SAG Gets Cable Actors Residual Increase

The Screen Actors Guild has reached a deal with Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on a new agreement for live-action basic cable productions that includes the first increase in 16 years in the formula for determining residuals for the shows. SAG and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers reached the agreement, which runs through June 30, 2008. The deal calls for residual payments to actors for repeats of basic cable live-action shows to increase from 12% to 17% of the performer’s minimum for the first rerun, and smaller bumps on a sliding scale basis for subsequent repeats; at the low end of the scale, the residual for the 13th repeat of a show climbs from 1% to 1.5%. All-in-all, actors will see a 21% increase in the residual formula for basic cable repeats under the new contract.