Recently, we’ve had to deal with a spike of incidents concerning Supporting Artists sharing confidential material online that they’ve photographed whilst on the job.
So this week we’re reminding everyone about the consequences of breaking your NDAs.
The contract you sign for every production you work on mostly outlines in legal terms the working relationship between the Producers and the Supporting Artiste. But it also includes a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) - an agreement made by the Artiste to not share any sensitive material.
No doubt many of you are aware that the confidentiality of some productions is more guarded than others.
You know the ones - the multi-billion dollar franchises with global fanbases, the flagship heavyweights of each streaming platform, and of course, anything tied to the works of J.R.R Tolkein, George R.R. Martin and J.K. Rowling.
There are teams of people employed by the likes of Netflix, Disney and HBO whose sole job is to scour the internet for disclosures and unauthorised pictures. They wield very sophisticated search tools that can find leaks with terrifying efficiency.
These people are not forgiving. You do not want to be in the sightlines of corporate lawyers seeking damages. Trust us, there are no amount of likes, hearts and upvotes that makes sharing those pictures worth the stress of dealing with the consequences.
So what are the consequences?
Firstly, if you're caught taking pictures while on the job, you will be immediately ejected. You will be released from all further filming dates without compensation. Production may even refuse payment for previous days such as your fitting. Hey - once you’ve broken your contract, the gloves are off.
More likely, however, you’re not caught on the day. Instead, we receive a panicked phone call from the Crowd 2nd AD because your name and the incriminating evidence has landed on their desk. Perhaps you made it easy for them by uploading a selfie of yourself in costume or you’ve used obvious hashtags. Maybe you’ve revealed other identifiers - your costume code, your character name, the set you were on, the actors you were with, the day it was taken. Maybe you’ve written a lengthy post detailing your experiences.
It doesn’t matter what website you use. These watchdogs scour Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Reddit, Tumblr - any platform that enables content to be uploaded and shared.
After the Crowd 2nd hangs up, it’s our job to immediately track you down. We won’t relax until we’re speaking to you on the phone. Imagine this phone call similar to the one Liam Neeson has in Taken… “If you take the post down now, that’ll be the end of it.” Occasionally, all really can be forgiven if the post is deleted swiftly enough. Put simply, the severity of what you’ve leaked determines the consequences.
The production will never book you again, obviously.
We as the agency may never book you again on any other production.
If Entertainment Partners find the leaked material before we do, they may strike your profile off their books which means no other agency on the platform will be able to book you again either.
If you attempt to make another profile, it will never be approved.
Crowd 2nd ADs and their teams move from job to job too. They will be unlikely to ever book you again on their productions, regardless of which agency puts you forward.
For all intents and purposes, your name will be blacklisted and the industry will shut its doors to you.
If what you’ve leaked starts to be downloaded and shared by other people, especially across different platforms - a situation in which you no longer have control over the spread of the content - you can be assured that lawyers from the production will be involved. The same would be true if you were to sell anything to a news outlet such as The Daily Mail.
So what counts as sensitive material? Well, really, anything. The show’s plotlines, its cast, characters, locations, sets, props, costumes etc. This includes yourself at your fitting! Just because you’re in the comfort of a changing room and far away from the set does not mean you can take photos of yourself in costume, or even photos of your Hair & Make-up sheet.
Precisely because fittings are becoming a source of leaks, it is now common for phones to be confiscated during fittings as well as filming days.
We know how much you hate those infernal phone boxes. We hate them too.
If your phone is locked away, you’re not able to respond to availability enquiries and booking confirmations.
Every time someone leaks material, the justification for phone confiscation only strengthens. Security budgets increase, surveillance widens, phone use is further curtailed. The reason your phone gets locked away is because other SAs before you couldn’t be trusted with theirs. Those that share photos provoke consequences not only for themselves but for everyone else who steps foot into that crowd holding.
We’ve even had laid-back productions introduce lockboxes mid-week because the trust that they placed in their background performers was betrayed by one or two people. Put simply, the 1% that can’t be trusted with their phone ruins it for everyone else.
And before pitchforks are raised at the injustice of how only SAs get their phones confiscated - crew members are also fired from production for leaking sensitive material. They too will find it difficult to find a job after being blacklisted by production companies. Many departments such as Camera, Lighting, Costume and Hair & Make-Up need phones to do their job properly because they need to take photos throughout the day. Sometimes these workers aren’t allowed to use their own phones but instead use production-issued devices that better prevent leaks.
And if members of the public are freely taking photographs, that’s a failure on behalf of the production’s location and security departments - that’s not an invitation for you to join in.
Even if you are allowed to keep your phone, there is an etiquette that all productions expect you to follow:
Under no circumstances should you take your phone to set.
Leave it in a secure bag at holding. Beyond confidentiality, the reasoning is this:
Dings, Buzzes, Alerts, Ringtones and Alarms will ruin the take. Even on silent, buzzes will be picked up by the sound department.
Your phone is a big rectangular block - they are glaringly obvious in period costumes and will destroy the accuracy of the show.
Look, we get it. It’s not every day you wear such clothes, step on such beautiful sets, stand next to so-and-so. But you’re also hired to do a job and be professional.
Even if you are allowed to keep your phone, and even if you are allowed to take photos, please, please do not publish these images on social media or send them to friends and family until AFTER the production has been broadcast.
Seriously, once the show is released or the film hits theatres, those treasured photographs stored deep in your gallery are now fair-game. The NDA expires; You can share your images at the height of the show’s buzz and no one will come after you because at that point it’s all free marketing.
The fact that productions go to the expense of hiring security personnel to guard phone lockboxes should tell you how seriously they take the risk of leaks and how seriously you should take the NDA.
CASTING CALL!
Own a police, paramedic or firefighter uniform and based near London? We need you! Make sure photographs of you wearing these outfits are uploaded to your profile using the correct photo tags. Once these photos are uploaded, email georgie@extra-people.com to put yourself in the running for a brand new production that begins filming late September!
The email address to use for any profile-related issue is epcommunity@extra-people.com
If you have any pay queries please contact ukartistsupport@ep.com
If you have any booking enquiries please reply to the last email concerning that project. Your email will go to a dedicated email for that production.
If you have general enquiries that are not pay or booking related, please contact team@extra-people.com