Commercials

Get a Fair Deal in Commercials – Get Involved!

Commercials can be a rewarding and exciting area for your members to work in. The power of a performance in an advert can skyrocket the earning power of the products and earn millions or even billions for the advertisers and brands. Some of our members can earn a good living from commercials but according to our latest Commercials survey, almost 70% of our members earn £5,000 or less a year from commercials.

Commercials artists tell us they feel commercials can be like the “wild west” – no fair recompense for their contribution to a successful ad campaign, fees and usage payments are often not transparent and can be extremely low with more buyouts in perpetuity, holiday pay is generally not paid. This is alongside some very poor working conditions such as being held on an indefinite pencil with poor communication, very short notice self taping requests and a general disregard for their work-life balance and contribution.

So we want you to help us fight back! Help us gather a head of steam in organising collectively to force improvements in the industry. Attend our zooms and in person meetings, tell us what you think of our new proposals, be part of a focus group to examine new initiatives, empower yourself with the knowledge to compel better deals… Refuse bad deals… and more!

Sign up to our mailing list

Sign up to our bespoke Commercials Mailing list to support our work in commercials, make sure you don’t miss out on invites, updates, information and tips

Complete our survey

Complete our Commercials Survey to ensure we have an informed picture of our members’ working lives and views

Get informed

Make sure you are fully informed of how Commercials work – check our FAQs and reading our guide Working in Commercials

IPA agreement document

Ask the engager or your agent to make sure your contracts incorporate the terms in the IPA/Equity agreed document

Say NO

Say NO to very low deals, go back with your agent to the producer to push back on low rates for extensive usage

Background to the industry

The power players in the industry, the employers and engagers have shown that do not wish to engage with Equity on behalf of our members in agreeing a collectively bargained agreement or in regular collaboration with us in agreeing progressive terms and conditions to benefit everyone in the industry.

Every day, we support our members by guiding them on fees, helping to recover money owed to them, pushing back on unfair deals, helping members understand and improve their contracts, enforcing legal rights and taking legal action against engagers, including:

What we are doing:

  • Helped our members to recover £100,000 so far in 2023 in unpaid fees and out of license payments
  • Launched our Working in Commercials guide LINK to offer advice and guidance on the main terms in the industry
  • Launched our campaign A Fair Deal in Commercials, including a new Commercials mailing list, survey of members and regular newsletter.
  • We are working with agents, casting and approaching the IPA to create a new structure of fees and usage within the industry
  • Created the first Self-Tape and Zoom Guidance LINK for auditions with lead agents and casting
  • We constantly engage and bring our members issues to the IPA, APA, agents and casting organisations