Dance Careering in the US - The Business We Move In

The Entertainment Community Fund worked with me to curate this three-part crash course on the things I wished someone had told me when I started the career.

7:37 - a dive into union

53:30 - branding

1:14:00 - getting an agent

14:20 - content creation and the industry

29:22 - why the Disney contracts on Broadway differ from others

35:00 – self-employment, AKA 1099 vs W-2

55:54 – what your $100 will be worth in 20 years

Why I think Beyonce is totally appropriate for a contemporary piece -

a brief talk with students at Missy Crain Dance in Monroe, LA:

It can be very confusing, the specifics of new agreements that come out any union. With entertainments unions it’s no different, and since we dancers sometimes work across two or three in order to keep careering, learning contracts can feel like digesting Constitutional Law.

Recently, SAG-AFTRA introduced an Influencers Agreement that would allow a pathway for extremely popular content producers access to pension and health opportunities and union membership.  Here’s the breakdown:

What, exactly makes you an “influencer?”

For purposes of this agreement, anyone whose heavy social media traffic garners them a contract with a major non-signatory advertiser is an influencer.  It doesn’t mean that you’re not an influencer if you have a contract with a signatory company, which is one that has already established a business relationship with the union and has to abide by the terms of negotiated contracts.  But in that case, you would be protected under the Commercials contract as a principal performer and this Influencers Agreement wouldn’t apply.   In fact this agreement falls under the Commercials department at SAG-AFTRA.

Do influencers have to join the union once they start getting paid ad revenue by a non-signatory advertiser?

No. But if the person wants to have money applied to pension and health, they do.

Why do dancers have to pay initiation fee and union dues after a certain number of jobs while influencers don’t?

Again, if the influencer wants to use the agreement and get pension and health, then all the rules of dues and initiation fee apply.  The difference is that while dancers under other agreements are talent, influencers are actual producers.  Let’s say you get a gig dancing on an episode of the Game of Thrones prequel series.  Your contract has been negotiated and maintained by the union. The protocols and protections in place are established by the union.  Your residual payments are processed by union administration.  If a producer violates any of the rules, lawyers and staff are available to check them if you make a call to the union.   So best believe that if you aren’t paying for all of the above with dues, a side eye is coming from the person on set next to you who is and has been. And although the union has a long way to go to understanding who we are and what we need (trust, we at DA are working on it), the basic service is sorted.

            But let’s say you’re not in the union.  You made your own one-minute Game of Thrones dance spoof on TikTok and it went viral.  You made the set. You chose chain mail wardrobe. You shot it with your phone. You wrote the treatment. You starred in it.  You get all checks directly with no intermediary.  And most importantly, you or your agent negotiated your contract when the advertiser came knocking. The union has nothing to do with it.  You can choose to keep it that way—and pay independently for your own retirement plan and individual health care package. 

What is this drama with having to start your own company to take advantage of the Influencer Agreement?

The health plan and the pension plan for the union are two separate entities altogether with different staffs and different organizations than SAG-AFTRA.  In accordance with federal labor law affecting people in any union – doesn’t matter if you’re monitoring ER patients or leveling up in a music video – sole proprietors cannot make contributions to the group health plan.  The way you can get around this as an influencer is to set up an LLC.    

            In a traditional scenario, Blockbuster (yeah, I took it back) goes to an ad agency and pays them to make a commercial. The ad agency hires the choreographer, who then hires Tamica to dance in it.  Tamica gets paid as an independent contractor, but because she’s a part of the union, the ad agency has to budget additional funds from Blockbuster to put 19% (on top) of whatever she makes into pension and health on her behalf.

            But if Tamica is an influencer who started a company called Where the Money Resides LLC, this company is now effectively the ad agency.  Tamica becomes an employee of WMR, but she also gets to negotiate on her company’s behalf how much she’s going to get paid, including her health and pension money on top.  Now the union has an “employer” called WMR to legally collect her money through.

            WMR is also good for tax purposes. If you want to learn more about how that works, inbox me.

What if I’m a dancer in the union already and then I get a contract that makes me an influencer?

No new initiation fee applies, but as is always the case, you pay base dues plus a percentage of whatever you make. Assuming you just got a major pay raise, you’re going to pay more dues, as do all the cast members of Tiny Pretty Things – not because they are influencers, but because they are on series principal contracts.

