Hard to believe we haven’t covered this term yet but let’s get right to it:
A guest star is the term used to describe the type and size of a role in episodic television.
Typically, a guest star will perform in multiple scenes and have a character arc in the episode.
Importance of the character to the episode, how much dialogue the character has, who they are in the scene with, and budgetary concerns are all factors that go into the preliminary decision making when deciding which roles are co-stars vs. guest stars.
There are different types of guest stars:
1. Regular/multi-day guest stars: guest stars who work more than 1 day in the episode and who must be paid a minimum of top of show
2. One-day guest stars: guest stars who only work 1 day in the episode and get a different (lower) 1-day rate
3. Recurring guest stars: guests stars who appear in more than one episode (as little as 2)
4. Special guest stars: either 1-day or multi-day guest stars where the actor has usually been stunt cast (a “name” actor who appears in the episode). They typically receive special billing and sometimes higher pay.
There are a few things that distinguish a guest star from a co-star in terms of standard deal points:
🎥 Guest stars who work more than 1 day get paid a minimum “scale” rate of top of show. This rate can change depending on the studio, platform, and agreement with SAG, however the rate is always more than that of regular scale.
🎥 Guest stars also get higher billing. They will usually be billed in the opening credits, on an either shared or separate card. In some cases, an actor may even get special billing like “and” or “with”
🎥 Guest stars usually also get slightly larger trailer accommodations. Generally, the standard dressing accommodations is 1/3 of a triple banger (meaning 1 room in a 3-room trailer). Sometimes you may even get bumped up to a 1/2 of a double banger (1 room in a 2-room trailer) which is even more spacious.
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