Variety (Jan 1934)

Tuesday, January 30, 1934 RADIO VARIETY 39 EQUITY'S RADIO REPORT (Vabiety prints herevilth a prac- ticdlly verJ?atiin tnmscript of the report on radio taletit prepared by the Actors' Equity Association of the legitimate theatre and sub- mitted to the itadio. Code . Author- ity this 'week. Equity is .seeking recognition as the radio performers' ttnton.) The General ituatidn There are no st^indard minimum Contracts, conditions or rates o£ pay In radio today. In each atadio, or agency, the pay of the performers and the treatment they, are accorded varies with the exigencies of the^ -moment or the personal vagaries, the affections and .the antogonistns d£ Individual directors, casters und - Bupervisbrs. There arc, In consequence, few definite,' clear cut: pi^tterns of he- h£Lvl6r on whlchi all the testimdny is In agreement, In certain jpro- granis all players recelye the same pay without distinction as to the. nature or the calibre of th^lr worK In others the rate of pay differs without ainy seeming relation to the work either. The same companies and agencies both pay and wlthr hold pa;y for auditions; pay. the sam^^e and, different rates for per- formances which are repeated; col- lect commissions they do: not earn and psLy the full rate agreed upbhi: accord the most perfect courtesy and treat performers casually, cynically and even cruelly—and all without any appsirent order or' rea- .Bon. In short. It is appareht that the radio field has been run In the same hapihazard, unregulated manner that business In general found, so de- structive arid so apt to Induce un- necessary and -even undeslred abuses. In . the years immediately prior to 1933; Equity the. Only Possibje Organiz. The Actors' Equity' Association Is the only organization which • can adequately represent radio perform- ersr either In the hearings before the National Recovery Administration, or in negotiations with the broad- casters as. to a standard minimum contract, standard working condi- tions, or mlhimuni pay. Equity has been, granted juris- diction over radio by the Associated Actors and Artistes of America, the international union,. afllliated with the American Federation of Laboi*, which has Jurisdiction over the en- tire entertainment field. And It is the steadfast policy of the Federation, adhered to over many years; to grant Jurisdiction only , to one union in any field. Thei-^ could not, therefore, either now or ever, be another union for the p^erforiners in radio except with •the Consent of the Actors' Equity Association. But even If that Were possible the negotiation of contracts and standard conditions of labor lis a dlflncult and delicate task requiring a great fuiid of experience , in the drafting of such .agreements and a background of knowledge of condi- tions in the field. No group which Could be organized from radio could equal the experlerTce in negotiations of this sort which Equity has ac- quired in more fha:n twenty yeia,rs as the representative of the actors in the legltimatd theatre. The Service Bureau Which Renders Only Commissions If there is one practice which all the actors unite In condemning it is that of the Artists' Bureau, or Con- cert Bureau, of the National Broad- castlngT Company. ,In Collecting, a 10% commission from many* If not all of the actors who appear In NBC sustaining programs, whether they are called by the Bureau, or by the director of the program or, whether through their own efforts, or by those of the author,, sponsor or friends, they are engaged .without the Bureau's aid. For concert work, or personal appearances; this com- mission appears to be 15 %. Theoretically when the Bureau was organized,, in 1929, it was to arrange programs for advertisers, or their agents; , who were not equipped to prepare their own pro- grams; arid to prepare programs t6 occupy the time not sold by the Star tlon (which programs are known as sustaining programs in contrast to the- commercial programs fbr which the advertiser pays). Inasmuch as the Congressional Investigation of commcrciar radio advertising, in 1932 (Senatfe Docy ment No. 137, .72nd (Congress, tst == Sessipn)r"reports--that >fojv=th6=.