How much does a model get paid for commercial ads?

Answer 1

Some commercials pay actors a flat fee called a "buy-out"...those are usually regional commercials (not national) or foreign, and they're usually non-union (not Screen Actors Guild---SAG for short). They can pay anywhere from $100-$20,000. Most buy-outs range from $2,000-$10,000. They can really pay just about anything if you're non-union, because they're not paying residuals.Most money in commercials comes from residuals. Residuals are what actors make after the commercial airs over and over and over again. Each time it runs, they make money. Pay cycles are broken down into 13 week segments. Commercial actors get paid on a residuals scale that resets every 13 weeks. So if the company advertising wants to use a commercial, the actor gets paid a certain amount for the first airing (usually $592 for SAG), less for each time it airs 2-10, less for 11-20, etc. Some companies pay a "guarantee" at the beginning of every 13 weeks, which is really a luxury for the actor because they know they will be getting paid that much in residuals whether or not they decide to run the commercial. But if the commercial runs more than the amount of money the guarantee covers in residuals, the actor can make more. Say the company guarantees $2000 every 13 weeks and the residuals are $3500, the actor gets $2000 at the beginning of the 13 weeks for the guarantee, and the remaining $1500 after the $2000 threshold has been met.The big money is in national commercials. If you have a national commercial running all of the time, you can make a LOT of money. I had a national run for 6 months and made over $30,000 on it (total...pre-tax. Post-tax and agency fees, around $15K). Commercials are very good money.

Answer 2

Regular commercial/print ad models typically get paid $200+ for commercial ads.