Legal finances

Learning about legal finances

Contract Law

Importance of contents of an actors agreement contract and understanding fully before agreeing

Learn what a contract includes/explains/covers about your particular job role. for example, wage, dates of filming/rehearsals, additional services

Conditions that you must abide by or could be possibly prosecuted e.g privacy of production etc.

Usefulness of a solicitor and lawyer for issues with contract, or understanding every aspect of contract

Agents

Search for roles for you while you don't have the time yourself

Can have multiple agents even in multiple countries e.g uk and us 

City Actors Management - made up of actors looking for work themselves 

Contacting agents mostly through emails

Importance of researching for what agency would be right for you 

Tax Returns

Importance of keeping record of expenditure in order to declare income

Actors barely pay tax as don't usually have steady income/pay

personal allowance £11,000, anything over is 20% tax

Usefulness of hiring an accountant - if you aren't good at organising 

Casting directors

I found out about top casting directors around the UK, mostly based in London. She explained what each director looks for, what they've been involved with (well known shows/films etc.), how they cast people, why they cast people - important information to know as an aspiring actor

Showed range of casting directors, some in straight acting, others in musical theatre

mentioned about use of Spotlight, which has lots of contacts for actors/performers

how you can contact them, preferably through an agent

director and producers discuss on a casting director to bring in for their projects

Union

A democratic unity

Each of the unities has a set of rules to abide by

amnesty international and equity collab

Equity is a trade union for professional performers and creative practitioners in the uk. They help with financial support and can give references for jobs. They help younger generations by teaching skills and culture, giving creative opportunities in the industry

• Negotiates
• Organises
• Campaigns and lobbies
• Supports
• Protects
• Influences
• Provides Services
• Listens
• Advises
• Takes action
• Is a community

Being apart of equity shows how serious you are about your career. 

Book keeping

Book keeping is about keeping financial records of a business/company

It's significant to set and stay within your budget

Freelancers are able to claim expenses used for business: travelling for auditions/rehearsals, telephone charges, tickets etc.

Important to keep receipts and other physical/paper evidence of purchases in order to claim money back

You can get an online bookkeeper if you are not good at keeping up with records

PLI covers you/your business if a member of the public is injured, or property is damage as a result of your business. It covers the legal expenses/compensation claims. the most common claim is from slips and trips.
Many authoritive contracts ask between 5 and 10 million pounds of PLI. This depends on the scale of work and the possible extent of compensation claims.
Can be offered one time/short non continuous contracts for for example magicians. Spectators or public members that have loss/injury from the act, the pli will cover costs.
PLI prepares you for the worst. this is seen more in heavily equipped businesses, that can be more risky.
Many venues need PLI, although it is not legally required.

 Public Liability Insurance

http://www.simplybusiness.co.uk/insurance/public-liability/

http://blog.magicshop.co.uk/2012/12/magicians-public-liability-insurance.html

http://www.performersinsurance.co.uk/theatre-combined