Residuals
From ForcaWiki, the simple encyclopedia
| In one sentence | Ongoing payments owed to actors, writers, directors, and crew whenever a movie or show they worked on gets used again later, like on streaming or reruns. |
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| Category | Film and Television |
| Related | Talent, SAG-AFTRA, Writers Guild of America (WGA), Directors Guild of America (DGA) |
Imagine helping build a lemonade recipe that a store keeps selling for years afterward, and every time they sell another batch, you get a small additional payment, on top of whatever you were originally paid to help create it.
Residuals work the same way for Talent and crew in the movie business. They are contingent payments owed whenever a film or show gets used again after its first release, like being rerun on television or streamed online, required by the collective bargaining agreements that unions like SAG-AFTRA, the Writers Guild of America, the Directors Guild of America, and IATSE have negotiated with the studios.
Fun facts
- Residuals are a big reason strikes by unions like the WGA and SAG-AFTRA have happened, since how residuals should work for new platforms like streaming is often exactly what gets fought over.
- Even crew members who are not Above the Line talent can be entitled to residuals, depending on their union agreement.
- Residuals can add up over a long career, sometimes paying out small but steady amounts for decades after a hit show first aired.