A TV/Film set moves quickly and even if it’s your first day ever on set, you’re expected to roll with the punches and not cause any delays. Oftentimes, there are acronyms or new terms used on a set that an actor may not previously be familiar with. In an effort to help ease the burden of looking like a pro on your first day, here is some of the terminology you may hear on a set or in the days leading up to filming…
AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers): A large trade association made up of production companies and studios that form together to form a “collective bargaining agreement” to negotiate with various labor unions. The AMPTP represents hundreds of film/TV production companies such as Sony Pictures, Warner Bros, Fox, NBC, etc.
APD (At Producers’ Discretion): This can be applied to a number of scenarios but is most commonly found in an offer referring to where an actor’s name will appear in the credits. The definition is pretty straight forward in the sense that the producer gets sole discretion of where your name appears and is oftentimes figured out at a later date during the editing process. As your “value added” and name recognition grow and once you have established some precedence of where your name has appeared in the credits before, you’ll have more leverage when negotiating this point, however there are logistical limiting factors to these negotiations such as the total length of time allotted for the credits and how many other actors there are who have similar billing status.
ATA (Association of Talent Agencies): A trade association of some of the largest and most prominent talent agencies in the country. By joining as a member, an agency is authorized to represent SAG/AFTRA actors.
Breakdown: Simply put: a job posting. A breakdown is a document that is released to agents providing information from casting directors about what roles in a project they are looking to hire. It includes important information including when the project will film, what the pay rate/budget is and who the creative team behind the project is. Agents are able to virtually suggest actors they represent through sites such as Breakdown Express (the agent/casting director side of Actors’ Access) directly to casting directors for consideration.
Call Sheet: A schedule that will be shared with you the night before you film. It will have lots of information for your day on set including where the set and parking is located, what time meals might be served, the anticipated weather for the day, the nearest hospital and many crew members contact information so you can reach out to the right person if questions/issues arise. Call sheets are often not sent until very late the day before you film because the production needs to wrap the current work day in order to figure out when the following day can begin to avoid any forced call fees.
Casting Agent: This is a combination of the term “Casting Director (someone who holds auditions for actors)” and “Talent Agent (someone who represents actors).” A Casting Agent is not a real position and a quick tell that you are not up to par with industry lingo. Throw this term out of your vocabulary.
Check Authorization: A check authorization is a document you sign for your agent (or in rare cases, a manager). This is a document that the agency will pass along to the television or film production’s payroll accountant so that your check can be delivered to your agent’s office instead of being sent directly to the actor. This is standard practice. By having the check sent to the agency, they can review the check to make sure you were paid correctly as well as withdraw their commission and cut a check for the remaining amount to you without the actor having to deal with the extra hassle of coordinating payments.
“The Choice:” Casting directors will often use this terminology to refer to an actor who is the front-runner for the job but has not officially been approved by the producers/studio to be hired.
Collective Bargaining Agreement: A Collective Bargaining Agreement is a contract between a union and their employer that dictates the basic conditions of employment for workers. When it comes to actors, the actors unions (SAG/AFTRA & Actor’s Equity) will have collective bargaining agreements with a variety of trade organizations. For example, SAG/AFTRA has a collective bargaining agreement with AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers) to stipulate rules such as minimum compensation, length of a work day, etc.
Co-Star/Guest Star: This is contractual language that is assigned to roles based on their size and corresponding financial compensation. While there is no official cut or amount of screen time for when a co-star (typically a smaller role) becomes a guest star (a larger role in an episode), this language is not at the discretion of an actor to use on their resume. The language on your resume or website must match what is on the contract you signed. A co-star can work as many days on an episode and their contract is based off of the amount of time between their first and last day working on the episode. There is an opportunity for a guest star to work as a “one-day” guest star, however once they work a second day, they are contractually bumped to a contract called “top of show (see below).”
DooD (Day Out Of Days): No, this is not a misspelling of “Dude.” When production on a film or episode begins, rather than going by calendar days, they start at production day 1. So if production starts on a Wednesday, that following Friday will be “Day Three Out Of ______” however many days the total production is set to take place. Typically, hour-long episodes shoot on an 8 day schedule. Half hour episodes take 5 days. Make sure to look for your character name or there may be a corresponding number associated with your character (this number is located on your call sheet). That’s where you appear on the “call sheet.” Once you find your name, you’ll see columns with a few letters interlaced with the production dates. Check out “SWF” to figure out what those letters mean!
Exhibit G: This document is how actors clock in and out every day on set. It’s important that you sign in and out every day and that when you are signing, the times are accurate. This paperwork is then turned over to a payroll company who will add overtime, meal penalties, etc. to your check as reported on your Exhibit G.
