Did the cast make a ton of dough making BtVS?
- Thread starter Dazza
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white avenger
white avenger
I seriously doubt it, though I have no figures to support my beliefs. I did hear that moving from the WB network after Season 5 resulted in a lower overall budget for the show, and if that really were the case, I seriously doubt that the actors' salaries wouldn't have been reduced as well.
Unless you're talking about Buffy's cookie dough from the end of Season 7.
Unless you're talking about Buffy's cookie dough from the end of Season 7.
Black Eye Guy
Taking over the World!
I've read before Sarah was on somewhere between 75,000 - 100,000 per episode, Nick, Alyson and Head were the same, but no more than 90,000 and the rest below them.
I think it's the exact opposite, the WB wouldn't give the show an increased budget so it was moved to UPN. There was a per episode increase and higher salaries after the move.
I think it's the exact opposite, the WB wouldn't give the show an increased budget so it was moved to UPN. There was a per episode increase and higher salaries after the move.
IMDb.com says:
SMG: $75,000 per episode (Seasons 1-5), $100,000 - $150,000 per episode (Season 6), $350,000 per episode (Season 7)
Aly: $250,000 per episode (I'm guessing this is only for the last season if we assume the numbers for SMG is correct.)
Nick: $300,000 (Doesn't say per episode but I guess it could be in the last season. Surprised that he got more than Aly though.)
Have no idea if those are correct and how it compares to similar shows.
/SK
SMG: $75,000 per episode (Seasons 1-5), $100,000 - $150,000 per episode (Season 6), $350,000 per episode (Season 7)
Aly: $250,000 per episode (I'm guessing this is only for the last season if we assume the numbers for SMG is correct.)
Nick: $300,000 (Doesn't say per episode but I guess it could be in the last season. Surprised that he got more than Aly though.)
Have no idea if those are correct and how it compares to similar shows.
/SK
I have this vague memory of SMG telling Richard Blackwood that she was making $300,000 an episode. It was during their interview for Sky One and it was done during the filming of As You Were.
---------- Post added at 12:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:41 PM ----------
I haven't watched it since it aired but here it is if anyone wants to see it.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znb3l6hIbqA"]Blackwood Meets Buffy - YouTube[/ame]
---------- Post added at 12:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:41 PM ----------
I haven't watched it since it aired but here it is if anyone wants to see it.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znb3l6hIbqA"]Blackwood Meets Buffy - YouTube[/ame]
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Y
Yosso
thanks for the youtube link, i'll watch it later :_
I love Xander and Nick did a great job portraying him, but how did Nick get so much money? Especially as S7 sidelines Xander so much as a character, he doesn't really have a lot to do compared to a lot of characters. But that's obviously not how they judge how much an actor gets paid.
I think the problem is more that the cast on "Friends" doesn't deserve THAT much money. I'm strongly against one person making more money for one episode or one game (for professional athlete) than someone usually does in a year that also works his ass off.
Sure acting is a complete commitment and can't be an easy job, but same goes for being in the military or being a fire-fighter or a doctor and yet those people get a tiny fraction of what an actor gets. No wonder we have such a big problem with poverty. I'm not saying actors/athlete should be paid with peanuts, but 1 million an episode is beyond exaggerated.
Robb Stark
King in the North
See, this attitude bugs me so much (it's not a specific thing against you, because I kinda like you 😛, just the general attitude). The salaries that actors and athletes make, most of the time anyways, is perfectly justified. No one "owes" anyone else a living. Actors make the money they do because of the drawing power, the business vale, they possess. Sarah Michelle Gellar made $350, 000 per episode (allegedly) because she drew massive ratings that led to huge advertising dollars for the show. Why shouldn't she be paid that much? Ditto for the Friends cast. That was one of the most wildly successful network shows of all time. Advertisers paid dump trucks of cash to secure spots on Friends broadcasts. That money is going somewhere, so why shouldn't an actor/actress leverage their worth to get the best deal possible for themselves? The same principle applies to athletes.
I get the idea of an actor making more money than a teacher, but that's business. Teaching is about performing a service, not making money (I'm talking about the idea of teaching, not why individual teachers get into the job). And, let's be clear here. VERY few actors make millions of dollars. If you took all the teachers and all the actors in North America and compared average salaries, I'd bet you the teachers have a higher overall annual income. If Johnny Depp can draw over a hundred million dollars for his next movie, why should a teacher make more money than him?
I just don't see how more people don't, or don't want to, understand this. If teachers or firefighters don't make their respective businesses money, why should they be paid more? Because it's "not fair"? Sorry, but that's commie talk. I completely understand your point, the sentiment of it (that something is wrong when a football player makes more money than a soldier), but that's how the world works. Believe me, I'm all for the better treatment and care of our forces (although in Canada, we do a pretty good job of it), our police, our firefighters. Those women and men are real heroes. But I don't agree with the notion that we should radically revamp our entire business system because some people deems some jobs "better" than others.
EVIL UU
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Ethan Reigns
Scooby
In this life, you don't get what you are worth, you get what you negotiate.
