Two Grand A Week Per Diem?

[Bert45]

Jimmy Nail was offered "two thousand dollars a week" to play a role in Evita. He was "just about to moan" when the offer was clarified "per diem". According to Jimmy, this means that the expenses an actor is paid by the film company to cover laundry and meals away from the set, etc, while they're on location. A few days ago I heard Robert Powell mention "per diems" for his first film ,"The Italian Job". Do you know what "$2000 a week per diem" means. Jimmy goes on to say that his actual fee was "well into six figures". Please explain.

[Jackdaw33]

Bad phrasing but per diem means by the day, so $2000 per day.

[dannyk13]

You cannot have $2000 a week per diem. It is either $2000 per week or $2000 per diem( a day)

[AuntPollyGrey]

^^^^Incorrect, 'Per diem' does translate from the Latin as 'per day' but it is used to refer to a daily payment on top of salary/fees/etc to cover 'Expenses'.

[AuntPollyGrey]

that was to jackdaw not Danny

[EdmundD]

When I was seconded to other countries by my company I was given a per diem of £xxx - a daily amount to cover the additional day to day expenses incurred as a result of being away from home.

So it's a daily rate not a weekly rate. But it could be paid as a lump sum at the end of the month.

[AuntPollyGrey]

If Jimmy was on $2000 per week 'per diem' that would mean he would receive £$000 plus all his expenses -travel, off set food and accommodation usually up to an agreed daily rate.

[aelmpvw]

$2000 a week plus expenses of at least $98,001 sounds like a good deal to me . . .

[Old_Geezer]

Almost £1½ grand a week and he wanted to moan. Entertainer entitlement eh. Many would be overjoyed to get paid that. Especially for play acting.

[andy-hughes]

Per Diems - PD's - are common in the entertainment industry, espcially for bands on tour.

All hotel and travel, laundry, food, and similar expenses are paid directly by the Tour Manager, and each musician is also given a daily allowance - walking about money - for anything they want to buy that involves small-ish amounts. Obviously if anyone wants to buy a guitar or a new camera or something like that, they pay out of their own pocket, but incidentals like food and cigarettes, things like that, are covered by the PD.

It's paid whether the musician spends it or not, so some road crew and supporting players can supplement their tour fee by saviing some of the PD's they get.

[Bert45]

$2000 a day to cover expenses seems a bit excessive, even in the entertainment industry. I am guessing that "per diem" is an expression, understood by those in the entertainment industry, with no knowledge of Latin, that means "incidental expenses" rather than "per day". "$2000 a week for incidental expenses" makes better sense. Jimmy's book must have gone through editors, proofreaders, etc who would have noticed that "$2000 a week per diem" did not make sense if it meant (literally) "$2000 a week per day".

[AuntPollyGrey]

Bert you have not understood what has been explained. If your fee is $2000 per week per diem that means you will receive $2000 per week PLUS any expenses incurred -it could be $500 it could be £5000........you keep receipts -or your manager does -then get re-embused, usually in a lump sum monthly or weekly.

[douglas9401]

Can't imagine Jimmy Nail moaning, he has such a carefree air about him.

[Bert45]

I asked my question in complete ignorance of the ways of the entertainment industry, so I am not saying that AuntPollyGrey is wrong. But Jimmy was disappointed when he was told that he would get $2000 per week. I interpret this to mean that he thought that's what he would get for the duration of the Evita project. He went on to say that his ACTUAL fee was in excess of $100,000. I interpret this to mean that $2000 per week was NOT his fee for acting in the film. When he was told that $2000 per week was *per diem* he cheered up considerably, explaining that this was a figure for "out of pocket" expenses. I would think that even Elton John would have difficulty spending $2000 per day on laundry, meals, etc. [He could spend $5000 on a bottle of Petrus, I suppose.] As it stands, "$2000 per week per day" does not make sense. If he had been told he was getting $2000 per week PLUS per diems AuntPollyGrey's most recent answer would make sense. But he would still have moaned about only getting paid $2000 per week as he was quite a big star then.

[237SJ]

Maybe he meant £2000 per week IN per diems. There are government recognised allowances that companies (travel industry etc) for employees travelling abroad. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/expenses-rates-for-employees-travelling-outside-the-uk

[andy-hughes]

In cases like this, it's probably for tax purposes.

I imagine that PD expenses are tax deductible from the rest of the production fees, so the more the cast are paid in PD's, the less of a tax burden on the overall production budget.

[237SJ]

Yes, there are tax associations with per diems. Every now and again random employees who travel abroad for work are audited by HMRC and are asked to provide receipts to show how much they are spending so that a realistic level of tax is being levied. This is where your colleagues receipts come in handy..

[Maydup]

I'm familiar with these terms and rightly or wrongly, the phrase Per Diems is used in the entertainment business for a payment made in addition to the performance fee, to cover living expenses while away from home. It is paid as an agreed sum and no receipts are required. So Jimmy was paid his main fee, plus $2,000 per week for accomodation, travel, food, and whatever else he wants to spend it on. Both the performance fee and the Per Diems are negotiated and bear no relation to actual expenses.

Young, low paid actors will often find a house share or top and tail in a B&B in the hope of having some change from their Per Diems. More successful actors demand excessive Per Diems as they want a penthouse with a private pool, but nevertheless, they will nearly always make money on their Per Diems.

[Maydup]

All performers are self employed and have to manage their own tax, so receipts are not required back to the producer. Slightly different to PAYE expenses payments.

[Peter Pedant]

//Bad phrasing but per diem means by the day, so $2000 per day.//
an that is a lodda laundry

[Peter Pedant]

yeah I stress sj217's note
expenses for the rest of us tax payers in the real world scraping a living, in terms of tax relief
have to be receipted
or the tax man really will be after you
oh god yes