Franchise: Any legitimate agency will be “franchised” to represent SAG/AFTRA actors. This is a way to legitimize an agency and let actors know the union believes that agency is qualified to represent union actors and negotiate deals on their behalf. Make sure any agency you sign with has their franchise by one of two entities: agencies can directly be franchised with SAG/AFTRA or they can become a collective of agencies that are franchised by the Association of Talent Agencies (ATA). If the agency is not franchised, they are not allowed to represent actors who are members of SAG/AFTRA.
Forced Call: SAG/AFTRA requires sufficient rest time between consecutive shoot dates. Actors may not be called to set sooner than 12 hours after they wrap the previous day to allow them proper time to rest. If an actor is called with less than 12 hours, production must be paid what is called a “forced call” fee which is a penalty for having a quicker turnaround. This is a big reason why night shoots are often filmed towards the end of a shoot week so that the weekend can be the break where production can resume morning shoots without being charged a fee.
Hip Pocket: When an agent or manager “hip pockets” a client, it is a way to bring them into their inner circle and provide opportunities for an actor without officially signing them to a contract or roster. Many larger agencies and management have strict signing policies that have some control over whom a manager or agent may sign. Hip Pocketing allows a manager and agent to do a bit of developing of a client off the record. Actors may receive a few auditions here and there, however it is important to remember that there is no formal tie or contract between the actor and the company.
Honeywagon: A Honeywagon is a type of trailer usually reserved for those who aren’t going to be on set all that long. This is one trailer divided into five separate units with the bare minimum in terms of accommodations. Trailer size is negotiable on some deals however they are largely limited on the size of the cast on the day that you are shooting and the location you are shooting in. In LA, there are tons of trailers so generally speaking, production can accommodate a larger cast and give larger trailers. However if you’re working in some place like Cleveland or Portland (where filming happens less frequently) the trailer availability becomes a bit scarce.
IATSE (International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees): A union that represents large swaths of “behind the scenes” workers in the entertainment industry such as writers, grips, animators and electricians.
Local Hire: A local hire is an actor who is available to work in a given location that is not currently their home city at no extra cost to production. For example, if you live in Atlanta and you booked a job in New Orleans where you are a local hire, producers would expect you to get yourself to New Orleans, house yourself on your own dime and you would not receive any sort of per diem, mileage reimbursements or travel fees. You will likely need a local address in that city to share with production.
Meal Penalty: On a TV/Film set, SAG/AFTRA requires a production to break for a meal within the first six hours of being on set. A meal must be at least thirty minutes. Often, cast and crew meal times are synched up so that everyone can break and resume work at the same time. If a meal is skipped or does not occur within the first six hours, a penalty fee is added to your payroll check for the episode. This is why it’s important that your times are accurately reflected on your Exhibit G when you sign in and out for the day.
MFN (Modified Favored Nations): Favored Nations is a term used to explain that all actors are receiving the same offer. Modified favored Nations is a term used when most of the cast is receiving the same offer except for a ew exceptions (usually the stars). It’s a way to make sure actors are being no less favorable than another.
Must Join/Must Pay: Once a non-union actor has booked their third SAG/AFTRA job, they will be required to join the union to continue to work on union jobs. Once an actor joins SAG/AFTRA, they are no longer able to work on any non-union jobs. When an actor books a job, an agent passes along an actor’s social security number to casting. Casting takes this number and runs it by SAG/AFTRA who will notify casting that either a member is in good standing, a member is not in good standing and “must pay” the dues that are owed or a non-union member is a “must join” and must begin a payment process to become a full fledged member before they can work on set.
One Liner: This is a document often sent in tandem with the DooDs. A “One Liner” informs the actors and crew what scenes are being shot on any particular day and in what order. It will also show which actors (by their number on the call sheet, not their name) are needed for that scene. Other information found in the one line can be where the scene is shooting, if a location move is happening during the day or how many total pages production plans to film.
Paymaster: A paymaster refers to a company that processes a union check. Some companies such as 20th Century Fox and Warner Brothers have in-house payroll systems where they can process your payment, deduct taxes and handle your W2s at year’s end in house. Other production companies will outsource this process. Some more common paymasters are Entertainment Partners, Cast & Crew and Extreme Reach (the latter is predominantly used for commercials).
Pin/On Avail/First Refusal: When you are “in the mix” for a television/film project, you may hear from your reps that you are “pinned” or “on avail.” What this means is that you are likely one of two to three actors who are top choices for the job. While there is nothing official or contractually binding to being pinned or on avail, it is expected as a common courtesy that your representation would make casting directors aware of any potential conflicts during the shoot days that casting is checking your availability during.
Quote: A “quote” is a fee an actor was paid on a previous project. That could be a quote for a single day of work or what you had previously been paid for one episode of work. On January 1st, 2018, California made it illegal for employers to ask for salary history information and this also applied to actors. While producers and casting directors can no longer request your “quotes” of what an actor had been paid previously, an agent or attorney may disclose that information in a negotiation if that quote is going to help an actor receive more money on the project if they have the actor’s permission.
