Royalties and Residuals

[siskokid888]

I was watching an ep of TNG recently, and I started thinking about the royalties and residuals the actors may get (or not get) for the various Trek shows. I was wondering if people like Mike Dorn, Levar, or Marina Sirtis actually get a livable wage out of the royalties, or if its just a few bucks here and there. Anyone ever talk to them about this? I know the actors on TOS always said they did not recieve a lot of money from the series, I'm wondering if that has changed over the years. Anyone know?

 

[Penta]

I strongly doubt anyone's gotten the cast to open up about contractual matters like that.

(It doesn't strike me as a question there's a polite way of asking, nor one that's anybody's business but those who need to know.)

 

[siskokid888]

^I don't think its that big a deal - its would just be a question about how show business works - they wouldn't have to give exact figures, just "yea, I get a good piece of change" or "nah, we don't get that much".

 

[Cheapjack]

Someone told me at a convention, that Nimoy gets millions a year, now, from TOS reruns. It took him years to get it!

 

[C.E. Evans]

I recall in an old interview with Deforest Kelley (or was it James Doohan?) that when TOS found new life in second-run syndication, everyone was getting rich off Star Trek except the actors who starred in it because the residuals had whittled down to almost nothing by then. I could see there being changes made to that by now.

 

[lstyer]

(It doesn't strike me as a question there's a polite way of asking, nor one that's anybody's business but those who need to know.)

In the modern era I think that kind of thing is basically standardized under the Screen Actors' Guild contracts. The TNG and later regulars, at least, should be getting checks still if their shows are running somewhere.

Is TNG currently only on one cable channel? I think it was for a while at least. I don't know if that license also allowed broadcast or not, but if not, I'm curious how that interacts with the residuals system.

I recall in an old interview with Deforest Kelley (or was it James Doohan?) that when TOS found new life in second-run syndication, everyone was getting rich off Star Trek except the actors who starred in it because the residuals had whittled down to almost nothing by then.

I recall one of the TOS actors saying he made more from the use of his image in "Trials and Tribble-ations" than he did from the original episode plus residuals combined, but I'm not sure if that would be more a commentary on inflation or on the old residual system.

 

[C.E. Evans]

I recall in an old interview with Deforest Kelley (or was it James Doohan?) that when TOS found new life in second-run syndication, everyone was getting rich off Star Trek except the actors who starred in it because the residuals had whittled down to almost nothing by then.

I recall one of the TOS actors saying he made more from the use of his image in "Trials and Tribble-ations" than he did from the original episode plus residuals combined, but I'm not sure if that would be more a commentary on inflation or on the old residual system.

I believe it. Given how much things have changed since TOS, I'm sure it's a different story now than it was back then...

 

[T'Girl]

This is a story I heard at a convention years ago. Going into the third and last season of TOS, William Shatner's agents were negotiating his next years contact, the show wasn't doing very good in the ratings and paramount didn't want to pay Shatner more that they had been. But his agents wanted something, so paramount said **snicker snicker* "How about we give Bill a little piece of the show?"

Shatner owns a piece of Star Trek, a fraction of one percent. Not just TOS, everything, he gets a percentage of the entire franchise, every year. This would include the profits from the last movie.

 

[siskokid888]

^That's interesting, if true, and means that the Shat has made a nice piece of change off of the fans he sometimes blows off.

 

[Gagarin]

^That's interesting, if true, and means that the Shat has made a nice piece of change off of the fans he sometimes blows off.

Shatner doesn't owe us anything. Shatner doesn't work for us.

 

[Sector 7]

^That's interesting, if true, and means that the Shat has made a nice piece of change off of the fans he sometimes blows off.

Shatner doesn't owe us anything. Shatner doesn't work for us.

IF true, then siskokid888 is correct in his statement. Shatner has profited from money spent on the franchise by the fans he often disrespects. Even if Shatner does not share in the franchise profits, he has still made money from fans through appearance fees, etc. Your opinion is not relevant to the fact stated... if it is indeed a fact.

 

[Gagarin]

^That's interesting, if true, and means that the Shat has made a nice piece of change off of the fans he sometimes blows off.

Shatner doesn't owe us anything. Shatner doesn't work for us.

IF true, then siskokid888 is correct in his statement. Shatner has profited from money spent on the franchise by the fans he often disrespects. Even if Shatner does not share in the franchise profits, he has still made money from fans through appearance fees, etc. Your opinion is not relevant to the fact stated... if it is indeed a fact.

