Cate Blanchett Talks Zero pay for Lord of the Rings

   Cate Blanchett was cool enough to have a laid back and real conversation with Watch what Happens Live host Andy Cohen. When he asked her a series of questions, the question came up as to what movie she got paid the most for. Seeing that the two-time Oscar winner starred in what is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential film series ever made (stated by google search), having grossed over 2.9 billion dollars worldwide. One would think this was her biggest paycheck to date. 

   Cate Blanchett laughed in disbelief at his preposterous suggestion. "Are you kidding me?" Blanchett asked a confused Andy. "No!, no one got paid anything to do that movie. "I basically got free sandwiches and I got to keep my elf ears."

    Andy later asked if Cate got a piece of the backend. Blanchett answered no, this was before any of that. 

    As an actress of 24 years myself, and an Executive producer who owns a million plus dollar budget independent fil starring two-time Oscar nominee Bruce Dern and Emmy winner Gil Bellows and who DID pay my cast a nice payday I shook my head in disbelief.  How is this possible with a suggested budget of 93Million dollar union film? 

First, I am going to say that the budget was completely inflated. This is exactly what I speak of in the filmmaker berserk producer's portal. There is no real data on movies exposing the receipts that supports true money spent nor true money earned. 

     Second, the no pay for Actors is the most common business formula in the history of film production! The budgets are barely enough to scrape together a decent outcome- leaving filmmakers to utilize their creative skills to the max. Actors harbor the secret of no pay for successful productions for many reasons. One reason is they don't want to get blacklisted from the industry. Actors are just starting to freely talk about this now- and they are facing some repercussions for it. The second reason is that it is embarrassing. An industry that does such a great job of giving the facade of elite beauty and wealth, is just that- one big facade. The third reason is that the revenue numbers are fudged too. There is no way to confirm any of the box office nor distribution numbers. Studies were conducted through the American Film Market confirming the incorrect data tracking systems as well as the inability for all theaters and streamers to report accurately or at all because of privacy rules. Therefore, the production puts out the numbers for marketing purposes. 97% of studio movie revenue is made off revenue streams surrounding the movie- such as theme parks, merchandise, gaming. 

    Let this interview with Blanchett be proof of the unreliability in the business because how could a team, with a payroll company and under union rules-if it was union, not pay every actor sag wages? 

Well...this movie was filmed in New Zealand. I suppose that is how they got away with paying by sandwich. Many productions go abroad to film due to the incentives and kickbacks as well as different laws. Filming movies like this in New Zealand inspired the Hobbit law in which the government officials of New Zealand had a standoff against Warner Brothers. 

    She did mention that she received no backend deal- well I promise you, the reason for that is because no backend exists in distribution deals. The distributors take it and run. And they can. There is no oversight on them. Their is no protection for the film investors, the ones who provide the jobs in the first place. 

I know that feeling all too well, work hard, earn a sandwich and some elf ears.

   Krista Grotte Saxon filmmakerberserk.com The Producer's Portal for Your Production Our Brand Understands Your Story