SAG-AFTRA Supports Indie Film

SAG-AFTRA began offering the Short Project Agreement to independent producers of short entertainment content on Aug. 1. The introduction of the Short Project Agreement represents a new approach to independent production in recognition of the changing patterns of exhibition of low-budget short projects, and we are excited to tell you all about it.

Historically, when an independent producer wanted to sign a short project to a SAG-AFTRA agreement, they had a choice to make prior to starting the SAG-AFTRA signatory process: Were they intending to exhibit at film festivals or on a free-to-consumer new media platform? The answer was often along the lines of, “I don’t know. Either? Both? Wherever I can!” The Short Project Agreement takes away this threshold question by allowing producers to initially exhibit their content at film festivals, free-to-consumer new media (like YouTube or Vimeo), for Academy Award consideration and/or for one year on public access television. If the project is then exhibited anywhere else, including DVDs, subscription video on demand (like Netflix or Hulu), television or movie theaters, it is considered “subsequent use” and could mean that residuals are due to principal performers.

In order to qualify under the Short Project Agreement, projects must have a budget of $50,000 or less, a running time of 40 minutes or less, no more than 30 days of principal photography, and must be shot entirely in the United States and its territories. Additionally, the Short Project Agreement is generally not applicable to things like student projects, series, public service announcements, commercials and animated projects.
When working on a short project, all principal performers should be covered by a SAG-AFTRA contract. That’s also true of the first 10 background actors per day when filming in background-covered zones. While initial compensation is negotiable, if the project does become exhibited on any subsequent use platform, any deferred payments would become due. Many of the working conditions you are used to under predecessor agreements still apply, such as a 12-hour nightly turnaround, meal breaks every six hours, and mileage reimbursement at a rate of 30 cents per mile.

The introduction of this agreement marks the retirement of the Short Film Agreement and will take the place of the Low Budget New Media Agreement for non-episodic projects. The Short Project Agreement responds to the needs of our members and filmmakers creating content in the short-form space. This agreement is co-administered by the Theatrical Contracts and Television & New Media Entertainment Contracts Departments. For more information, visit sagaftra.org.  If you have any questions, please feel free to call the inquiry line at (323) 549-6680 or email SPAinfo@sagaftra.org. If a production is ready to start the signatory process, please direct them to the Short Project Agreement preliminary information sheet available under the New Media and Theatrical contracts sections of the sagaftra.org website.