Paid or Not Paid that is the Question??
Should Hollywood actors be paid to promote their movies on social media? If so, what should they charge? Why?
I truly believe that acting is an art form and therefore actors should be paid accordingly. I also truly believe that actors DO get paid far too much for their craft. There are many other careers that warrant a larger paycheck and do not get rewarded accordingly. Selfishly I hope that one day I work in the Hollywood limelight making a fortune, but life isn’t always fair. I do hope though that I get paid for any work that I do, it would be unfortunate to do work and not get paid for it.
Money that is rewarded as a payment for work in Hollywood is relative to what the industry commands Hollywood actors get paid for. Movie commercials, promo’s (excluding social media as of now), traveling to other countries and even product promotion is part of what Hollywood actors get paid for. Why should social media promotion of their work be negated?
Picture yourself at work, your boss asks you to complete (on top of your hefty schedule) more online social media plugs to promote the work you have been doing. Not only is this good for you, but the company too, and in turn will benefit all. The question here is, why should you not be paid for this extra work? This work that you spend longer hours on, going above and beyond. What’s fair is fair, right?
I would love to say NO, actors should not get paid for promoting movies on social media, they get paid far too much as it is! Let’s be honest, that is their job and that is the fair thing to do, whether it’s a million dollars or 1 dollar being rewarded for work completed, it’s still work. We should see it from our stand point, ask yourself again, do you want to get paid for the work you completed, how would you feel if your boss decided not to pay you for your work?
Social media is just another arena/outlet to let an actors fan base know about their work. Actors and celebrities have (for years) promoted movies and other products in other ways (commercials/traveling promotions). As the world now switches gears to an online option of social marketing, the industry must take this into consideration when paying actors for the work they do. This area should not be misunderstood. This is just another avenue for all areas to benefit, and it should not be at an actor’s expense to be exploited for FREE promotion. I understand that a movie or TV show must be successful for the actors to continue working and for those involved to get paid, but it works both ways. If there wasn’t a big actor as the face of the entertainment, the “business” would not be where it is! Actors need to be recognized for that aspect, they are needed by the companies to succeed.
On the flip side (I will play devil’s advocate) the actors are not usually the ones to handle their social media, they have a team of promoters or someone they hire to be their social media “spokesperson”. How would payment work? Should the actor get paid and then give a percentage to their “handler”? This seems like a fair route. Also, something to consider, where does this payment come from? Is the payment built into the payment they receive from the movie, or is it based on views/hits? If it were up to me it would be based on hits/views, but again what’s fair is fair. The payment should be built into their contract initially and negotiate this in the final amount being paid out. Not only must actors complete the movies, but they must promote on social media as stated from the beginning. Anything additional will be contracted, meaning additional cost. The payment should work like any other contract job, where you sign for the initial job and what it entails, and anything else is extra, to be added on to the cost at the end.
Promotion is part of the movie process, actors get paid large sums of money to do the movie and that includes promo, as well for the movie to succeed. This success is important if you want to continue working in the industry. If your movie doesn’t do well, then no one will hire you in the future. Promoting on talk is part of the business and eventually social media will become customary as well.
Here is another analogy to walk away with: It’s like being a writer, and you just wrote the most amazing book, you drop it off at the bookstore and that’s it! It ends there, no one knows of it, no one hears about it etc.… How do you think your sales will be? Probably BAD! You must promote, it’s obvious it’s part of the key to sales. If you don’t know about something, or never hear about it, how will you know it even exists?
