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What does “plus 10” mean?
Answer: The standard for an agent’s commission is 10%, paid out of the gross wages you get paid as an actor. Plus 10 means that…
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Answer: The standard for an agent’s commission is 10%, paid out of the gross wages you get paid as an actor. If the production company happens to be willing to pay your agent’s fee in addition to your rate, that’s called “plus 10.”
Although the labor laws in all major production centers’ states clearly mandate that an agent’s commission percentage is 10%, the law doesn’t stipulate who pays for it. Your agent can sometimes negotiate that that 10% be paid by the production company, in addition to the paycheck you get. Consider the conversation that might take place when your agent isn’t satisfied with the amount you’re getting paid – by getting the production company to pay their agent’s commission, they can make sure that you keep all of your pay.
Also be aware that some agents are very aggressive, especially some commercial agents. They may negotiate a commission from both you and the production company, and that’s well within the law to do so. Also remember that it’s in your agent’s best interest to get you the highest pay possible, even if it is in a plus 10 situation – their 10% is higher if your pay is higher.
Be careful – this doesn’t mean that the production company will send your agent a separate check. It only means that they are willing to pay 110% of your negotiated rate. When you receive your first (and maybe only) check, examine it carefully to see of there’s a line labeled “Agent’s commission” or “Agent’s fee” with an amount that is 10% of the gross, or nearly 10%.
Why nearly 10%?
Because some income you’ll receive, in particular with union productions, are not commissionable, and the production company may be detail oriented enough to only apply the 10% to those items that are due a commission. As an example, overtime is commissionable, but your meal penalties, per diem and travel are not.
My agent chimed in with a tip when he read this article: “Be aware that scale plus 10 is usually paid in one lump sum, but be sure that when you do the split, that the math is done properly – current scale of around $750 per day plus 10% of around $75 means a total check of around $825. Make sure you’re paid properly in that your agent doesn’t mistakenly take $82.50 (10% of the total, which would actually be 11% of your scale rate), but rather the $75 that they are owed.”
Be aware that this “plus 10” payment structure is more likely to be on the table from the beginning if the acting job you’re up for is a commercial or an industrial production. Although it’s not unheard of for theatrical productions to be plus 10, it’s far more rare for those productions to be willing to pay the 10% separately. Television episodic production is almost never willing to do that, as budgets tighten, and the production companies look for legal ways to minimize their outlays.
Your agent will let you know if he’s successful in negotiating a plus 10 deal, and your responsibility will be to go over your contract when you get to set to make sure the terms of the deal are as you were advised. If there’s an issue, call your agent immediately and let him handle the situation – don’t hold up production while it’s worked out (unless your agent calls you and advises you to – a very rare situation).
Finally, pay your agent immediately if any of your checks include that “Agent’s commission” item. It’s a great opportunity to get some face time with your agent and celebrate this success. The moment you get your pay, write your agent a check for the commission amount, make two photocopies of both your check and the check stub from your pay showing the gross, deductions and commission amount, and include one of them with the check for your agent. File the other for your taxes and note the commission paid. And don’t mail the check. Head to your agent’s office in person, pop into his office, and drop the check off. You make sure it gets in his hands quickly, and the hand delivery means a smiling happy meet and greet with your hard working sales representative.
What’s your answer to this acting question? Let me know in the comments below.
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LikeDislikeWho is responsible for the taxes on the +10%?
My daughter worked a job and it included a +20%. The agent kept the +20% (and took 10% of her gross pay). Now that it’s tax time the agent sent me a 1099-MISC that includes the +20%. I think that they were paid the +20% directly. It wasn’t money earned my daughter, and it is not her tax liability. Is that correct?
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LikeDislikeI am not a CPA – nor am I a tax expert. You’d need to ask the person preparing your taxes, or handling her accounting (or both – they should be in contact with each other to coordinate the tax return effort).
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LikeDislikeHello!
I recently received a check that included 10% for my agent.
I am now trying to send my manager her cut of the check. When I commission my manager her 10%, do I base it off of the gross compensation on the check (including the 10% agency fee) OR the amount of the straight rate (gross compensation minus 10% agency fee)?
