Related:Everything You Need to Know About the SAG-AFTRA Strike
Back in the early days of streaming, all the way back in 2013,Orange Is the New Blackpremiered on Netflix to wide acclaim. Critics loved it, and so did viewers, who slowly began subscribing in droves to the streaming platform created only nine years prior, in 2007. Little by little, a devoted fanbase formed around the show. Praised for its diverse cast, as well as its depiction of gender, sexuality, race, and social issues that pervade the prison system, the series was soon recognized by awards associations such as the Television Academy and even the Screen Actors’ Guild.
In its first year at the Emmys,Orange Is the New Blackemerged victorious in Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series, Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series, and Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series (Uzo Aduba). In the SAG Awards, the series’ second season won Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series,a prize that it would win again for its third, fourth, and final seasons.Orange Is the New Blackalso served as a springboard to fame for many of its extremely talented performers. Aduba, who played Suzanne “Crazy-Eyes” Warren, was one of them, but so wereDiane GuerreroandLaverne Cox. The show can also be credited withrevitalizing the career ofNatasha Lyonne, who had been absent from the media for almost a decade. In the series, Lyonne played fan-favorite character Nicky Nichols, a sarcastic heroin addict with a heart of gold.
But, behind the scenes, things were a little more complicated for the members ofOrange Is the New Black’s supporting cast.In a follow-up to her original video, Kimiko Glenn also revealed that she and her castmates weren’t exactly well-paid for their contribution to the hit show — a contribution that was more than essential, considering that most ofOrange Is the New Black’s laurels went precisely to its cast. “People were bartending still, people had their second jobs still,” said Glenn.On Instagram, the actress went into further detail and explained that she made $900 dollars (SAG’s minimum rate) per day of shooting, which, after taxes and commissions, was reduced to $450. Since filming took place twice every two weeks, roughly, she ended up with a monthly salary of $1800 while shooting lasted. This, for instance, did not allow her to pay for her own apartment in New York City. All the while, she had to remain available for six months of the year lest the show needed her to do reshoots or participate in extra scenes.
The story is the same for many of the show’s recurring performers, who were credited and paid as recurring guest stars instead of series regulars,according to a story published by The New Yorker. This, as Glenn explained on her TikTok, forced many actresses to keep their day jobs while working on one of the biggest shows in the world at that time. Among the cast members interviewed wereLea DeLaria, known for playing Big Boo, as well as Guerrero. While the former performed live gigs as a stand-up comedian, the latter worked at a bar where she is frequently recognized. While she was best known as the Amish meth addict Leann Taylor,Emma Mylesworked for an accounting firm during her time on the show.
How Does This ‘Orange Is the New Black’ Issue Factor Into the SAG-AFTRA Strike?
The fact that these actresses were paid the bare minimum for playing such central characters in such a hit series is just the surface of the problem. There are also the meager residuals that Glenn showed her fans in her first TikTok video. A huge part of the reason why American film and TV actors are currently striking, residuals are the payments received by a performer for reruns and other use of the shows, such as licensing of material in which they appear. In the pre-streaming era, these were calculated based on each actor’s pay and on how many times an episode was aired. But, according to The New Yorker, this was not the case for theOrange Is the New Black. Instead, the actresses were paid based on a percentage of the licensing fee that Netflix paid the show’s producer, Lionstage, to distribute the show, and only after the first 52 weeks that the show was on the platform.
This payment method was agreed upon in 2009 when SAG and the studios finally agreed upon the terms of what would become the 2012 New Media Agreement, a contract that covers movies and shows “produced for initial exhibition via the Internet, mobile devices, or any other platform known or which hereafter may be adopted.” The problem is that, at the time when the agreement was drafted, streaming was still something that existed mostly on the theoretical level. Television for the internet was thought of in terms of minisodes and webisodes, and not entire shows. Creating a new agreement for the streaming age, in which most television is produced not for broadcast or cable stations but for platforms such as Netflix, is a huge part of what actors want. More transparency regarding streamers’ viewership numbers is also desirable, as this would allow residuals to be paid based on how often the shows are actually watched.
This is entirely fair. After all, as SAG-AFTRA presidentFran Drescherput it in her speech announcing the strike: “The entire business model has been changed by streaming, digital, AI (…) You cannot change the business model as much as it has changed and not expect the contract to change too.” However,streaming CEOs still claim that the strikers' demands are not realistic, despite making millions of dollars a year. Some would claim thatstreaming, as it is now, is not a profitable business model, but, if that’s the case, how come higher-ups keep getting richer while actors and writers just keep getting poorer? Furthermore, as the wholeOrange Is the New Blackdebacle shows us, this problem is nothing new. Instead, it pre-exists the streaming landscape as we currently know it, going back to its early days. It’s about time platforms and studios do something about it.
