Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1957)

make his own package out of him." There are some agents who will go to extravagant lengths to create spots for their own clients, but the consensus even among critics is that the practice is not alarmingly epidemic. The agent who, as one said, "would rewrite a script calling for a twoheaded midget, in order to use a client who happened to stand eight feet tall and have three heads," would seem to be the exception, though some such are said to exist. In time, talent buyers gradually develop an affinity for some agents and a cold shoulder for others. They learn that some give thought to the buyer's needs before making a pitch, while others will pitch anything. They discover which agents consistently come up with good ideas and which ones have weak batting averages and weak clients. Through this process of trial and error, many buyers reach a point where they will consider anything submitted by some agents and will look at nothing coming from others. For all the slings and arrows they have taken over the years — perhaps because of them — talent agents are a widely regulated group. They must, of course, take out state licenses as employment agencies, and in some areas there are separate licenses for agents and for employment agencies, though they can get both for the price of the most expensive. Then they must get franchises from the talent unions in the fields they wish to work — American Federation of Television & Radio Artists, American Guild of Variety Artists, Screen Directors Guild of America, Screen Actors Guild, Actors Equity, Screen Writers Guild and Writers Guild of America. And the unions have a lot of rules to protect their members from any agent who might tend to become greedy. For one thing, the unions generally set the maximum commission allowable (10% except in the case of Equity, which has a 5% maximum), and in most cases also restrict the length of original contract between member and agent to three years. They spell out what the agent must and may not do, and at least one (AFTRA) specifies who may not be an agent (generally, anyone who is in the advertising agency business, owns or controls any radio or tv station or network, acts as an artists' bureau, is a producer, employer or independent contractor in the radio, tv, transcription or phonograph records fields, or owns more than 10% of any company engaged in any of these activities, except that by meeting certain conditions he may produce tv or radio package shows or represent producers of packages). Some contracts (AFTRA's and AGVA's, for example) even bind the agent to tell the truth ("to the artist"). AFTRA also provides a three-way ban on' other characters. This is less demanding, but even for bit parts she prefers to engage actors who are above the minimum-scale level. "The least important walk-on bit, if not done right, can drop the level of the whole production," she declares. The talent budget for a half-hour filmed tv program is about $6,500 on the average, including stars or lead players, or about onefifth of the overall production cost of $30,000 to $35,000. In films, sets and overhead are more expensive than in live tv productions. "Using that one-fifth as a rule of thumb, I more or less set my own talent budget for the shows I cast," she says, "and there's surprisingly little variance from show to show." The star or stars of a tv series may also be involved in its production and compensated on a percentage of profits or of gross revenue from the sale of the programs. If not, they will be contracted for at a figure of so much per film for so many films, normally set in multiples of 13. Supporting players for any individual episode of a series are usually engaged on a one-day or threeday basis, three days being the usual shooting time for a half -hour filmed program. Extras are hired for one day and the schedule is arranged so that all scenes in which any one of them appears will be shot during a single day. Minimum scale of the Screen Actors Guild, to which actors appearing in tv films must belong, is $80 a day, $200 for three days or $285 for a week. ' Like the stars of a series, casting directors negotiate their terms of payment with the producers for a series but on a per-program basis, which in Miss Burch's case may be as low as $50 a show or as high as $250. Normally, the same fee applies to the pilot film as to the rest of the series, she says, although if she is required to get a star for the pilot there would probably be an extra fee for this service. Miss Burch said it is practically impossible to estimate time needed to cast an average tv program "because there's no such thing as an average program." Also, she noted that casting one show is not an isolated activity; that in talking to an agent about using one of his clients on one pro gram she may agree to audition another actor he handles for another show; that casting of any show is apt to be a matter of minutes spent in a number of hours or hours in a number of days rather than a concise time package. Casting for television is divided about 5050 between independent casting directors like herself and the casting departments of the tv networks and the major motion picture studios which also make tv films, she estimated. In casting a tv show, Miss Burch makes every effort to cast characters rather than types. But for commercials, the reverse is true. Here she begins with a session with the advertising agency in which she studies the story board and is instructed as to the type of people that are desired: the young suburban housewife, the grand dame, the freckle-faced boy, etc. "Agencies always want readings for the commercial parts, even if they're only one line, so I try to have six or seven people read each one, especially if it's a young feminine part. For male roles, numbers aren't so important and if I have one actor I think is right, I can usually get him accepted without having to supply others for a competitive reading." Scale for actors employed on commercials varies with the type of commercial, spot or program, and with the number of cities in which it is to be used. Minimum for spot commercials done on camera is $70 each for 13 weeks use in 1-5 cities, with $35 for each 13-week renewal; $105 each for 13 weeks for use in 6-20 cities and $140 each 13 weeks use in more than 20 cities. For program commercials, the 1-5-city fee is $105 each 13 weeks; $140 for the same time for 6-20 cities and $70 for single use in more than 20 cities, with $50 for each individual re-use. Miss Burch's office day begins at 9 a.m., usually at her main office at the Hal Roach Studios (she casts most of the tv shows produced there), from which she travels to her other offices, at Goldwyn, General Service and Motion Picture Center, to confer with associates headquartered there. Be TALENT BUYER, TALENT SELLER in daily contact, discussing available talent and tv show needs, are Miss Burch and Robert Oakley. Actors' agent Oakley is a former actor himself, who started in the agent business with Bing Crosby's brother, Everett. When that agency was dissolved, he joined Famous Artists, and later worked for KTTV (TV) and was an associate producer for NBC in Hollywood. He opened his own agency recently. fore she gets away at 7 p.m. (seldom earlier although frequently later) she will have held two or more conferences with producers about scripts, made plans for me2tings and readings, called actors for interviews and readings, held interviews and attended readings, made deals with agents for the people set for parts, talked to actors, writers and advertising agency executives, agreed to talk to people just arrived in Hollywood from New York (or possibly London or Paris or Rome), etc. On Tuesdays, Miss Burch holds "open interviews" for new talent. Evenings are also devoted to talent hunting at the theatre, at the movies, at productions staged by drama clubs, dramatic schools and little theatre groups, or at home watching tv. And her day will probably end, about midnight, as it began, with a session of reading scripts. Broadcasting October 21, 1957 • Page 43