Soap Budgets

[Paul Raven]

Josh is earning $40,000 to turn out that dross ? Unbelievable.

 

Days has a lot of vets on contract Deidre, Drake, Mary Beth, Lauren, Galen, Suzanne,Stephen,Josh etc at least as many as Y&R so I don't think Y&R is exceptional in that regard.

Days seems to be using extras and I think the sets look better. 

Y&R's management of the budget seems suspect, although Days extreme taping schedule must make a big difference.

[Broderick]

One reason Y&R likely looks so wretched is that we're accustomed to something so much better.  (The bigger they are, the harder they fall.)  

[Manny]

Wow, they really slashed Moss' salary that much from one year to another? No one would accept that big of a salary cut. I mean, I get he would still be earning 400k which is a lot of money, but still.. no surprise that he refused.

Exactly. I wonder also if Y&R people just are not good in handling such a smaller budget since they were used to the much bigger one? Maybe they should hire some new people who would be better at handling smaller budgets and then still have a better quality on screen than what they have now.

Edited January 12, 2022 by Manny

[Frank2803]

I know some of these actors are getting six figures a year, but that's a spit in the bucket when considering the cost of living in LA and NYC

Edited January 17, 2022 by Frank2803

[titan1978]

If I was a veteran soap person who stayed when they started to cut casts by the mid 1990’s, I would have made damn sure to save as much as possible for the inevitable negotiations of reduced salary.  Especially when they started small with early cuts in the early 2000’s.

I did agree with Kim Zimmer though when she refused to renegotiate mid contract.  I know they publicly blamed her for cutting cast members, but she had a contract and it wasn’t due to expire for at least a year.  It’s not her fault the show was so mismanaged.

[Planet Soap]

If that's how much it cost to produce the modern day young and the restless, I can only imagine how much an actually well produced and written primetime show amounts to!

[DaytimeFan]

Thank you for that information from Shattuck v. Moss. That pay cut Ronn was presented must have really stung and I can understand why he eventually turned it down given it was apparent he would be facing a further cut in 12 month's time. That said, it's now been 10 years and he 'missed out' on approximately $2,500,000.00 - $4,000,000.00 in income. 

Louise Sorel once said in an interview that Ken Corday was known for paying his actors very well and that it had always been the case for her first run between 1992 - 2000. When she had her first return in 2009 she said things had changed...but she also took the job, so it wasn't so bad as to not be worth it. 

[mikelyons]

From a 2008-2010 Corday contract for a new character on the show (I will not divulge who it is, but, yes, I have a copy of their contract).

This talent was paid a minimum of $105,300 to appear on Days. 

Subtract 10% of this person's agent...

Subtract 15% for this person's manager...

Subtract 25% for taxes...

This person on a network TV show could have netted $52,650 in their first year on Days BEOFRE factoring in their living expenses. 

Corday vets may have been well paid, but unless a newbie was a fan favorite and on 3-4 times a week, they weren't really making a ton of money (in TV or soap terms).

Compensation per episode:

            (a)       First contract year:               $1,350.00

 

            (b)       Second contract year:         $1,450.00

 

            (c)       Third contract year:              $1,550.00

 

            (d)       Fourth contact year:             $1,700.00

 

8.         (Redacted)

 

9.         Number of average guaranteed episodes per week:

            

            (a)       First contract year:               1.50 per week

 

            (b)       Second contract year:         1.50 per week

 

            (c)       Third contract year:              1.50 per week

 

            (d)       Fourth contract year:            2.00 per week

[Gray Bunny]

Agreed. And even in the midst of it all, she was still touting GL as the greatest thing since sliced bread (there was a brief creative high, so to speak, in the first half of 2005 when the negotiation drama was unfolding). She wasn't acting all bitter and airing out grievances like some other veteran actors from other soaps had done... 

[Broderick]

Kim Zimmer likely took a *risk* when she opted not to renegotiate "mid-contract".  P&G probably had a stipulation in her contract that she could be dropped at the end of any 13-week cycle, or at the end of a 26-week cycle, or at the end of a 52-week cycle.  When she refused to renegotiate, they could've exercised their option and dropped her entirely, cutting her annual salary to $0.  (She was evidently confident they wouldn't do that, due to her popularity, and took her chances on holding out to the end of her contract before renegotiating.)  

[Vee]

I don't remember a time Kim wasn't complaining in public, tbh. But she was right about the show, and right not to re-negotiate. I thought at one point she had had some contractual protection written in re: the cycles, more than most; I think she def was unable to be dropped every 13 weeks. But I may be wrong about that. I could swear she wrote about having that buffer zone in her book and knowing she'd get paid even if they dropped her, but I'm too lazy to pull it up rn.

Edited January 18, 2022 by Vee

[Sturen9a]

Chapter 7 Bankruptcy documents from 2017 for a contract actor on DAYS give the following data:

Jan-Dec 2015 Income $166.000
Considering the number of episodes this would mean roughly $1.400 per episode

Jan-Dec 2016 Income $113.000
Considering the number of episodes this would mean roughly $1.100 per episode

Projected income for 2017 is given as $112.000

Edited January 18, 2022 by Sturen9a

[Paul Raven]

Kim was definitely on a longer cycle, 26 or 52 weeks guaranteed, This was pretty standard,i think for actors who went into a second 3 yr contract..

Newbie soap actors today wouldn't be earning much at all. Hopefully they have good saving habits.

I remember SPW did a 'stars at home' feature in one issue and I was underwhelmed with some of their rather ordinary houses/apartments.

Guess we always expect TV/movie stars to be living in the lap of luxury.

[Planet Soap]

Y&R's sets are pretty bad now but DAYS definitely looks the cheapest. 

[DaytimeFan]

Who was that?!