Discuss Contract Vs. Recuring Status

[juniorz1]

Say wha-at?

[Khan]

According to one rumor I've heard over the years, John Clarke and Drake Hogestyn got into a brouhaha around the time of the SSK storyline. Next thing we knew, JC had announced his decision to retire.

[juppiter]

Do that many people really have episode guarantees? My understanding was that it was something that soaps phased out in the 90s. I know Martha Byrne was fired from ATWT for requesting one. If she, their highest-paid actor at the time, did not have one, I can't imagine any of their actors did.

[Khan]

Actually, MB was fired, because Chris Goutman would not guarantee that her episode guarantee would remain the same for her new contract. Allegedly.

[Susan Hunter]

I'm not certain, but I believe actors receive health insurance from their union (either SAG or Aftra which have now merged). The production doesn't provide insurance to the talent. I believe actors have to earn a certain amount each year for the health benefits to continue. I'm not sure how much, but as long as they meet the threshold they're covered.

I believe flat contracts work in the cases of actors like Suzanne Rogers, etc. What's to stop a writer from putting their front burner, most popular characters on screen for all 250 episodes a year?

I think actors should be guaranteed a certain # of episodes per year, not weekly. For instance, an actor is offered a contract of 110 episodes out of 250 episodes a year. Then it is up to the writer to decide when and where to use them. For example, one week the actor might appear in 5 episodes, the next week 2 episodes, the following week no episodes, the week after that 1 episode. And it is up to the writer and EP to keep track of how many episodes the actors have appeared in. However in order to do that the show will have to map out story for an entire year.

[John]

Yes Insurance and Benefits (401k ) etc come fromSAG-AFTRA & not the shows them selves. So as longg as u pay dues u get these benefits

[JellicleCat]

She wasn't even fired. Allegedly she and the show were still in negotiations when she heard through the grapevine that the show had already started searching for a replacement. She broke off negotiations and left the show.

[Dr Neil Curtis]

Wasn't Tonja Walker on recurring status with oltl, where she was on a certain amount of weeks and off a certain amount?

[sungrey]

I couldn't agree more. As much as I put up with over the years, that serial killer story and Mickey-Bonnie were absolutely disgusting. I've loved every role Judi Evans has done except Bonnie... tells ya how much I hated the story.

[dragonflies]

Cady McClain was on recurring for a few years when she was on ATWT but she was front burner like she was on contract

[John]

yes she was recurring in 2002-04 then contract 04-05 then back to recurring in 2007, 2009 and guest in 2010. I also believe Cady when she did sign deals at ATWT & AMC after that it was only for a year at a time

[DaytimeFan]

SAG/AFTRA do provide health insurance so long as a performer is working and pays their dues (this changes upon retirement age)...however, production companies absolutely provide health insurance to performers, it's part of the perks. In Suzanne Rogers' case, as she has myesthenia gravis, her medications are very, very expensive and SAG/AFTRA insurance would not cover it all.

Production companies provide health insurance, a 401K match among other benefits to performers on contract.

[Paul Raven]

I know that in the past episode guarantees were tied to 13 or 26 week cycles.Therefore if a performer was on a two episode per week contract that would be 26 episodes over 13 weeks.They could be used in any way over that time (eg 4 eps I week ,1 the next etc) as long as they reached the 26 ep guarantee in 13 weeks.Whether that applies these days,I'm not sure.

[Gray Bunny]

I never heard about this! What was it all allegedly about?

Agreed. I think what I hated the most about the role of Bonnie is what it represented: what James Reilly thought his audience was like and would like. Hated every moment of Bonnie.

[Khan]

Frankly, I think Grandpa Shawn Brady hooking up with Julie would have made more sense. The ONLY way I would have bought Mickey/Bonnie was if Bonnie had first come between him and Maggie, and then poisoned him gradually in an attempt to kill him and collect his life insurance money.

Re: the alleged Clarke/Hogestyn feud -- I don't have all the details. Again, this is what I "heard" at the time (of the SSK storyline) around the 'net. Apparently, though, Clarke raised some objections to the whole killing Maggie/Mickey & Bonnie mess -- which still was in the early stages at that point, I guess -- that were big and loud; and either Hogestyn tried to calm him down and Clarke overreacted, or Hogestyn had a "shut up and do your job" mentality that just rubbed Clarke the wrong way, so to speak.

But I must emphasize that I am NOT an insider, and the intel I received probably was second- or third-hand. For all we know, nothing at all happened between Clarke and Hogestyn, and that rumor merely was the work of someone trying to start some [!@#$%^&*]. Either way, I do think Clarke's decision to retire was something Ken Corday did not count on, and that is one reason why Corday most likely hated JER for concocting the SSK story in the first place.