            But beware. Influencers in the union don’t get any more of an accountability pass than the rest of us.  Tamica still has to follow Global Rule One, which means no non-union work.  And the gotcha is that since Tamica is so visible, her non-union activity will be easy to spot and police.

How does the pension contributions work differently for influencers?

I really hoped nobody would ask. So, feel free to stop reading at this point if you’re tired and hate tedium.  So, Tamica’s colleague Juan starts Moving My Ends, LLC. Juan’s IG series where his ticking and tutting to classic songs goes viral.  He directed the content (DGA). He designed wardrobe (CDG).  He shot it with his phone (IATSE). He wrote the treatment (WGA). He starred in it (SAG-AFTRA).   Note that those acronyms represent five different unions involved in Juan’s content, yet he did them all himself.

Recognizing this, SAG-AFTRA only requires that 20% of the total money Juan makes from ad income be used as the basis for pension and health. So, if he would have made $10,000 for this series as an independent contractor dancer in Blockbuster’s commercial (which is the fee that ought to be), the union would make the producers pay 19% of it ($1,900) into his pension. 

For that same $10,000 in the Moving My Ends, LLC version of this scenario, the union is dealing with only $2,000 of his grand total for his company to pay 19% ($380) into. The other $8,000 of income would account for those other hats he’s wearing that fall under other unions.

As with all new agreements, there are some kinks to work out. And there is space—on purpose—for improvement. If you have influencer ad revenue and want to get retirement and health coverage, or just want more information on all of this, hit up SAG-AFTRA’s dedicated email for more information:  influencers@sagaftra.org.  Meanwhile, I’m trying to get my GOT contemporary dance Tik Tok to classic love songs going under Moving My Ends, LLC. Don’t judge.

Before we get into it, know that several national arts grant givers have come together to provide $5,000 gifts for artists who can demonstrate our commitment to what we do. It is not contingent on whether you have worked professionally lately. Go to Artist Relief.

Now, on to Unemployment - first, a few key acronyms:

UI – Unemployment Insurance

IC – Independent Contractors (1099ers, self-employed folks)

PUA – Pandemic Unemployment Assistance - provides payments to IC workers who are not eligible for traditional UI and supplements those who are with with $600 extra per week through July

PPP - Paycheck Protection Program - designates $349 billion for those of us with small businesses or tax shelters (S-Corp, C-Corp, etc.) set up

CARES Act – Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, federal legislation that includes PUA and PPP and promises that most adults making under $75K a year receive a stimulus check for $1,200 with an additional $500 allotment per child in a household

Here is your order of operations:

• Gather all relevant documents, 1099’s, addresses and dates of your employment, FEIN (tax information) for your employer (if a W-2). Scan or screenshoot anything you may have to e-submit.

• Gather addresses and phone numbers of any employers you worked for. This is a pain in the #!@ of course, becausee you want to ensure the addresses correspond with what each employer lists on the 1099 and you may have to Google phone numbers of studios or production outlets.

• Download the Auto Redial / Call Timer app from Water Labs

• Set up an account on the NY UI page if you don’t have one already. You’ll need a username and password so that you can certify every week.

• Apply for Unemployment on this same site. You might be eligible as long as you either

  • worked a gig somewhere in the U.S. in the last 18 months OR

  • were hired to work a gig that did not start because of COVID-19

• Report all income—including residuals (see next list)—in your claim because

  • it is considered perjury not to, and nobody is trying to go to jail

  • it will not hurt your claim in any way

• After you file, your info will be reviewed and someone will call you within a few days, probably from an (888) number with a 209 prefix.

  • If you qualify, so you will receive whatever weekly UI your application entitles you to plus $600 of additional money per check until July 31 as long as you

  • certify every week via phone or online (set questionnaire) that you were in the country ready and able to work but didn’t make any money except

  • residuals, which are fine because most checks are much smaller than $504 (see below for more).

• If you can’t file via website, pull up the auto redial app on your phone and enter (888) 209-8124 into it. Let it dial away until you get through to the automated system

• If you are not eligible for traditional UI, the system will shift your info to the PUA, which will still take care of you through the CARES Act funds, all within these two steps.