-year: previous the non-cbmmerclal pro- grams occupied 66.2% (of which 57.3 ■was sustaining and ,8.9 institutional) of the time NBC was on the ajr; and that the sustaining programs of the .Columbia Broadcasting Sys- tem occupied 78.06% of its time, the /concert Bureau's practices affected the very great majority of the firtists employed by tho.«?e com- lianios. As announced, agai <liPocy. Equity Proposals for C Equity recommends that in any radio code the following be made basic conditions of employment: WAGES Minimum. wagjBS for Artists eni^agcd for and i>articllp>atlng in thd performance, of radio programs shall, be at th«)' following rates: (a:) Live Programis: FOR CLASS 'A' Programs: Sustaining. Minimum Wage^ 120 pQr performance; Commercial, ?40 per performance^ Class 'A' Programs, are those broadcast after 6 o'clock In the evening pyer a chain pf^ hot. less than five stations for a single perform-: ance; Class 'A' Programs are alsb..those single broadcasts given' after 6 p.m. froni a single station whose charges are based upoii an advertising card rate of ?400 or over, per evening, hoiir. Morning and afternoon programs, minimum, rate, sustaining, $12.50 per perform- ance;, commercial, |36. per performance. When an artist i^ engaged: to perform jts part of the-entertain- ment on a commercial program for three or more periods within ■ a week the minimum' wage will be not less than .$25 per broadcast. FOR CLAiSS 'B' PROGRAMS: Sustaining, $12.50 per perform- ance; CommerciaU $25 per performance. Class. 'B' programs are those taking place in the morning or stfternoon over a- chain of not less than five stations for .a slrtgle broadcast. Class 'B' Pro-, grams are also those given aftier; six o'clock in the evening over a ..single station. Whoise charges are based upon an advertiilhg . card rate of $280 and under $.400 per evening hour. Morning and a;fterhoon programs: Sustaining^ $10 per performance; Cbmmerr .clal, $15 per performance. When an artist is engaged to perform , as part of the ehterr talriment on a commercial program for .three or more periods Within a week,: the minimum - wage will, hot be less than $16 per FOR CLASS 'C' PROGRAMS: Sustaining, $10 per perform- ance;. Commercial; $15 per performance. Class 'C, Programs'are those broadcast after 6 ofclock in the evening from a single station, whose charges are based on an advertising card rate of over ,$10.0 and under '$250 per evening, hour. ^Morning and afternoon pro- grams: Sustaining, $7^50 per performance; Commercial. $12.60 per performance. When an artist is engagai to; perform as .part of the enter- tainment on a commercial program for three or more periods within a week the minimum wage will be liot less than $7.50 per broadcast. . It is recognized thai there are many • smaller stations: but, as these rarely, employ pi-'ofessiqnal talent, i.ie. artists ioho mdlee their living out of radio performances, no regulations are made regarding them. Including rehearsa,ls, a peffortnance shall constitute 3^ hour^. Overtime, shall be at the rate of half-pay for each S .hours Or. part thereof. One-half of the wagie scale shall be paid for ^'repeat" perform- ances on. the air fpllowlrig within 12 hours of the original per- formance. An artist- 'doubling' roles containing more than 50 words. Is to be paid at least one-half the inlnlmum wage for each role 'doubled.' It shall .be unfair practice for any employnient agent alrtists' bureau or others to charge the artist movs than 10% net for secur^ ing employment for the artist. Arilsts called to the stiidio at the scheduled, time of the broadcasting, or to the dress rehearsal imme- diately prior thereto, and who report ready for performance are to be paid, whether or not they go on the air. AUDITIONS All 'Live' auditions given for a prospective prpgram buyer are to he paid for by the prospective buyer, the basis for such eom- pensation being one-half the minimum wage for commercial. per- formaiice for artists participating In said program calculated on.the basis of the Class- Rates applicable to the stations.' the higher classification within the group. , Recordings may be. inade of such 'Live' Auditions by or at the expense of the program .producer, the future use of such record- ings being restricted as follows; Every prospective advertising sponsor (meaning