Actors’ Strike

* Re “Actors Strike Over Fee System for Commercials,” May 2: Ira Shepard, counsel for the ad industry, states, “You name me an industry where the scale is $4,200 for one day’s work, and it isn’t even that rigorous.” He is referring to the ad industry’s proposal to stop all residuals and pay a flat fee to actors for an unlimited, 13-week run of a commercial on network and cable TV. Shepard is out of touch with what an actor must go through to get that commercial.

An actor goes to an average of 75 auditions before she is hired for one commercial. Each audition is 90 minutes to three hours of time. The callback for the second audition is another several hours of traveling and waiting with a hundred others who have been called back. This ends up being hundreds of hours of our time with no compensation. The only reason this is acceptable is the reasonable pay we hope to get when we book that one commercial. No actor considers this pay for one day’s work. That notion is insulting. I won’t get into the issue of the ad industry’s exceptional increase in profits last year. It’s enough to get paid for what we’re worth and what we put in.

ALISON ZUCKER

Santa Monica

*

In case Shepard failed math, that $4,200 fee covers 13 weeks of use, and that works out to $16,700-plus or minus per year. What is Shepard’s hourly billing rate and how “rigorous” is his work?

TERRENCE BEASOR

Santa Monica

*

Actor Gary Epp stated that he can make up to $8,000 for one television commercial. Keep this in mind: That’s still $12,000 less than the average commercial director makes in one day.

TOM REILLY

Venice