While television and film roles are exciting, commercials are great opportunities for actors as well. In fact, commercials can be extremely lucrative, especially if you’ve booked a major, highly recognizable brand such as McDonalds, Apple or Target. Once you book a commercial, there are a number of fees that you must be paid. A session fee is the amount of money that you’re paid for the day or time that you work on the commercial. This amount is regulated by the unions (SAG, AFTRA, etc.) and varies based on your role in the commercial. You’ll also receive residual payments – this term is thrown around in the industry a lot. Every thirteen weeks that the commercial runs, you will receive a holding fee (or residual payment) equivalent to the session fee that you were originally paid. The idea of the holding fee originated when executives decided that they didn’t want actors in their commercials also appearing in competitors’ commercials. So by “holding” the actor with the holding fee, the actor in a Pizza Hut commercials could not simultaneously appear in a commercial for Dominos or Papa Johns. Additionally, residual payments are also made based on how often the commercial runs during those thirteen-week periods. This is referred to as a use fee. The use fee is determined based on how often the commercial airs, the markets (or cities) that it runs in and on which networks it appears. If your commercial is apart of a large campaign and runs often on network and cable stations nationwide during peak hours, like primetime, this can mean a huge payoff for you. For one or two days of work, you could eventually make several thousand dollars. Voiceovers for commercials for major brands alone can be a six-figure career. Often major brands choose one person to serve as the voice for all of their commercials.  This is a major opportunity and the audition process can be lengthy. After your first audition, you may be required to tape demo commercials (which you’ll be paid for) just so the decision makers can be certain that your voice is the right fit to advertise their brand. Want to make your big break in commercials? Visit http://www.EliteCastingNetwork.comcasting opportunities. today to search for television and commercial casting opportunities.

The year is off to an exciting start at Elite Casting Network and we're excited to see how all of our members progress as they pursue their dreams of working in the entertainment industry. We're always exceedingly proud when we hear of the great opportunities that our members seizing in order to make their dreams come true. One Elite Casting Network member is really taking the industry by storm. Lianne Lin is a multi-talented actress, model, writer and makeup artist. While she has a number of interests, she has managed to juggle them all and successfully land opportunities in all of her fields of interest. Lianne has appeared on a number of popular television shows including How I Met Your Mother, Ugly Betty, Entourage and CSI Miami. What great exposure! These are some of the most highly rated shows on television! Additionally, Lianne has appeared in several films including Super Sweet 16: The Movie and Norbit. Like many models, Lianne has completely immersed herself in her craft and in addition to a long list of print modeling jobs, modeling competitions and promo modeling opportunities, Lianne has also become an experienced photographer and makeup artist as well. It sounds like there's nothing that Lianne can't do! We'd like to congratulate Lianne on all of her success. It's always inspiring to hear how Elite Casting Network members are taking Hollywood by storm and doing what they love best. If you ever get discouraged, remember that if other ECN members are paving their way toward stardom – there's no reason that you can't too! For more information on Elite Casting Network members or to learn more about other members' experiences in the entertainment industry, visit http://www.EliteCastingNetwork.com today. Good luck to all of you!

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