puppeteer residuals

[minor muppetz]

I have been wondering what residuals for puppeteers are like. I've read that everybody who ever worked on Sesame Street still gets residuals if their material is shown, so I guess all performers get residuals for Sesame Street. But a recent interview with Frank Oz confirmed that Frank Oz didn't know that the first two seasons of The Mupet Show were available on DVD until that interview. I think that Frank Oz would have known if he had gotten residuals for the releases. Unless residual checks dn't specify whether they are for video or television releases.

Also, if performers get residuals, do they get residuals for clips shown in documentaries or anniversary specials and such? Because I'd imagine it to be hard to track down all performers in scenes that appear in clip shows. Especialy if it's a big crowd scene, and if there is no way to know who did what. It might be easier for Sesame Street, since many of the skits get repeated, and there is probably something that lists the performers in certain inserts.

 

[mummytomb]

It's like any move or television show. Performers are paid for the first performance and subsequent re-runs. Each time it runs the payment to performers gets smaller. As for DVD sales, actors are payed after sales of the DVD go over 50,000. The ammount gets smaller again each time. As for crowd scenes, it's the same as with background actors or extras. They get paid for one performance and that's it. It has become the producers responsibility to pay performers for these instances. This means they are responsible for keeping track of who is in the scene or clip that is being used. for promotional commercials and such, they are not contractually obligated to pay anyone.

Whew!

 

[GelflingWaldo]

But a recent interview with Frank Oz confirmed that Frank Oz didn't know that the first two seasons of The Mupet Show were available on DVD until that interview. I think that Frank Oz would have known if he had gotten residuals for the releases. Unless residual checks dn't specify whether they are for video or television releases.

Frank's a busy guy. He gets tons of check (probably daily) for all the different things he has performed in, appeared in, and directed - Sesame Street, The Muppets, Star Wars, other films and television project, you name it. He probably has a manager, accountant or assistant deal with all the nitty-grittys of that stuff for him. So he may not have personally seen an individual check for the residual. Frank could have gotten paid for those releases but didn't know what all the individual checks and items that made up the "income from residuals" amount his accountant put on his monthly financial statement. I doubt he personal sits down and sort through all the little checks he gets for residuals.

Likewise the studios will often hold the residuals back on DVDs for a period of time and then pay you in periodic lump-sums rather than send you a stack of $0.04 checks.