advertiser as distiiict from advertising, agent) shall be required to pay to listen to any recorded radio program and the fee therefot* shall be the basis of compensation at ione- half the niinimum wage for commercial peirformances for artists anticipating in said program when broadcast. The same terms and conditions apply to' any radio program recorded and auditioned to apy. prospective advertising sponsor. Respectfully submitted, ACTORS' ESUITY ASSOCIATION. the concert Bureau was not to be profit making. The 10% deducted from the actors- salaries for sus- taining programs by the BiirejLu (and, incldehtally, the salaries on sustaining programs were about half of those paid for commercial programs),', was supposed to be the actor!s contribution to the pay of the executives of' the fiureau, the authors of radio scripts and con- tinuities, the"directors,:and the gen- eral overhead of the Bureau. It was not what, was done for any of them individually, but for all actors .and sciolsts. The pplicy did. not, how- pver, apply .to the musicians in the ensembles for the good reason that, the American Fiederatiori of Musl- qlarts would not stand for it. So the musicians weriB paid for every, min- ute they worked %nd the actCrs and the soloists were, in effect, fined for the privilege of working for the company. ■ , ^, , In the year, after Its organization the Conceirt Bureau at NBC was re- ported by K. Trenholm in the New .York Sun of August 29, 1931. aS having done a $7,000,000 business in 1930; How much of this was profit was unstated, but without doubt a conslderjible part pf it did repre- •sent profit. ^ ^ , i.. The Artists' Bureau at Columbia was reported. In Vartett, October 31, J.935, -.^-. having _made a profit of $105,"000lH"mf~-TKlsmrti§tS'-Bu'^= reau also drew complaints, from some members, though they were not as serious or as numerous a." those leveled against, the NBC Bu- reau. And Equity's Chicago pmce, reporting on. the situation in Chi- cago (of which more later), absolvefl the Columlila Arti.sts' Bureau of charging romnii.«;.><ion.s in that city. Equity on Graft haA'C b<»on i)frsistorit anfl Widespread rumors to the ettiict that graft Was either necessary or con duclve to securing .Jobs in radio. In its. questionnaires and Interviews Equity asked point blank- for evi- dence on this head and got only three definite allegations. Apprpxl mateiy Cne-third of the replies, however, declared that they, too, had had heard similiur rumors.. Equity admits that it had neither the time nor the facilities to con duct Its own investigation of this situation. Where it does ho't hiaye In its possession any definite evi- dence of the existing of such a, sys tem the association; will not prefer any charges., although, it WHl re mark that where the percentage of rumor Is so high there is probably some basis for it. Manner in which graft might be handled was suggested by an actor who has gtpwn up with commercial broadcasting. 'Paying.all actors oh programs alike.- without regard to the quantity or the quality of their work opens the way for abuses,' he wrote. An actor who knows that he Is only capable of playing small parts may otter to kick back a. big slice, of his fee to the'dlrectpr, if. he is used often. He can afford to make that offer for otherwise he wpuld only be uised occasionally, and he feels that it is better for him, and. may mean more money 'eventuallyT^to^JW6rk=-for:;a;.8maU=Jlfifi_ and to get lots of Jobs. And. be cause the director's salary is not large and ^ since he may fcer that this actor Is overpaid for what he can do, an>-way, there is no one to object. The temptation Is Certainly great. The. program director de- clares that nothing like this occurs at NBC, bnt the actors admit mak ing such offers to director.