3 ms·

Aren't most contracts nowadays structured to avoid these types of shenanigans? Profit sharing off gross income instead of net, for example.

• jasode 10y ago
  If the talent is a big A-list star, he/she can ask for gross points and sometimes get it. On the other hand, if you're a desperate actor (or composer, or director, etc) and have no leverage to negotiate a percentage of gross instead of net, you end up taking whatever you can get. E.g. comment about the persistence of Hollywood Accounting with an example of Jonah Hill: http://movies.stackexchange.com/questions/17022/why-does-hollywood-accounting-still-work http://movies.stackexchange.com/questions/17022/why-does-hol...
  • aanm1988 10y ago
    > Although not 'Hollywood Accounting', Jonah Hill The comment is about Hill taking less (a lot less) to be in a Scorsese film. That seems like an entirely reasonable tradeoff. He wound up with a second oscar nomination out of it. It's also a move that no one would bat an eye over if it was to do some artsy indie film.
    • jasode 10y ago
      Right. The Jonah Hill example was about "no leverage" inside of a larger comment about Hollywood Accounting. Jonah himself didn't suffer from Hollywood Accounting -- unless he did sign one of those "net points" deals of which he gets ongoing residuals of $0 that the public doesn't know about. An unequal power dynamic between the talent and the studio means some actors accept deals such as Hollywood Accounting, or SAG minimum wage, or possibly both.
      • tunap 10y ago
        Or worse! The studios culled the talent on "reality tv" by calling them contestants and bypassing SAG minimums altogether.