Things to Know:

• You have to go through the NY UI process as far eligibility in order to get your applications pushed to the PUA program.

• There is no waiting week for claims – it’s being waived.

• Because the individual states have not quite caught up (although NY is leading the pack) it may take a minute for them to get it together to comply with the new aid legislation. Some IC’s are initially being denied in some states because the calculus of how to qualify individuals based on documentation that has not been set up.

• Residuals can be used to help establish a higher UI benefit (weekly rate) but do not replace actual work for an employer if you’ve had none in the past 18 months.  This is helpful when it’s time to certify because if you got a check for $11 during the time you’re unemployed filing a claim, they won’t hold it against you.

• You still have to show jobs that occurred or would have occurred (were it not for ‘Rona).

• Disregard the alphabetical assignment of application and call times. Those of us who have gotten through so far are convinced that the office is way too overwhelmed to collate calls this way right now.

• If you have an LLC or tax shelter company (i.e., sole proprietorship) and you’ve been paid through it, it’s extremely difficult to process UI unless you issued yourself a W-2 as an employee of your company—even though you own it.

• If you have an S-Corp or C-Corp, put in your application under the PPP right away because they finally opened up this filing option 4/10. They will likely run out of the $349 billion and need more billions for the second wave, so catch the first one. Click HERE for more on that.

• If you have residence in more than one state, feel free to file in whichever one has the best maximum UI benefits.  New York is at $504, but New Jersey was at $696 last year. 

• If you can’t apply on line and must call in, do it when they open. Get on the cue no later than 9:30. hang in there. Things your auto redialer will get you to ad nauseum BEFORE you get to the automated questionnaire:

  • an immediate disconnect as if someone picked up and hung up right away

  • a busy signal

  • a recorded message about the high call volume with an invitiation to call back later

Other Resources

SAG-AFTRA has a page on its website (click HERE) dedicated to COVID-19 resources.

The NY UI page has a brief breakdown of what the new law considers an IC. Click HERE to see where you fit in.

Our unions got together the chart below about the CARES Act that clears things up visually.

Don’t hesitate to hit me up at info@jamalstory.com if you have any questions. If I don’t have answers, I will get them.

- Jamal

INTERVIEW for Liberate Artists

1. Other than teaching, dancing and writing what else do you have a passion for? 

I love movies. When I was in junior high and high school, I wrote for a city newspaper as the movie critic.  I had a ball, which reminds me, I love writing as well. Bid whist is another passion; I’m an old black man in that game, trash talk and all. 

2.  What's your favorite color/brand color? Are they the same?

I’m a big fan of turquoise.

3. Favorite Dancer? 

I have to pick one?? LOL  Carmen DeLavallade, Renee Robinson, Charlie Neshyba-Hodges, Desmond Richardson, Alessandra Ferri, Tovaris Wilson.

4. Person who inspired you the most? 

Rosalyn Story, my violinist cousin who moonlights as a published author.

5. Favorite Food to Eat? 

Shrimp scampi in wine garlic butter sauce

6. Favorite Food to Make? 

Salmon

7. Tip about living on the road as a dancer?

Find time to be absolutely with self.  Also:  One thing at a time. One step at a time. One city at a time. Stay in every moment so as not to find yourself overwhelmed. Even the positive sensations can overload.  

8. How to stay fit on the road?  

Develop a regimen that can be done in the mornings at the hotel.  Find ways to do it without a gym by carrying push-up bars, kettle bells, or whatever will help.

9. 5 Must Haves on the Road? 

A music source (ipod, phone, etc.), a good book, and access to a regular source for news, ginger tea, a theracane or Backnobber.

10. Favorite Song?

“You Don’t Know What Love is” (particularly Cassandra Wilson’s version), “Clouds” (Dianne Reeves’ version) 

11. Favorite Singer? 

Sarah Vaughnn

12. Favorite Quote?

 Blessed are the pure at heart, for they shall see God.

13: Reason you knew why you wanted to be a writer...dancer...choreographer...creator...producer...educator? 

It was a path forged by God and the Universe in spite of my alternative efforts or thoughts. 

14. Favorite Place in the world? Toss up:  Amsterdam, Curacao