10:45 am - Weds 8/23/06
Looping \"The Loop\"

Nice to start with some good news: Later today I'm going in to read for a small part on The Loop, a comedy on Fox.

(This comes from the workshop I did on the 12th with Lori Hitner, from Lisa Miller-Katz Casting.)

I got the call on my way to work yesterday.

If you haven't heard of the show, I'm not surprised--It had a limited, six-episode run (Which I missed). And when I quit hearing anything about it, I assumed it had been cancelled, but apparently not.

Anyway, I'm very pleased; I'm happy that this is coming from a workshop I did less than two weeks ago, I'm happy it's coming fairly soon after the Gilmore Girls gig, and I'm particularly happy I got the call yesterday, when earlier in the day I'd said to myself, "To see this year as a success, I need to book at least one more co-star part and a commercial".

Speaking of Gilmore Girls, I called SAG on Monday, to tell them I hadn't gotten paid yet, and to ask them, "Exactly how late is 'late'?".

Turns out, I was supposed to be paid within five days after the gig (Not ten days, as I'd previously thought). And now it's moving towards five weeks.

That's pretty late.

And this is not a frivolous issue; I owe ACG $100 for the August "A-list membership", because I asked if they could wait till I got that check (So I didn't have to put a $100 charge on a credit card). But when I asked for that favor, I assumed I was going to get the check a lot sooner than I have.

And above and beyond that, I just need the money to pay bills (This isn't "hookers and beer" money we're talking about here).

At this point, I could file a grievance with SAG, and likely get a little extra money for my troubles. But I don't want to do that...yet.

Right now, I'm exploring my first option, which is to have the SAG person --I've gotta get better at remembering names--call the production company and basically say, "Hey, what's the deal with Jim Hoffmaster's money?".

If I don't hear back from SAG by the end of the week, and/or I don't get a check by the end of the month, then I'll say "Okay, now you have to give me more money...".

As Cary said to me recently, "Those rules are in place for a reason, Jim".

When I went through this sort of thing with House, I was nervous, in part because I thought I might be "blacklisted" by casting for making a fuss, even if I was within my rights to do so.

But a coworker at ArcLight, who's advocated on the part of his actress wife when she's had trouble getting paid, told me this: When you're trying to track down money from a production, casting doesn't have anything to do with it. It's the accounting department you're dealing with, and if anyone's going to "get in trouble", it's them, for taking too long to get checks out.

He said--and this makes sense to me--that the people in casting are on your side in this case; they don't want the production getting a reputation amongst actors and agents for not paying their actors in a timely fashion, cause that's not good for them.

That made me feel a little more comfortable with the idea of "crying foul" if things are not going the way they're supposed to.

But anyway...

I think I'm going to check online, and see if there's anything about "The Loop" I need to know (My little "scene" is opposite one of the principals who's in a fat suit).

Wish me luck...

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