How long are shoot days?
Scheduled shoot days tend to be 12 hour days but an artist’s start time is often a number of hours before the shoot begins (to allow time for artists to get dressed and ready for the shoot) and there is usually some time taken to wrap out at the end of the day (travelling back to the unit base, de-rigging, signing out etc). In addition to this, shoot days can also run over. On this basis, it is not unusual for artists to work 14 hour days and sometimes longer. The point at which over-time kicks in, depends on the specific deal under which the production you are working on is operating. You should always be told how many hours the basic rate covers (ie when you go into overtime) when you are offered the job. If the film is operating under the Pact/FAA agreement this will cover a 9 hour day and over-time will begin after the 9th hour and is calculated on a half-hour basis.