SAG/AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild/ American Federation of Television and Radio Artists): A labor union that represents actors for jobs in Television, Film, Commercials, VoiceOvers and New Media. Initially SAG and AFTRA operated as two separate unions but merged into one union in 2012.
Sixth Day: A typical work week for an actor on a TV/Film project (as stipulated in the collective bargaining agreement) contains five work days and two off days per week. This generally means a work schedule of Monday through Friday with Saturday and Sunday designated as off days. If a producer receives permission, a sixth work day in a week can be authorized; however, a premium fee is paid for requiring actors to work an additional day. On lower budget projects, this premium fee can be waived. The fee/occurrence is referred to as a “Sixth Day.”
Start Paperwork: This is a packet of paperwork sent to an actor either by your representation or directly from production that includes a slew of tax documents to fill out and payroll paperwork to be completed so that you can be paid correctly. You will also need to prove that you are a US Citizen/able to work in America by filling out an I-9. It’s always helpful to bring your I-9 documents to set so you have all of that information handy. A list of those documents can be found here. You may also find check authorization and direct deposit forms in this packet. Make sure to consult with your agent on how to best fill out those last two items. If a contract is provided in the packet, consult with your agent to make sure it has been approved for your signature BEFORE you sign it.
SWF (Start/Work/Finish): These are letters you may see on your DooD to help decipher what day you are working. Here is what you’ll see:
- SW or Start Work: This is the first day you will be working on any individual episode or feature film.
- WF or Work Finish: This is your final day on the episode or feature. Every day between SW and WF, you will see one of two letters…
- W or Work: This is a day in which you are working.
- H or Hold: This is a day you are not technically needed on set HOWEVER production is paying you to be available to them. If you are needed at the last minute, they are expecting you to come to set and be available.
- SWF or Start Work Finish: You may have picked up on this already, but if you see “SWF” on your call sheet, it means that you start, work and finish your work on the same day.
Taft-Hartley: The Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 is a federal law that limits what labor unions can require of potential or current members. How does a law that’s over 70 years old still affect actors? Once you’ve booked your first SAG/AFTRA qualifying job, an actor becomes a “Taft-Hartley” member of the union meaning that they are not forced to immediately join the union in order to work on a union set. This is how non-union actors are allowed to work on SAG/AFTRA projects and still receive the same protections/wages as SAG/AFTRA actors. However, upon working your third SAG/AFTRA qualifying role, SAG/AFTRA does require actors to join the union. And while all Taft-Hartley members are eligible to join SAG/AFTRA, most tend to wait until they are a “Must Join” to begin paying their dues and receiving the added benefits of being a member.
Test: When an actor is in the final stages of being chosen for a major role in a TV show or film, they may go through a process that’s referred to as a “test” or “screen test.” These final auditions have a bit more fanfare to them. Before the actor goes through their final audition, in most cases, a full contract for services is negotiated before the actor has the job so that in the event they are picked, they can “pick up” the contract (referred to as an option) and there are no further negotiations to be made. If the actor doesn’t get the job, the contract essentially disappears and the option to hire the actor is not exercised. The testing process for an actor can vary. Sometimes, a previous taped audition is presented to producers and studio executives in lieu of any additional work from an actor. Sometimes, a final audition is required and the people “in the room” will be a mix of the creatives (producers, directors, casting) and the executives (VP of Casting for the Studio/Network, studio executives). The actor may be requested to simply do the scenes again or there may be other actors auditioning for other parts that read with the actor in a “mix-and-match” scenario to see how they play off of one another. While every testing experience will be unique, the chemistry reads are especially common when the show revolves around casting a family because not only do they need to have the chemistry, but they also need to look like they could play a family if that is important to the show. This process is typically saved for larger roles on TV shows/films where studios will put a lot of financial backing behind the project and therefore, there are more hoops to jump through. In Jenna Fischer’s book, “The Actor’s Life: A Survival Guide,” there is a great chapter written from the actor’s perspective of what the testing process is like that I highly recommend reading.
Top of Show: This is a guest star contract that pays an actor for every single day it takes that episode to film whether the actor is working or not. While an actor may only be on the schedule for a few of those days, since production is paying you for every day to be available, you are not allowed to take other jobs that would conflict with your hold days since you are being paid. The terminology comes from an actor’s name appearing at the beginning of an episode (which is mostly still the case if the show has opening credits).
Triple Banger: A trailer size. This is when one big trailer is divided into three sections. Co-stars can sometimes luck out and snag one of these but more often than not, they are reserved for the guest stars who will be spending longer stints/more days on set. These trailers often include a private bathroom vs. the communal bathrooms in the honeywagon.
Upfronts: Upfronts are the annual presentation of new shows to potential advertisers and critics. Snippets of new shows are shared to get advertising executives excited about their upcoming schedule and want to buy commercial slots ahead of the show airing. Actors are often required to attend the “Upfronts” in order to promote their show and mingle with advertising execs.
If you liked this article, check out “The Changeup” which is one of my favorites articles I’ve written.
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