Aaron Marcus explains SAG-AFTRA holding fees for actors and models: what session fees and unit payments are, why a commercial might be put on hold (like a seasonal Colonial Williamsburg spot), and how it can restrict you from working for competitors.
Hi, my name is Aaron Marcus, and if you're not familiar with my work, I've been a full-time actor and a commercial model for over 30 years. I've booked over 1,200 jobs so far. Perhaps you saw my recurring role on House of Cards. I worked on Gotham, Halt and Catch Fire, Mr. Robot. I've done feature films, independent films, done hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of TV commercials and commercial modeling ads. Hey, let me tell you what I wanna share with you today. If you happen to be fortunate enough to book a TV commercial and it's a union spot, you might get a holding fee. This is what that means. In the union, SAG-AFTRA, if you do a TV commercial, every 13 weeks you get a check, or if the company decides they're not going to air it anymore, then nothing happens, or you could get a holding fee. What that means is the company hasn't decided what they're going to do with it as of yet, and they will pay you a session fee. For union TV commercials, you get a session fee Plus the units of where the TV commercial is airing. So if your TV spot is running in one of the 3 largest markets in the United States, which is LA, Chicago, and New York, there are more units, you get more money. Sometimes they will place it on hold because either they're not sure what they're going to do with the commercial, or maybe they know they're going to start airing it at a later date. Like for instance, when I did a TV spot for Colonial Williamsburg, during the winter months, they're not— promoting it, tourists aren't heading there, so they would put it on hold, which means I get my session fee but no unit pay because it's not airing at this point. And they can continue to do that for a while. So if you're fortunate enough to do a TV spot and it's a union spot and you get a holding fee, that means they're not currently airing it. They might air it in the future, but that also will prevent you from working for any competitor. Anyhow, I hope you found this helpful. If you're watching this on YouTube, don't forget, click the subscribe button and also click the notification button. That way, every time I post a new video there, you're going to be notified. If you're watching this elsewhere, leave a comment. I'd love to hear your thoughts. You can also follow me on Instagram. And if you have any other follow-up questions, just reach out to me at howtoactamodel.com, and I'd be more than happy to try to answer any other questions that you have. I'm Aaron Marcus, and I can't wait to talk with you again soon.
