Why Hollywood Should Bid Its Next Action Sequence in Europe

Put the SAG numbers on the table

SAG-AFTRA publishes its wage tables and agreements. The STUNT.BLOG Editorial Desk believes the arithmetic deserves equally public attention. 2026 Theatrical Wage Table 2026 Theatrical-Television Memorandum of Agreement

European stunt performers should be able to see what a defined US contract pays when a production overruns. Producers, showrunners and streaming executives should be able to see the same obligations in black and white. Both sides deserve access to the calculation.

So we are showing the working. Every assumption is stated. Every contractual amount has a source. Anyone reading this should be able to check the result against the published rules.

A budget conversation becomes more honest when the people doing the work and the people financing it can see the same numbers.

A $1,283 booking, $1,500 in stunt adjustments and the clock

Our example uses an adult stunt performer hired by the day under the standard SAG-AFTRA theatrical agreement, at the minimum applicable from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027. That minimum is $1,283. The current agreement was ratified in June 2026 and took effect on 1 July. SAG-AFTRA Members Approve 2026 TV/Theatrical Contracts Tentative Agreement 2026 Theatrical Wage Table

The hypothetical performer works an ordinary weekday in the studio zone, from 08:00 until dismissal at 19:00. All eleven hours count as paid work. Food is eaten while work continues, with the performer receiving no qualifying meal break. The example assumes no non-deductible early meal, applicable grace period or waiver. The next day's first call is 06:00.

This deliberately difficult schedule combines three paid overtime hours, a five-hour meal delay and an eleven-hour interval before the next call. The booking starts at minimum scale, with $1,500 in negotiated stunt adjustments added for the demanding work described below.

The stunt is a hard impact on concrete. Two or three takes were planned; camera or acting problems push it to five. In this hypothetical, the performer and production negotiate two supplementary stunt adjustments totalling $1,500 for the additional impacts and difficulty. Those two adjustments and their combined amount are the agreement assumed for this calculation.

Stunt adjustments recognise the nature and demands of the specific work. Schedule H Part I, section 11 and the theatrical daily contract, Exhibit C-1 provide for negotiation when additional work goes beyond the agreed scope, with the adjustment recorded on the time report or time card. The contract supplies the negotiation framework; it does not prescribe a universal number of adjustments for five takes.

In Ferdi Fischer's production experience, adjustments are a regular part of US stunt bookings. He describes amounts ranging from a few hundred dollars to several thousand, with exceptionally demanding or high-risk vehicle stunts capable of carrying negotiated adjustments of $15,000, $20,000 or $30,000. These are practitioner-reported examples of negotiated amounts, rather than a published SAG-AFTRA price list.

The first meal is due by 14:00. SAG-AFTRA's published theatrical rules require the first meal within six hours of first call, with a qualifying meal break lasting at least thirty minutes. The daily stunt schedule incorporates the relevant meal and rest provisions. Codified Basic Agreement: Schedule H and incorporated Schedule A provisions How do Theatrical meal periods work?

The adjustment also changes overtime. Base plus adjustments is $1,283 + $1,500 = $2,783. That exceeds the theatrical money break of twice the daily minimum, $2,566. Under Schedule H Part I, section 8, overtime uses the capped hourly base of $2,566 ÷ 8 = $320.75; all three overtime hours here pay at time-and-a-half, including the eleventh. The resulting overtime is $1,443.38. SAG-AFTRA's current overtime guidance confirms the money-break rule.

Protection has a price, and producers have a limit

Meal breaks and rest periods protect people whose work depends on timing, concentration and physical control. Producers have a direct operational interest in those protections. The same contract also requires reasonable stunt-safety equipment requests to be met and producer-supplied equipment to be suitable for the work. Codified Basic Agreement: Schedule H and incorporated Schedule A provisions

The producer's problem appears when several obligations accumulate around the same disruption. A delayed setup can push work into overtime, extend a meal violation and collide with the next call. A fixed location window can make all three pressures arrive together.

Our editorial position is that the cumulative price deserves scrutiny. A producer can respect every entitlement and still conclude that a sequence cannot carry the resulting cost at a particular location. A protective agreement can become commercially prohibitive for a given production when several provisions are triggered together.

The rate itself is published. The forecasting challenge lies in how often the production will hit it, how many people are affected and whether the remaining schedule can absorb the consequence. A credible bid therefore needs both the planned day and a plausible overrun case.

That calculation should happen early enough to influence the production plan.

For the preparation and follow-through outside the shooting day, see The Hours the Call Sheet Misses.

