We are trying to work with SAG on the Ultra Low Budget contract as I write this. I used this post and other peoples post on other sites stating that there’s a 40% bond for SAG Salaries, and to make sure I budgeted for it. We did budget for it, but that was not the correct amount. We tried to contact SAG about the BOND during the time we were writing the budget to make sure this was right, but nobody at SAG would answer this question. That left us no choice, we had to figure out the bond from other sources. So we went with the 40%. That was wrong! It’s actually the entire amount you are paying your SAG actor’s plus 10% — plus 15.3% of entire cast Salary for pension and health.

So say you total budgeted salary is $5,000.

You would pay the $5,000
Plus 10% additioanl $500
Then pension and health $765

The total bond would be $6265 plus your actors Salaries which 5,000 so your total budget should be $11,265 for actors.

We budgeted 40% which is 5000×40% = $2000, before SAG will let our SAG actors come on our set we have to come up with another $4,265. Which we don’t have, and we are scrambling to get it some how.
We asked SAG why it was so much and they said because our $35,000 budget was so low, and it might be tight for us to pay our actors. SO DO NOT USE THIS 40% when figuring your budget.

SAG hit us with this two days before we were suppose to start shooting.

Also, remember that SAG cannot really do anything to you (the production company), especially if you’re in a right to work state. And, if you haven’t signed any contracts with SAG, they can’t do anything to you. They can, however, go after the actors and penalize them, but that’s getting harder to do. I’ve done short films non-union here in Texas with Fi-Core SAG actors, which basically allows them to do non-union projects and still keep their SAG status.

There are a few things to add from my recent dealings with SAG.

1) Producers should always go with a payroll company and figure this cost into their budgets. All of a sudden my $100/day actors turned in to $350/day actors when P&W, payroll and OT came into play. If you want to pay a company only to take care of your SAG actors and not all of your payroll, you will have to have workman’s comp in your liability insurance.

2) An important thing to remember is that if you try to sell your SAG Ultra-Lox Budget movie straight to distribution, bypassing theater showings, you’ll have to pay SAG big. Remember that art house and festival theaters DO NOT COUNT. This is important when considering a selling price.

http://www.easy-budget.com/articles/articles.as…

Meanwhile, I am not sure if Fissure has distribution yet, but if you are seeking it, you might want to check this out:

Got Films? Want them distributed?
Submissions of completed short and feature-length undistributed films to Project Twenty1’s Philadelphia Film-A-Thon are still open until August 9th. The Winner of “Best Film” will receive a screening at the International House Philadelphia Theater, a copy of Toon Boom Storyboard Pro, the Official Philadelphia Film-A-Thon trophy, and an international distribution offer by Polychrome Pictures through Warner Bros Worldwide Home Video/DVD. Visit http://www.ProjectTwenty1.com for more info.