The 2025 SAG-AFTRA Rate Guide: Scale Pay, Fringes, and Budget Planning for Producers

The 2023 SAG-AFTRA Codified Basic Agreement (CBA) and Television Agreement set the minimums every signatory producer must pay through June 30, 2026. The deal included a 7% general wage increase on ratification (Nov 9, 2023), then 4% on July 1, 2024, and 3.5% on July 1, 2025 — the rates below reflect the July 2025 step.

This guide is built for producers, line producers, and UPMs sizing a SAG-AFTRA budget. It covers what scale actually looks like for the rate cards you'll touch most often, what loads on top (pension, health, IAP), and where the budget surprises live.

1. Day Performer and Weekly Scale (Theatrical and Television)

The two rate cards most productions plan against:

• Theatrical Day Performer: $1,253/day (effective July 1, 2025)

• Theatrical Weekly Performer: $4,348/week (5-day) / $5,217/week (6-day overnight location)

• Television Day Performer (1/2 hour): $1,253/day

• Television Weekly Performer (1/2 hour): $4,348/week

• Television Weekly Performer (1 hour): $6,962/week

"Three-day" performer rates apply only to half-hour and one-hour TV ($3,168 and $3,964 respectively at the July 2025 step). Theatrical productions have no three-day category.

2. Background Actors

Under the CBA, background pay varies by territory zone and whether the production is covered (the first 25 BG on theatrical, 27 on one-hour TV, 22 on half-hour TV — increases negotiated in 2023):

• Theatrical and TV General BG (covered): $235/day (8 hours)

• Special Ability: $245/day

• Stand-In: $258/day

• Photo Double: $258/day

Wardrobe allowance, smoke pay, wet/snow pay, and night premium are separate line items and routinely missed by first-time signatories.

3. What Loads on Top: Pension, Health, IAP

For 2025, contribution rates on covered earnings are:

• Pension & Health (P&H): 21.0% of gross compensation, up from the pre-2023 rate of 19.5% (CBA bumped to 20.5% on ratification, 21.0% effective July 1, 2024).

• Individual Account Plan (IAP): applies to certain residuals, not first-cycle wages.

Your fully loaded labor cost for a SAG-AFTRA day performer is therefore roughly $1,253 × 1.21 = $1,516/day before overtime, agent commission grossing, or payroll fees. Payroll service fees (Cast & Crew, Wrapbook, GreenSlate) add another 0.4%–0.85% of gross plus per-check fees.

4. Overtime, Meal Penalties, and Forced Calls

The CBA overtime structure for performers on a daily or weekly contract:

• Day performer: 1/14 of the daily rate per hour for the 9th and 10th hour at time-and-a-half; double time after hour 10.

• Weekly performer: straight time for 8 hours/day, time-and-a-half hours 9–12, double time after 12.

• 6th day premium: time-and-a-half on overnight location; weekend premium for studio zone shoots.

• Meal penalties: $25 for the first half-hour past the meal window, $35 for the second, $50 thereafter — per performer, per violation. They compound fast on a 50-performer day.

• Forced call: a turnaround violation costs one day's pay at the performer's applicable rate.

5. Rate Comparison Table — Producer Quick Reference

Rate CardScale (Jul 2025)+ 21% P&HLoaded /day equivalent Theatrical Day Performer$1,253$263$1,516 Theatrical Weekly (5-day)$4,348$913$1,052/day 1-Hour TV Weekly$6,962$1,462$1,405/day (6-day) 1/2-Hour TV Day$1,253$263$1,516 Covered Background (LA)$235$49$284

Add agent commission grossing (10%) when the contract requires it, and budget 1.5–2x the loaded daily for a typical 12-hour shooting day once overtime triggers.

6. Low-Budget and New Media Tiers

SAG-AFTRA's Low Budget Agreement (LBA), Ultra Low Budget Agreement (ULBA), Short Project Agreement, and New Media Agreement allow reduced minimums for projects under specific budget caps. The 2023 negotiations updated these tiers:

• Ultra Low Budget: budgets under $300,000. Day rate around $206/day (subject to negotiated steps).

• Modified Low Budget: budgets $300K–$700K (theatrical) or $300K–$1.4M (limited theatrical release). Day rate ~$367.

• Low Budget: budgets up to $2.6M theatrical / $3.9M with diversity casting. Day rate $668.

• New Media: budget tiers based on per-minute cost; rates negotiable below a threshold, scale above it.

These tiers still carry the full 21% P&H load and require SAG-AFTRA signatory paperwork plus a security deposit or completion bond.

7. Where the 2023 Deal Changed the Math

The 2023 CBA introduced obligations that change budget assumptions even when scale rates are familiar:

• Streaming bonus: a success-based residual on high-budget SVOD programs distributed by the largest streamers (Netflix, Disney+, Amazon, Max, Apple TV+, Paramount+, Peacock). Calculated as 100% of the residual base, distributed via a foreign-levies-style fund.

• AI consent and compensation: producers must obtain clear, specific consent to create or use a digital replica of a performer. Background actor digital replicas require additional bargaining and payment at the performer's daily rate.

• Self-tape limits: auditions can't exceed eight pages unless the role is the lead.

• Hair and makeup equity: producers must provide qualified hair and makeup artists for all performers, including textured hair.

8. Budget Planning Checklist

1. Confirm signatory status and the applicable agreement (CBA, TV Agreement, LBA tier, New Media) before the first offer goes out.

2. Build scale + 21% P&H + 10% agency gross-up + payroll fees as your baseline performer day.

3. Budget 1.5–2x baseline once you exceed 8 hours; assume meal penalties on any day with a moving company move.

4. Carry a contingency for forced calls and turnaround violations — they're effectively a full additional day per occurrence.

5. For digital replica or AI work, line-item separately and route consent forms through your labor counsel.

6. If on a low-budget tier, escrow your security deposit early — SAG-AFTRA won't issue a Taft-Hartley or first day-of-work approval without it.

9. Where to Verify Before Locking a Budget

Scale rates are updated each July under the current deal. Always pull the current rate sheet directly from SAG-AFTRA's Production Center (sagaftra.org/production) before committing a budget, and confirm any project-specific waivers in writing with your business representative. Wrapbook, Cast & Crew, GreenSlate, and Entertainment Partners all publish union rate calculators tied to the current contract step.

The Bottom Line

The 2023 SAG-AFTRA deal raised scale by roughly 15% across the contract's life and added 1.5 points to P&H. The producer math has shifted: a covered day performer who cost ~$1,250 fully loaded in 2022 now lands at ~$1,520 before overtime. Build that into your top-sheet from day one, and treat the LBA tiers as legitimate budget tools rather than loopholes — they exist precisely so independent producers can stay signatory through a $1.5M shoot without breaking the union.

This guide is informational. Always verify current rates and tier eligibility with SAG-AFTRA and your labor counsel before contracting.

Note: This article was drafted with the help of AI but written, edited and reviewed by humans.