Residuals - check the facts

When you start receiving residuals, check the facts. A very quick and simple way to make sure that you've received all your money is to look at 2 boxes on each check attachment, Year-to-Date Totals Gross Earnings and Gross Earnings. You should be able to take the Year-to-Date Totals Gross Earnings from your second to last check and add the Gross Earnings of the last check to get the Year-to-Date Totals Gross Earnings for the last check.

Or more easily stated, take the last check's Gross Earnings and add it to the check you received before it. Look at the Year-to-Date-Totals Gross Earnings. This should give you the same number as last check's Year-to-Date-Totals Gross Earnings. Basically, the Year-to-Date-Totals Gross Earnings keeps a total and the Gross Earnings show you what you earned with the last check received (i.e. or most recent check).

I learned this when I received a check for Gross Earnings of $141.90 for a callback I'd had last year that took well over an hour to complete. If it had been lost in the mail, I might never have known, because last year I received residuals all year long and never added the numbers to make sure I received everything. I just blindly trusted my agent. Here's the thing, your agent might not know a check was missed either. So, it's your job to make sure all your money has come to you. You'll be taxed as if it has, therefore, you owe it to yourself to check the facts!

To make sure you get your money, always sign in and out at auditions. SAG checks these sheets and if you've been at an audition for over an hour, then you are to be paid for the hour plus any additional time as well. Additionally, keep track of your auditions so you know when you're owed money, you can ask for it. If you don't keep track, you may get lucky and 6 or 9 or 12 months later an hourly check with a $75 late fee might show up in your mailbox. It could happen if you.