<} and ono iliroftor .vlmlt.o rpco.tvlng Ihom. If a minimum fee were enforced or if actprs were paid according to the wpi'k they, .performed there might not. be such an opportunity.' There. Is no direct evidence hero on wbich to make charges, but tlie persistence pf the rumors and the high percentage of the actors who had heard them is. probably .indi- cative of the existence of some, But either it is-not definitely systema-. tized or the actors are afraid of in- volving themselves in. any- charges that might .be, brought and are steering, clear of stfch Involvement. iti "Perhaps it would simplify the question if Equity Indicated, at this point what it meant by ah audition. It is not here considering the visit of a performer to a brojidcaster or; to an advertising agency, with the reqiiest that he be permitted to show his wax-es,.. to give a taste of his quality. But Equity is referring to the. pall from; an advertising agencyj or from- a broadca.ster, to an artist With the request that he pre- pare to participate in a program which is to be shown to a prospec- tive purclVaser, whether a sponsor or the. advertising agency which' represents such a sponsor. It is evident that in this latter case con- siderable, preparation and rehearsal is necessary and that during it the player is withdrawn from cli'cula-: tlon and is" not. available to' other offers. Equity bellevies that such work at the. reqqest of the station or the agency, is deserving of pay,, and it siiggeists that, a fair amount would be one^half of the. fee to be paid for a regular broadcast if the program should be sold; and. to be paid by the prospective purchaser for whom- it is rendered, whether he buys it or.not.. Now this Is what actually happens: . .'Aiiditions were given.' Writes one player, 'in the expectation of pay, because previous auditions had been paid. "They involved three auditions with all-day rehearsals and record- ing for the client. I was not paid anything.' NBC is .generally reported as pay- ing for auditions. $12.50 for audi- tions for sustaining programs and $25 for Clients' auditions. CBS, which used to pay approximately that amount, no longer does so, and discontinued its payments, appar- ently without warning. .An actor was asked to prepare a group of programs embodying cer- tain ideas Which were talked over with the-program, director. Several were written and submitted and an audition of one of them was given,- at which a high official of the. com- pany was present. After waiting a month without receiving any word from the company," he inquired as to the verdict arid Was. Informed that the ctecislon was adverse. He was not. paid for the scripts or for the audition. This was also a CBS epi- sode. In Aug:ust, 1933, and also at CBS an actor was called for a dramatic program and rehearsed with a well known director from two to five on Friday afternoon. He returned on' the following Monday and 're- hearijed and gave the program-for the client, the work this time last- ing from 2:30 to 5:15. On other occasions he had been paid $25 for : similar work and he assumed that like remuneration would be given him this time. But when he asked the supervisor he was told: CBS does not • pay for auditions any longer. 'H^ gave, the audition any- way, for, as he said, to have re- fused would only have prejudiced any chances I might have had for other Wbrk^ . Even moire than the matter of payment, uncertain as it is, the ac- tors feel aggrieved iabout the, prac- tice of handling auditions. 'There is no guarantee,* wrpte one promi- nent musical comedy artist who has also dorie a, good- deal of broadcast- ings ,'That .anyone Worthwhile Is listeriing in on audlfipns at NBC . Expectant cod And at N. W. Ayer and Son, an Influential advertising agency, an employee of that firm Informed one actipr that he had been set to listen to audlt'iPris though he acknowl- edged tiat he was not qualified by training or experience to Judge either voices or dramatic ability. When slips With reports on pcr- formarices were handed In to his superiorsi he 'added, he wa.s advised to throw them In the wasteba.skei:. When he a.sked What value audi- tions had under the Circumstances he was I informed that they helped to keep actors in an expectant moo'd and w^ell dispo.sed toward the agency Equity Hearing First hearing oh. the survey on radio talent made by the Actors Equity Assbciatipri will be held by the broadcasting code authority'^ sub-commit- tee in'John Shepai'd's suite at the Waldorf-Astoria, New York, at ,10 o'clock Wcdnesda.y inorning (31). Shepard is chairman :of the grpup ndmliiv Isterlng the code; Reps from NBC and Colum- bia are slated to be present. It has been .suggested that' any- one giving an audition is entitled not only to, be paid ifor it but to a report slgn<'fi by a, rf.sponsible of- ficial as to ihn dorlsion of the com- pany and .the (llsiJ'i-sitlon of the au- dition. In the light of such prac- tiro.