When you are on set and come into even fitting for acting, you probably will need one or two forms of ID to get paid. There are W2 and then 1099 approaches to payment.
Online Paperwork and Payment (2020-)
There are now paperwork and payment portals that allow you to upload your state ID or passport and social security card for verification of payment and tax purposes. Once you are in the system, most productions will have you ‘on file’ which means you don’t have to do this every day you act on a production after completion.
Pen
Bring A pen. We all mean well and forget to, but bring one anyway. Take it from your bank, from your desk, from your best friend. If not, they have a bucket of pens that get taken and never returned. Bring a pen, and they love you. I remember maybe 50% of the time.
Union vs Non-union
It would be nice if we all got paid equally, but that is not the case. Union actors get about $165 per day as a background actor for 10 or less hours while non union gets around $100. Union actors also get bumps for extra things such as wet, shave, hair, exposure, and wardrobe. Some non union such as NYPD and some bumps are given in smaller or even larger productions
SAG AFTRA
https://www.sagaftra.org/
SAG AFTRA is quite expensive to join, $3000 (2017) and $206+ in annual dues with 1.575%+ for each job additional. There are many perks with SAG, but jobs tend to dwindle for many in the same field they had more jobs as non-union. It depends, really.
W2
You basically are an employee of NBC, ABC, FOX, or Dreamworks etc with this form of payment. When you are a model / background for a production, they will ask you usually in advance if you will be bringing your State ID and or Drivers license with Social Security card. You can also bring a single passport for identification if still valid. This means you will have taxes taken out, and usually if you are single and not part of a family, you can probably take two(2) standard exemptions. Read that part carefully on your tax form you fill out and understand it. If you don’t take lunch time and look up each exemption. This is important for those who put too many exemptions and or not enough. Moms and dads, and children acting or those living at home, read up on it.
1099
This is a work-for-hire sort of thing, you are an independent contractor. You will see this a lot in commercials and industrial work. Be ready to wait quite a long time to get paid for 1099 work. No taxes are taken out and you usually need to fill out a 1040 or 1040EZ when you do your yearly taxes. Look this up, find out how to do this and what to expect mixing W2 and 1099 work.
Unemployment
When you are a full time actor as your profession, you are given certain benefits to that in each state, NY especially. Look it up, it changes.
Welfare
Those who receive assistance and are acting, the state, Pennsylvania in my case, will ask you for income. It will be listed as many companies at times. You will notice that most if not all are under one umbrella with a payment solution originating from Los Angeles. Use that as your employer and you can also write your estimated income based on your earnings and bank statements showing your general income against your living expenses. To be an actor…
Nationwide Benefits Finder
https://www.benefits.gov/
Net 30 | Net 60 | Net 90
This means you will be paid in 30, 60, or 90 days respectively. So be prepared to live off of another source of income or credit card until the payment comes in. It is best to ask if there is any way to speed up payment, but usually you just have to wait.
Copies and Reference
Any payment information or pink and or yellow slip you receive is very important to copy for yourself. So if you have a scanner or printer with scanning option, copy it. Use your smart phone, put it in a dropbox as Pink slips, yellow slips, etc. Write down any important information for freelance acting and modeling if they are different for payment solutions, aka someone who is not the production is directly paying you. I have had problems where companies have lost my check and then the casting has given me grief for not recording the information to get paid (they were a bad commercial company in Manhattan anyway, no loss).
DROPBOX
https://www.dropbox.com/
