhistory.com/photog.pdf

NPPA article on photography being legal: https://nppa.org/news/2997

PRODUCER CREDIT TITLING:

Sometimes on indie projects producer roles get merged together and figuring out the best credit for each involved is hard, this is a nice page I found where they outline the commonly accepted practices/associations of the different credits when it comes to film projects and television/series projects: producer titles

SUBTITLES & CAPTIONS:

DaVinci Resolve now has a free auto-transcription/captioning system. Many professional NLEs now have this built in. Saves you soooo much time. It will also cover subtitle files, though translations to multiple languages may still be in a future update.

http://www.aegisub.org/ is a free software that is user-friendly and pretty easy to use. You can subtitle in your native language and then export as an SRT file. Then you can use that SRT file and create translations for your film. I recommend having a solid English subtitle SRT file and then asking native foreign language speakers to translate the text you have created so that it is not a Google Translate or the like, but one that makes sense to native speakers. See above auto-transcriptions as a way to create your initial SRT file.