*? the KU(.'K<>.«tion soom.s roa.son- fihlo. The u\; f1l'-,'r1i-<l quire only one,appearance;, though a respectable mlriPrity had to give two: ^ A few more required to give thi*ee°; a third, seven or eight; a- fourth up. to ten; and a fifth up to, ten or twelve. Now, as to who pays for audifiions arid how much: the testimony is to the effect that NBC generally pays. But that is .not always true. 'Slng- ei^s are never paid for auditions, at NBC, at least. I have never heard pi one being paid,' writes one!promi- nent singer. Another, this time' an actpr, ported; 'I was paid $12.50 for an audition at. NBC. but others on the same program got nothing.' 'Almost invariably. I was paid a half of the. regular fee fpr the program,' notes another. 'Soriietlmes a half,' a third replied!. 'Lupky Strike arid Iparia Toothpaste paid for '. auditions-^ Fieischmann's Teast did not,' was another cpmment.. 'They used; to pay.' declares stlU another wltnesa, ■"but how very rarieiy.' 'Ayer paid for an audition,' was still, another replort. Of the result of this deniorallzlrig - situation a veteran radio actor has written: 'The older actors at NBC refuse auditloris without half pay when, they are offered by the agents, and as a result they are crowded out and off most agents' prograriis.' Rehearsala^ . On the basis of all evidence which hais heen collected it is practically certain that no radio performer was ever paid so much as a nickel for rehearsals. It is likewise true that the actors in the legitimate theatre, give a long rehearsal period : without pay, but the time is npt indefinite. If re- hearsals run: pver. fpur Weeks for dramatic prpductions or five for musical shows the actors rccelvp full salaries,. And for those re-^ hearsals they are guaranteed at least two weeks' pay. Back in, the summer of 1930 the members of the cast of the Camel Hour rehearsed daily for several hours a day for twelve weeks be- fore their program was ready. They were not paid for that time. ■They did get a fifty-two week .en- gagement from it. But they were not sure of getting such an engager ment or. indeed, an engagement of any length. If any player had been discharged at any time hefore the broadcast got under way he would have been out the tiiiile and effort he had put into it. 'There is no piay for rehearsals, regular or extra, at NBC/ says a player who has been there for sev- eral years. 'The limit of rehearsals is the director's conscience—if any, and the available studio facilities.' 'It Is. unfair.' declares another player, 'to require as many re- hearsals as they do for programs which pay .as little as $15.' Again a prominent musical per- former has. written: 'The rehearsal period's most effective curb is the necessity for paying the. musiclaris,' Arid that is actually the case. Con- trast that with the notation , from an actor who wrote in answer to one of the questloris: 'Five rehearsals- (free) for a program paying $22.60.' If the broadcasters can afford tp pay the musicians for rehearsals' and auditions, and there Is no ,evi- dence of their inability to do so. they can kfford to pay reasonable schedules of pay for auditions and; rehearsals to their actors. Of course there are hlghly-pajd stars and featured players in radio. Even during those generally lush years prior tP 1929 the geneij standard of pay for commercials was $50 a broadcast and , $26 (less 10% commi.saion to the Arti.sts' Bu- reau), for Sustaining -programs. Arid -there were more programs at. the higher rate than there aire now. It is not in radio alone that pay scales have tumbled and opportuni- ties for woVl: Have shrunlc. But the poirit-ds=^that^s=i:aE-.iaa=tlicL^actQ^^ arid singcr.<< are concf-rnert there has been no power to protect therifi from any pretended ne('t'.s.siti'*.s or. Whims a.>j tlu;re has boon in tli.c case-of cortain oth^r jfi-oujos of wyrkcrs. Pay of thir' Jiiusiuian.s cannot be cut. Tlie .sLiiflio.s .and program build- r^vK Un'iiw. that and in all.otting sal- .'irics i:i"y in tlir- mu.si<'i;ins iCo;iT!rtiK'd on imgc