If any of the principal actors were to leave the show, it would be devastating to the continuity, the ratings, the studio and the advertisers who would have to shop their ads somewhere else. Soldiers, police and emergency people usually do a fine job - people meet them one-on-one and not as masses of people. But they are interchangeable. Athletes and actors are not. It would be very hard to write a popular show around actors who come and go like a revolving door with new people every week.
The writer who can come up with a show where the plot is so engrossing that it is popular even though the actors keep changing will have the riches of Solomon at his feet, courtesy of the studios.
If any of the principal actors were to leave the show, it would be devastating to the continuity, the ratings, the studio and the advertisers who would have to shop their ads somewhere else. Soldiers, police and emergency people usually do a fine job - people meet them one-on-one and not as masses of people. But they are interchangeable. Athletes and actors are not. It would be very hard to write a popular show around actors who come and go like a revolving door with new people every week.
The writer who can come up with a show where the plot is so engrossing that it is popular even though the actors keep changing will have the riches of Solomon at his feet, courtesy of the studios.
I totally understand your point of you, and I've met quite a few people with the same opinion as you. I have nothing against that opinion and also understand where you're coming from. Oh and I kind of like you too 😛! It is absolutely true that this is how the system works and it will most likely never change. If we compare the earnings of a movie/show to the success of an actor responsible for that earning, then yes, the actor absolutely deserve a piece of that pie. So I kind of have to agree that if a show is going to make many many millions in profit per episode, at least give the people responsible for that profit a good part of the money.
That being said, having lived under the salary of working class all my life with two parent that often maintained 2 or 3 jobs to pay the billed and were insanely hard working but also simply unlucky makes me bitter about people being paid that much. I know the world can't change and frankly I don't really want it too because playing with the balance of thing is a very touchy thing and we all know that with every political view comes problems. For now, I'll just keep supporting independent film makers and small actors since I like that stuff more anyway, but I'm just as guilty of supporting some other people making millions and millions of dollars. Best example that I can think of is JK Rowling. I think she 100% deserves the money because she gave me a series of book that changed my life, she supports so many charity, and I think she's a great role model. I realize that makes me an hypocrite because who am I to say that an actor on friends isn't that to someone else.
Wow that was a lot of rambling. Basicly, I do agree with you even though my initial though were kind of crude concerning the salaries of the actors. I still think they are overpaid but again I'm getting a bit personal with that issue. If I'm being objective they do deserve their money in relation to what they bring in the industry. I would be way madder of all the industry's money went to one person and the actors were left with nothing.
Mischlings
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Yeah, add up the numbers for Sarah, and she made something like $18.5 million off the show (though those numbers look slightly different from something I saw somewhere else, but who knows what they really are) -- compare to Amber Benson being reported to make $8000 per episode while she was on the show. So, some made a lot of money off of it, while others, well, didn't. That's accounting in the entertainment industry.
Now, really want to get into a controversy? Look at The Avengers -- Chris Hemsworth got $200k, as spelled out in his contract he signed when he signed on to Thor, without any of the box office. Robert Downey Jr. got a salary for the movie and a share of the box office, coming to $50 million. Now, I understand all the economics of it as well as someone who isn't a Hollywood accountant can be reasonably expected to, but that seems wrong and needs to be straightened out. But I'm getting dangerously close to going WAY off-topic (or maybe I already have -- I can't tell).
Now, really want to get into a controversy? Look at The Avengers -- Chris Hemsworth got $200k, as spelled out in his contract he signed when he signed on to Thor, without any of the box office. Robert Downey Jr. got a salary for the movie and a share of the box office, coming to $50 million. Now, I understand all the economics of it as well as someone who isn't a Hollywood accountant can be reasonably expected to, but that seems wrong and needs to be straightened out. But I'm getting dangerously close to going WAY off-topic (or maybe I already have -- I can't tell).
Robb Stark
King in the North
Oh, it's already off-topic 😛. It's a natural extension from one actress' pay to a general discussion of the topic.
That's an interesting note about Chris Hemmsworth and Robert Downey Jr. Now, Downey should be paid more, he's the face of the franchise, but I didn't know the gulf was that wide.
However, I understand it. Downey signed that deal prior to the explosion of the Avengers franchise. Unlike Hemmsworth, he was already an A-list actor prior to Iron Man and had leverage over the studio, who wanted a big star to sell what was, at the time, a lesser superhero movie (not on the same public level, then, as say Batman or Spiderman). Downey, smartly, anticipated the success of the franchise and demanded a revenue-sharing stipulation in his contract. That's brilliant. He took a risk, and it paid off. Remember, if Iron Man had bombed he would have made almost nothing. I have no problem whatsoever with him doing or earning that.
However, Marvel obviously couldn't afford to do that with everyone, so they cast actors who weren't A-list mega stars in the other roles, or ones who were affordable. They clearly liked Hemmsworth and wanted him to stick around, and he wasn't as box-office decorated as Downey (ditto for Chris Evans). Coming out of the Avengers franchise, Hemmsworth's asking price for his services will be much higher than $200, 000, you can count on that. Still, that's great business, for all involved.
