Knowing when you’re On the Clock or Off the Clock

Do you know about the “Report-to Zone”? As an actor, you may have heard that the zone is 30 miles, but that rule applies specifically to principal performers only. For background performers, the Report-to Zone is an eight-mile area that radiates from Columbus Circle and affects the rules on transportation, payments and late-night safety.

If production is located within the eightmile zone, a performer is responsible for providing their own transportation to and from the location. The performer is officially “on the clock” when they arrive at the location at their call time. It does not matter if your commute to the location is five minutes or three hours: If the location is within the zone, you are not compensated for travel time.

However, if a production’s location is outside the zone, the producer must provide transportation to and from location and pay the background performer for transport time. In those scenarios, the performer is on the clock when they arrive at the pickup location, which is designated by the producer and may be anywhere in Manhattan between South Ferry and

125th Street. Again, performers will not be compensated for the time it takes them to commute to the pickup location.

Once filming has wrapped for the day,

Commercials Background Zone

FOR BACKGROUND PERFORMERS working under the Commercials Contract, officially referred to as extras, the rules are somewhat different. The zone is still eight miles, but extras who report to work within the zone receive an $8 stipend to cover their transportation costs. The stipend also applies when an extra reports to a pickup spot that will transport them to a shooting location outside the zone. The pickup area in Manhattan is smaller, with its borders represented by 23rd and 59th streets, and 1st and 11th avenues. As with TV/Theatrical, performers are on the clock when they report to the pickup location at the designated time. Any performers who opt not to report to the pickup location and report to the call location on set will have a different work time than the performers who reported to the pickup location.

Rules also differ regarding late-night drop-off. When production wraps after 10 p.m. — not 9:30 p.m. — the producer must provide transportation to one of the same three safety spots. However, an extra may request drop off at the safety spot that is most convenient for them. So, if three passengers are in the van and each wants to be dropped off at a different safety spot, the production is obligated to stop at all three. For additional questions, please contact the Commercials Department.

haron Washington is an award-winning stage, film and television actor. She sat down with SAG-AFTRA National and New York Local Board member Liz Zazzi in March 2020 before New York City shut down due to COVID. The entertainment industry followed soon after with an industrywide pause across the country. As the printed New York Local newsletter returns, we hope you enjoy this glimpse into her fascinating career, with a follow-up on how she coped during COVID and what’s next for this talented performer.

You’ve had a fascinating, if not unique, childhood. Tell us about it. I was born in Queens General Hospital and [my family] moved to Manhattan when I was 3. My mother worked as a secretary and my father worked for the New York Public Library. We lived in the ‘custodial apartments’ inside the library, many flights above the circulating books. Mom was a skilled stenographer who worked at our local church and, for a period during World War II, for the Pentagon. Dad kept the library warm and its water hot by shoveling coal until the 24/7 work [hours] became too difficult physically.

I’d started [school] at P.S. 166, but the vice principal told my mother I should probably go somewhere that would challenge me more, so I took the test for The Dalton School. I was accepted and started the third grade on a scholarship. I was there until I graduated high school. As I got older, the scholarship was reduced, so I also received financial aid. In my teens, I also started going to parties. [I’d be somewhere and realize], ‘Oh, this party is in the Paramount Pictures screening room, or be taking elevators that opened up to somebody’s Park Avenue apartment. That’s when I became really aware of the ‘haves’ versus the ‘have-nots’ for the first time.

And college?

I went to Dartmouth because I got in, but also because it was just such a beautiful campus. It was like a picture postcard; so different from the streets of New York City.

Were you also on scholarship at Dartmouth?

I wish. There were some grants, but it was mostly student loans and work-study. Then I wanted to become an actor, so I added more debt on top of that because I went to drama school. It took me over a decade to pay off two loans, but acting was what I wanted to do.