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I don’t know if this helps but here is what I found on my manager’s contract:
(d) If at any time an “Agency Fee†of 15% or greater is provided, the fee will go to the Management Company as the Commission unless Artist has an agent. If Artist has an agent, the Management Company will take commission from the Gross Compensation.
– – –
Thanks so much!
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LikeDislikeHaving this conversation both with your agent, and with your manager, will usually net you the right answer (which is the straight rate, what your management is referring to as Gross Compensation, and you are incorrectly calling the amount that includes your agency fee – you don’t commission one of your representatives on money paid to another) and will tell you a lot about their honesty and integrity. So, know the right answer, then talk to both of your reps about it. See how that conversation goes.
Example: You get a check for $1100. That’s your rate ($1000) plus 10% for your agent ($100). Your manager gets 15% of your Gross Compensation, which is $1000, or $150, not 15% of $1100.
Hope that’s clear.
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LikeDislikeWhat happens if you’ve signed a Plus 10% commercial contract, done the shoot, and the agent later sends you a check for MINUS 10%(agency has effectively taken 20%)? How is this handled without alienating the agent? Non-union job, Detroit/Chicago market. Is it legal?
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LikeDislikeFirst step is to check your agent contract to be sure that they are not entitled to take a 10% commission from both sides of the booking. If you’re sure they aren’t, write a note to remind the agent that the job was plus 10, and that s/he should kindly remit the errant 10% in a check to you. Be nice about it – it might be just an error. Always assume an error, and then move on to more forceful demands.
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LikeDislikeThis was incredibly helpful. Thank you, David!
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LikeDislikeIs it common for an agent to try to take commission from both sides? My son recently took a commercial job where his pay was quoted as base pay + 15%. He only received his percentage from the base pay. The agent is now giving us the run around. Thoughts?
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LikeDislikeI’m assuming that this is a non-union job. If not, the agent is not in compliance with SAG-AFTRA rules, but if this is a non-union job, the agent can certainly, and often does, take money from both the client and the production company (the +15%). Depending upon your agreement with the agent, your son should have received at least 90% of the base pay. There is nothing wrong with an agent taking that percentage from both sides. I’ve seen people get really upset by that, but I don’t quite understand why. You have an agent, you get auditions, you get booked, and you should be prepared to pay 10%, whether he/she gets an additional amount or not. I WANT my agent making money – lots of it. That means I’m making 9 times as much, at least. Hope this helps.
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LikeDislikeTook a photo of my non union contract I signed on set.
It read talent fee $300 +15 o/o Total Fee said $345
Agent cashes my check and sends me a check for $255?
What to do?
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LikeDislikeI’m assuming you have an agreement with your agent that he takes 15% of your earnings. He did. He also took the 15% that the production company offered, so he was commissioned on both sides of the transaction. That’s often what non-union means. If the production company hadn’t offered the extra 15%, you still would have received $255. Have you talked to him about it? There’s nothing surprising here.
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LikeDislikeThank you. No I just sent a photo of the check and the contract with a ( ? ) received no response
What about The Agent cashing the check without my consent?
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LikeDislikeThe check may have been written to him (and then he writes a check to you) – pretty standard – or you may have signed a check authorization, which gives him the right to do that. Again, pretty standard.
I’m not sure if you’re upset or not, and what you’re upset about – this is all very standard in the non-union world. It’s not allowed in the union world, but in non-union, very common.
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LikeDislikeThe agency did it exactly right
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LikeDislikeI worked on non-union job. Is it common practice to be taxed on an “agency fee” in addition to the commission? The fee that was supposedly coming from the production company was taken directly out of my gross pay after taxes.
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LikeDislikeI bet it was 10%, yes? As with all of the other variations here of the same question, your agent took a commission from you (calling it an “agency fee” instead of a “client commission”, as well as taking a fee from the production company. It is common practice in non-union jobs, and is not illegal.
It was 20% as it was a non union job. There was a 20% commission taken out of my check, as well as, a 20% “agency fee” that was apparently supposed to be paid by the production company but was taken out of my check. It sounds like it was “lumped in,” but this seems fishy. The rate for the job was $666, then I was told the rate was $800. It didn’t say it was “plus any %,” but I’m guessing the production company lumped it in there. Altogether there was $320 taken out of my check- $160 each for commission and fee. Does this seem right?
