Question by Central American Girl: How much do actors that work in independent films get paid?
Especially those that are well known. Do they also have more independence
from the movie studios? Just wondering.
Best answer:
Answer by Jacob
The actors usually don’t get paid a lot or sometimes not at all because the budget for independent films is much lower than that of a studio movie, I think actors mainly do indie films to help with their skills and become better actors.
Add your own answer in the comments!
Independent does not mean no money. it just means they get the money from other sources than a major studio. they usualy do this to keep creative control. some indy films have have millions of dollars to work with. how ever this is usualy not the case. and most actors agree to do the films because they like the script. or if they haver no work. a small part is better than no part, and can lead to bigger roles. but usualy not alot of money is made. john heeder made like 2,000 bucks for Napolian Dynomite.
Actors in independent films often get paid little to nothing. There have been occasions in which actors will do an independent film because they loved the script and would love to participate in the project, knowing that they will not get paid for their participation. Those are true artists and filmmakers right there. But the paycheck is often determined by the volumes in which the film reaches. Some independent films don’t receive any studio support so they become straight-to-DVD releases without any theatrical attention. Those films often go unnoticed by the world and they end up bringing in very little revenue. However, there have been instances in which independent films have gotten a lot of attention because they gained studio support, allowing for a theatrical distribution in select cities. That’s the purpose of the film festivals such as Sundance. Distributers send people to these large film festivals to view these low-budget films and later bid on the ones that they believe have the most potential for their studio (Example: The Weinstein Company bought the distributing rights to the film “Our Idiot Brother” at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and they paid for the advertising and rake the profits from the theatrical release that is then split amongst all the parties involved in the project). Hollywood needs to go back to investing in independent films, as opposed to these 3D re-releases, sequals with poor storylines, and remakes of old films that shouldn’t be touched let alone remade.