I’d known it since I was a child in church pageants. Dalton had a robust arts program, a beautiful theater and many opportunities to perform musicals and classics. I continued performing at Dartmouth, but my majors were International Government and African & African American Studies. I was interested in a career in the foreign service, but when I graduated and moved back to New York, I needed a job. Hoping to get the theater bug out of my system, I reached out to Dartmouth alum Barry Grove, who was managing director of Manhattan Theatre Club, and he offered me a nonacting summer job. There I met artistic director Lynne Meadow, and that’s how I heard about Yale Drama School. After three years in administration at the Manhattan Theatre Club, lots of private acting classes, working AFTRA background on the soaps, and, of course, the Actors’ Equity Association showcase circuit, I auditioned for and got into Yale.

What was that like?

I immersed myself. I wanted all the ‘tools’ [and] to arm myself with as much training as possible. I was part of the original company of August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson at Yale Repertory Theatre, which led to the Huntington Theatre Company in Boston and my Equity card. I worked with [members such as] Courtney B. Vance, Charles Dutton and Samuel L. Jackson.

What was your first gig after graduating?

I was cast in Coriolanus at the Public Theater. It was so exciting to perform Shakespeare when all the advice had been to seek more lucrative employment like a series or film work in L.A. When I was hired, I told [the Public’s founder and producer-director] Joe Papp I was fulfilling my dream from childhood: seeing free Shakespeare in the Park and marveling at the people who looked like me speaking in verse! Shortly after that, I got my first [television] guest star on A Man Called Hawk, [and that] gave me my SAG card.

Talk about some of your career experiences on set.

Over the years, I’ve noticed how a [film or TV] set reflects the personality of No. 1 on the call sheet: Whoever it is, they set the tone [for production]. I’ve been on sets where it’s a nightmare because the No. 1 is problematic, and the cast and crew are walking on eggshells. Workdays are long and hard because all you want to do is do your scene and get out without causing any trouble. What a horrible way to work! I’ve also been on sets where the No. 1 makes you feel like a guest in their house. I’ve always said that if I were ever in that position, that’s the type of No. 1 I’d like to be.

Any advice while waiting for the phone to ring?

Stop comparing yourself to others! That way madness lies. I’ve gone to school and worked early in my career with many people who are now full-blown celebrity superstars — but we started out together pooling money to buy lunch. Are they more talented than me? I don’t believe that, but their path was different — and not easier, just different. Your journey is your journey and won’t look like anyone else’s.

Many of our newer members are content creators. Can you talk about how you created Feeding the Dragon?

For years, every time I was asked about my childhood, people said it would make a great book: the little girl who lived in the library, the dad who shoveled coal into a fiery furnace; it sounded like a fairy tale. I struggled with its written form, and then I began to walk around [my] apartment, doing monologues and dialogues. That’s how Feeding the Dragon became a play. It was great to flex different creative muscles in its development. I never dreamed anyone would produce it. And they did! This is from the final moments of the play:

‘So … here I am.

The little girl who lived in the library.

A teller of tales.

A holder of history.

A King’s daughter.

I am the story.’

Moments after our interview, New York City announced the closure of all non-essential businesses. We entered an unprecedented time. At press time, Liz and Sharon spoke again.

So great catching up with you. Can you talk about your coping skills during COVID, and what’s next for you?

COVID was challenging for me, as it was for all of us. After living in Manhattan Plaza for over 20 years, my husband and I moved out of the city to the Hudson River Valley in November 2018. When COVID hit in 2020, not only were we new homeowners, but we were also isolated. It was difficult. I concentrated on self-care and finally getting [my] home studio up and running. The advice from the voiceover department at SAG-AFTRA and the union’s online tutorials were crucial in helping me navigate [everything], from equipment basics to contracts. My first on-camera gig post-lockdown was a series that I’d been recurring on. I was so grateful that the union had strict protocols in place that allowed us to get back on set in person and in community safely. We were all anxious about how this would work in this new world. Having the union there to address concerns made all the difference. As a former SAG-AFTRA National and New York Local Board member, I was happy to see our union put our members’ safety first, as we slowly and carefully returned to work. I’m glad the Return to Work Agreement continues to evolve to get us safely back to work. Which is what it’s all about, isn’t it?

And finally, as a native New Yorker, I’m thrilled to be working with our local union brothers and sisters as co-writer on the New York, New York musical [now open on Broadway]. Come on and be a part of it. Union Strong! l