Forced Call penalty

Michele Peterson · February 28, 2010

I'm working as an outside vendor, not an employee on a non-union show. I've been lucky enough to never have a forced call before, so I'm not sure what to bill. What is the going rate for forced call penalty?

Edited February 28, 2010 by Michele Peterson

John Sprung · February 28, 2010

It's been a while since I've needed to deal with this, but IIRC, the day after the short turnaround is all OT, figured as if you had never left the set, except of course that the time you weren't there isn't billed. So, if you were at time and a half at the end of the first day, the next one starts at time and a half, then goes to double, etc. It gets very lucrative/expensive very quickly.

-- J.S.

Brian Dzyak · February 28, 2010

I'm working as an outside vendor, not an employee on a non-union show. I've been lucky enough to never have a forced call before, so I'm not sure what to bill. What is the going rate for forced call penalty?

If you're not working under a contract that specifies penalties for turnarounds, then they are not under obligation to pay you anything extra for a short turnaround.

Movie studios routinely get around union rules by hiring outside vendors that are not signatories to unions. Those vendors then can hire crew people without hiring them under a contract whether that crew is union or not. Of course those crew people who are union members can choose to not take the day of work, but that's a day that they stay home not earning money at all. And, those union crew people could "call in" their job, but because the job is officially by a non-signatory, to "improve" the situation would take the union representatives to care enough to take steps to "encourage" that vendor to sign a contract. As far as that goes, in my experience, I'd simply suggest that you don't hold your breath waiting for that to happen.

So, given that you're calling your own shots in the un-contracted Freelance world, you can try to bill extra for things like "meal penalties" and short turnarounds, but whether they agree to pay it isn't guaranteed.