Europe gives the producer more combinations

For EU citizens, access to employment across the EU generally comes without a work-permit requirement. That creates a practical basis for assembling teams across Germany, France, Spain and Hungary. Cross-border employment still involves the applicable posting rules, social-security documentation and host-country working conditions. A competent production partner prices and organizes those obligations. Work permits Posting staff abroad

London adds another pool of specialist capability, with its own immigration arrangements. Each crew member's nationality, existing status and destination determine the relevant work-permission route. The useful production network is European. Its legal administration is country-specific. Work permits Creative Worker visa

The workflow already extends across borders. For Black Widow, The Third Floor's London team describes working with stunt and shooting units on the Budapest chase, developing action beats alongside the logistics and setups needed for location filming. That is a production record of preparation joining departments before they reach the street. Black Widow

For a new project, the opportunity is to assemble that relationship early. Match the performers, rehearsal space, vehicle expertise, rigging, camera team and location to the sequence. Keep the people who have developed its timing involved as it moves into photography.

Every additional transfer should earn its place in the budget. Flights, freight, accommodation, fuel and equipment moves all consume resources. A plan that reduces unnecessary movement also reduces its exposure to changes in those prices. The savings belong in an actual quote, with travel and availability confirmed.

The camera belongs in the action bid

A stunt can be prepared thoroughly while the camera approach remains unresolved. The production then pays to solve their relationship at the point when the whole unit is waiting.

An integrated action bid should show how the image will be made. Which movements need a specialist platform? Who operates it? How much rehearsal is required? What is the reset? Which departments share the decision? What usable coverage should arrive in editorial?

WarpCam® offers a relevant example from the SlamArtist.com network. Its operator-led ecosystem brings camera movement into action planning across handheld, pole, vehicle, RC and FPV configurations. The production buys the team's ability to develop and execute the shot within the sequence. WarpCam® Deutschland

In his published SWR1 interview, Ferdi Fischer describes one WarpCam setup through three collaborating roles, a physical operator, a remote camera operator and a focus puller. He also describes combining action support and camera work within a unit on Fast & Furious. That account places expertise, coordination and departmental cooperation at the centre of the system. SWR1 Leute: Hollywood Stunts — interview and transcript

For the producer, the test is measurable. Compare the proposed rehearsal time, setup time, reset time, staffing and usable coverage against the needs of the sequence. A specialist camera approach earns its place when that comparison supports the choice.

This is where an early European bid can be particularly valuable. The crew can propose a way of making the action while the plan still has room to change.

The relationship between movement and the recorded image is examined in The Shot Window.

Put the incentive through the whole budget

Hungary's National Film Institute describes a 30% production incentive and publishes examples showing how qualifying expenditure affects the result. Its example with 1,000,000 in total spend, divided into 600,000 Hungarian and 400,000 non-Hungarian expenditure, has a qualifying base of 750,000 and a rebate of 225,000. That equals 22.5% of the whole example budget. Hungarian Film Incentive

Residuals belong in the greenlight model

Residuals compensate performers for qualifying use beyond the exhibition covered by their initial compensation. The applicable agreement, production type and subsequent use determine the obligation. SAG-AFTRA's public guidance explains those triggers, while the current agreement supplies the relevant terms. SAG-AFTRA TV and Theatrical Residuals Quick Guide 2026 Theatrical-Television Memorandum of Agreement

For a streamer or producer, this means planning beyond wrap. The initial release, subsequent territories, platforms and licensing arrangements should be tested together with the performer contracts. Reporting and payment administration belong in that forecast.

European contracts deserve the same level of attention. Equity describes secondary payments for film, television and streaming under its agreements. SAG-AFTRA's Global Rule One also establishes worldwide contractual obligations for members within its scope. A production's location, employing entity, performers and signed agreements all matter. Understanding secondary payments Global Rule One

A European partner adds value by making those obligations legible before signature.

Give Europe the brief while it can still change the film

A serious comparison must carry the full cost of lawful working conditions. The EU Working Time Directive establishes minimum protections including breaks after more than six hours of work and eleven consecutive hours of daily rest, with national implementation and permitted derogations shaping the applicable rules. The local working-time and collective-agreement position belongs in every bid. Working Time Directive

European performers should also see the commercial value they bring. Rehearsal, technical preparation, equipment readiness and action-specific camera knowledge all need an agreed scope and payment. Producers benefit when the work required to deliver the sequence is visible from the start.

The case for Europe is strongest when the proposal shows what the money buys. It should specify who prepares the action, who photographs it, which location and facilities support it, how the schedule protects recovery, and what changes when the day overruns.

Ask for that proposal from the European network before the sequence is locked.

Budapest, Babelsberg and London can contribute to a production plan built around the actual work. Give those teams the opportunity to shape the method, and compare the resulting cost of delivering the scene.