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LikeDislikeI guessed at 10%, but there is no standard for non-union work. They could take 99% if you’d agree to it. This is all pretty common for non-union work. You have to decide if you want to continue working with that agent or not.
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LikeDislikeHi David,
I have a further variation on this subject: I have a non-exclusive “oral agreement” with my agent, who then found me an acting/print job that is open-ended (ie: no termination date, just as and when I am available). I get called in for a day’s work every couple of weeks, and then pay the agent their +20% and an additional 20% from my paycheck. This arrangement has been going on for 3 years now.
However, I am about to sign with another agent across the board exclusively, and will terminate my “oral agreement” with my old/current agent. They are fine with that, since we have had no communication for quite some time. However, my question is this: do I still have to pay the 40% (20 + 20) as long as I get called in for the occasional day, forever?
Can I renegotiate a “new” contract with the production company that no longer involves my old agent? I understand you are a very strong advocate for agents here, and “love” paying them fees. My question is about paying them after terminating our relationship for an ad-hoc contract that has no end date.
Many thanks in advance for any advice,
Sam
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LikeDislikeDon’t mistake my love for agents as anything other than a business decision – I love paying them to work for me as long as that relationship remains fruitful.
I’m not sure I understand your question, since you will have a new EXCLUSIVE arrangement with your new across the board agent. You won’t have any dealings with the old non-exclusive agent at all. If this ongoing day work is working on the same show, then that older agent is due your commission for as long as you’re on the show, unless you reach a separate agreement (don’t make it oral) with them. Any new work will fall under the new agreement with your new agent. If you’re getting called in for the same kind of work on a new show or project by the same production company, that’s different – although if it’s extra work, and that production company has a pattern of using you for a lot of their projects, then given the fact that you got that work originally with the old agent may lend itself to continuing that commission.
I’d need more information to give you better advice.
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LikeDislikeHi David,
I worked on a union commercial shoot and got a check with the plus 10% lumped into the total. My agent says she will take 10% from the total of my check and 10% from the plus 10% that the production company put in there. Is this legal? So essentially, she’s getting 20% of my gross pay. Also, if my total including plus 10% is $690 and she takes $69 out for 10% instead of $62 out ($622 is before plus 10%), how should I communicate that she took more than 10% without alienating her?
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LikeDislikeMy agent got back to me on this, and here’s what he had to say:
“Sounds like 2 separate questions that I’ll try to explain. It is common practice for commercial agencies and especially modeling agencies (who don’t get residuals from most of their bookings) to take the 10% that’s added AND 10% of the base (often 20% that’s added on non-union commercials and modeling gigs). We certainly don’t do it and I would hope that most agencies don’t either when it’s a scale job, when the reason that 10% is added is so that the agency gets its “tithe” without having to “invade scale”. Since this was a union commercial, I believe the agency has committed a violation of the SAG/Agency contract and a call to SAG-AFTRA would probably confirm this. But it’s very likely that the agency is not bound by the SAG/Agency agreement if they’re in the ATA and not SAG-franchised which describes nearly all the reputable agencies. The actor may have signed a contract with her agency which stipulates that this is the agency’s policy. I’m sure the agency will contend that they are within their rights to take the extra 10% and won’t be too easily swayed to refund the money. All I can say is, if I were an actor I wouldn’t like it but I’m not sure I would fight it.
I think what occurred in this instance is that the agency calculated the commission due them as 10% of the gross amount, rather than just the 10% that was added. Again, we don’t do that. But I believe many agencies do. It’s just easier for the bookkeeper and results only in the actor paying effectively an 11% commission, at least on the scale plus 10 jobs. Again, I think it’s common so it would probably ruffle more feathers than it’s worth to protest. But if your actor were inclined to change agencies, she might add this to the list of reasons for doing so.”
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LikeDislikeI received my first residual check for a show on prime time market. How do I know if I’m suppose to pay the 10% of residuals. I asked my agent and she said its always negotiated in but I dont see it anywhere in my statement from the Company.
Thank you
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LikeDislikeHello!