The phrase "money OFF OF" implies something dishonest or something not earned, or at least implying something injust happened. And "sometimes blows off" implies that some sort of behavior was expected from Shatner.

My opinion is relavent, because siskokid888's post is fully of the opinion that Shatner owes something to the fans because the fans were fans. I reject this. Shatner is not a puppet for your amusement, no matter how much he has made, no matter how many products you bought, by chosing to live his life and do the things he enjoys he is NOT "blowing off" fans. You're a fan, you buy a ticket, you get a show. You're not owed anything else. The transaction has already happened.

 

[Anji]

^That's interesting, if true, and means that the Shat has made a nice piece of change off of the fans he sometimes blows off.

Shatner doesn't owe us anything. Shatner doesn't work for us.

Ah, yeah he does. Everytime we purchase something from TOS or with his image on it.

And regarding Shatner's percentage of TOS, I heard the opposite. I heard he sold his rights at the end of the series for one lump sum, thinking the series would never make any money again. I also heard that Nimoy did not give up his rights and has been receiving money from TOS all along.

????

 

[Sector 7]

I heard from the guy that washes the car of the guy that walks Shatner's dog...
The rumor mill never stops, it is the only true perpetual motion machine.

If Shatner completely ignored fans, it would be understandable. However, Shatner has often made a point of being rude to fans. That is neither understandable nor acceptable.

 

[Gagarin]

^That's interesting, if true, and means that the Shat has made a nice piece of change off of the fans he sometimes blows off.

Shatner doesn't owe us anything. Shatner doesn't work for us.

Ah, yeah he does. Everytime we purchase something from TOS or with his image on it.

So... does McDonalds owe you anything, after you ordered the food, paid for the food, and ate the food? Hasn't the contract already been fulfilled?

I believe Shatner's fulfilled his side of the bargain. He's 80 years old. You got 7 movies out of him, 77 episodes of television. Some books. He was paid well. You recieved much.

 

[Trek Survivor]

This is a story I heard at a convention years ago. Going into the third and last season of TOS, William Shatner's agents were negotiating his next years contact, the show wasn't doing very good in the ratings and paramount didn't want to pay Shatner more that they had been. But his agents wanted something, so paramount said **snicker snicker* "How about we give Bill a little piece of the show?"

Shatner owns a piece of Star Trek, a fraction of one percent. Not just TOS, everything, he gets a percentage of the entire franchise, every year. This would include the profits from the last movie.

I'm not sure of the accuracy of this. It sounds like some one may have confused Star Trek with Star Wars (both George Lucas and Alex Guiness memorably traded part of their respective fees for perpetual royalties in merchandise, and look how that turned out!).

 

[patweb]

Oops, this got posted in the wrong thread/forum.

 

[Trek Survivor]

In the modern era I think that kind of thing is basically standardized under the Screen Actors' Guild contracts. The TNG and later regulars, at least, should be getting checks still if their shows are running somewhere.

There was an interview with one of the producers of TOS in which he said that it was the syndication and perpetual reruns of TOS that FORCED the rules on royalties for actors. As I recall, prior to that, they might get X% for the first repeat, then a smaller % for the 2nd, and then that was it. Everyone was OK with this, because shows were not expected to run and run and run...

Then Trek came along. It changed the idea that a series had a finite lifespan and after it ended first-run broadcast no one would be that interested. Of course, with digital, hundreds of channels etc, I suspect the rules may need to be rewritten again.

 

[CaptPapa]

I suspect the celebrity vs fan argument is somewhere in between where this thread leads. Certainly many people expect a celebrity (or athlete) to behave in a (your adjective here) way towards the fans of that person; others believe if the person has given their best performance, nothing else should be expected. You could roll out the old roll-model argument here too, but the only way for us to vote, good or bad, for or against a celebrity is at the box office (or cash register). Occasionally, a celebrity behaves so badly that he/she becomes box office poison (works at the cash register too I guess), and then they suffer financially. No matter where you are on this argument though, I think it's safe to say Mr. Shatner is not going to suffer.
As far as the original post question, I agree, as other(s) noted, that the original series had a big hand in changing the residuals received by actors.

 

[trekker670]

In my opinion, it's not an issue of job or performance, it's a matter of common courtesy. Fans should treat celebrities with respect, and vice versa.