My husband booked a small non-union commercial through his manager, who takes a 20% commission on non-union jobs. The rate was listed on the breakdown as “$450 (inc. agency fee).” The manager charged his typical 20% commission ($90 in this case) and an additional 20% agency fee of $90 and my husband received a check for $270. If there is no +20 agency fee negotiated from the production company, is the manager legally allowed to charge the performer?
Thanks for your help:)
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LikeDislikeI did a sag commercial and in the commercial they took print work.I did not know that the print work was non union .My agent took 20% comission from my pay and the agency pay 20% on top of that .I was very upset with this because they took the money and they did not pay me until 3 months after.If the agent could have been less greedy he colud have try to negotiate that extra 20%.To my surprise his check was bigger than mine that i worked on it.My point is that thei is illegal by the department of labor.It says very clear in the AGENTS CONTRACT that the agent cant NOT get paid twice,BY THE AGENCY OR BU THE CLIENT/.PERIOD.
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LikeDislikeHi David!
Recently contacted by someone in the Entertainment Industry about a possible Audition for our teen aged Son for a potential Lead in a Pilot. Basically, this person gave our name to the Casting Firm. Is there a Finders Fee? We have signed nothing. Does this mean he is our supposedly agent? We are making headway into the Music Industry, this Acting Opportunity came out of the blue. The Audition Videos that we made are being presented in front of a Major Network today. Little overwhelmed. Please Help!!!!
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LikeDislikeI’m sorry that you were under the gun and didn’t have much time between when you posted here and when you had your audition, and I’d talk to an attorney to verify this, but you’re under no obligation to pay anyone anything for a simple referral, unless you yourself promised them one.
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LikeDislikeHi,
I was recently booked on a non union commercial that paid +%20. My manager submitted me. My Agent signed off on it and basically forwarded the production company’s contract/email to me to sign. He hasn’t done nearly as much as my manager in regards to getting me work.
Anyhow, in my contract with my Agent is states that he makes %10 on commercials. My manager makes %15. So I asked him to clarify his breakdown of pay to be clear, since I assumed that he would split the +%20 (%10 & %10) with my manager and then my manager would charge me the additional %5 from my pay. He never responded (red flag).
What I’m a little concerned about is that he may try to not only keep the +%20 (for a job he didn’t even submit me on), but may also try to charge me the additional +%10 on top of that.
I read a few of your earlier responses, but how is double dipping like that legal?? It’s highly unethical.
Should I have an entertainment attorney go over my contract? Who could I call for more info on this matter.
Thank you for your time.
Any info you have would be greatly appreciated.
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LikeDislikeYou should have had an entertainment attorney review your agreement with your representation when you started, but now would be a good time to contact one.
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LikeDislikeHi David,
I’m a member of the union. Is my understanding of the above comments/replies correct: that the agent can only take 10% of your base rate + 10% extra (offered by production) if you’re none-union? but if you’re union once that 10% production fee is given they can’t also take 10% of your rate?
Also I’m wondering if you know what the grounds are for terminating a 1 year SAG commercial contract? I was told if you haven’t earned $3,500 in 91 days that you have the right to terminate but then I was also told that it was in fact 4 months or 150 days and that was 1 days work at all.. so I’m confused but I really want to leave my agent.
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LikeDislikeI’m interested in what response you got when you called the SAG-AFTRA offices about these two issues. What did they say?
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LikeDislikeMy son’s agent has recently gone beyond taking the ‘plus 10’ as a booking fee, in addition to commission from us on non-union jobs.
In the past, if a job advertised “$500, all-inclusive”, they interpret that as their cue to take 15-20% off the top as their booking fee, then an additional 20% commission from us. Okay, whatever, I don’t like it, but fine.
*But now, they have started adjusting the advertised rate (when it doesn’t say ‘all-inclusive’) so they can still take a booking fee as well as a commission. They have done it to us twice. I could see the advertised rate, in the breakdown, or email, and I confirmed that other kids we met on the same job were receiving the full amount (yes, stage moms talk), so I know not every agent in town is doing this.
I’m like you, I feel our agent works hard for us, and I don’t want to complain, but at what point does it go from ‘taking liberties’ to actually breaking the law?
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