Billy Crystal's Night

[KarlGauss]

How much does Billy Crystal get for doing the Oscars?

[labradorian]

Anything is too much.

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Dee da dee da dee dee do do / Dee ba ditty doh / Deedle dooby doo ba dee um bee ooby / Be doodle oodle doodle dee doh http://members.xoom.com/labradorian/

[KarlGauss]

Four years later, I am still wondering. Any takers?

[samclem]

The irony of Crystal Night.

[KarlGauss]

Eight years later, now. Another bump.

Actually it's twelve years later.

In any case, the suspense is killing me.

ETA: 'Cafe Society' didn't exist when I first asked (or did it?)

[Thudlow Boink]

Wow, KarlGauss, I applaud your patience in waiting for an answer.

[garygnu]

The people at PayScale show what everybody else makes for working (http://www.payscale.com/academy-awards-jobs) the Academy Awards, just not Crystal. They pay their people well.

[WarmNPrickly]

Whatever it is, they must have stopped paying it, because he came back.

[phreesh]

By garygnu's link, it looks like he'd be well into the six figures and potentially even seven.

I wonder what the time committment is. Maybe 4 months full time work? Probably less.

Pretty good payday.

[PhiloVance]

I agree with labradorian, fwiw. ;)

[TruCelt]

By garygnu's link, it looks like he'd be well into the six figures and potentially even seven.

I wonder what the time committment is. Maybe 4 months full time work? Probably less.

Pretty good payday.

I don't see where you're getting that from the link? It doesn't even address the performers.

[phreesh]

Agreed. Pure speculation. But given that the top technical talent gets over $100,000 per year, I don't see it as a stretch that the host gets at least $100,000 for the gig.

And since it's one of the largest televised events on the calendar, I guessed that it wouldn't be unrealistic that he might even get over a million.

I do not have any evidence for that speculation besides the link, however.

[TruCelt]

Here's a link that claims it's not more than $15,000.00. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20058985,00.html

So why does anyone do it? Certainly not for the money. ''There's no huge asking price,'' says one network executive. ''They get paid [a fee] that, in their world, is insignificant.'' Oscar hosts — like their counterparts at the Emmys and Grammys — rarely earn north of $15,000 plus expenses, and fees for their writing staff. Presumably, this pittance is worth it because it gives the host exposure to a global audience who will then go on to watch the host's TV shows or buy tickets to his or her movies.

[ShibbOleth]

Does Crystal even do movies or shows beyond the Oscars anymore? I suspect ego also comes into play, or the hope of offers of work.

@Samclem: Kristallnacht? Really? ;)

[slitterst]

I'd have to say that list isn't really accurate.

As a freelance lighting guy, I earn $25-$30 per hour. And I'm not close to being in the tier that gets hired for the Oscars.

And the guy running the sound board? He'd better get more than $23/hr. This is an international broadcast and you don't go for the cheap guy and put him in charge of what several-hundred-million people hear. Sound mixing is a very skilled task and I refuse to believe the Oscar's sound mixer makes $20 per hour LESS than the camera guys.

Not to mention they mix their pay scales in that graphic. Some people are hourly and others are yearly? You don't pay a hairdresser a yearly wage to do the Oscars. The hair and makeup folks backstage are hourly just like all the other stage crew. Designers (lights, sound, sets, projections) will usually take a flat fee, in which case their hourly rate is often less than the people working under them.

[Dewey Finn]

Here's a link that claims it's not more than $15,000.00. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20058985,00.html
I'll bet that he gets "scale" or the minimum allowed by the SAG contract.

[KarlGauss]

Here's a link that claims it's not more than $15,000.00. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20058985,00.htmlLast night, on air, he said it was a 'three month' commitment. So, $5000 a month? No way that can be it; even with all the ostensible publicity/exposure that it gives him, he surely wouldn't do it for that, would he?

[ftg]

Does Crystal even do movies or shows beyond the Oscars anymore? I suspect ego also comes into play, or the hope of offers of work.

Outside of voice work and shorts, he has done very, very little lately. He plugged at one point during the broadcast his movie Parental Guidance coming in November.

If it's February and you're plugging a movie that's not coming out until November, you're not exactly fully employed.

[Boyo Jim]

Last night, on air, he said it was a 'three month' commitment. So, $5000 a month? No way that can be it; even with all the ostensible publicity/exposure that it gives him, he surely wouldn't do it for that, would he?

Are the Oscars run by a not-for-profit? Perhaps Billy is able to claim a tax deduction for the difference between his "standard" rate and the "pittance" they pay him. Plus, I'm sure he's getting lots of residuals for various things, so he can surely afford it so long as it doesn't mean turning down other work. And from what others have said, that doesn't seem to be a big issue at this stage of his career.

[Alley Dweller]

Are the Oscars run by a not-for-profit? Perhaps Billy is able to claim a tax deduction for the difference between his "standard" rate and the "pittance" they pay him. No, absolutely not. You cannot claim a deduction for the value of your own labor. Perhaps he can claim a deduction for incidental expenses.

[Boyo Jim]

No, absolutely not. You cannot claim a deduction for the value of your own labor. Perhaps he can claim a deduction for incidental expenses.

Really? You can't donate time to a charity and gain any tax benefit? (Not that the Oscars are a charity per se)

[Wendell Wagner]

Billy Crystal is almost 64 years old. There's no mention of him being in financial trouble in the Wikipedia entry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Crystal

He's had a pretty successful career. He's presumably invested his earnings well and he and his wife can live comfortably for the rest of their lives without working anymore. Hey, maybe they can move in with one of their daughters if they need to. They can be a sitcom family where the grandparents make wisecracks with their grandchildren. Anybody that age with a reasonable amount of career success has either prepared themselves for retirement or is in big trouble.

[Fuzzy Dunlop]

Really? You can't donate time to a charity and gain any tax benefit? (Not that the Oscars are a charity per se)

That's correct; you cannot.

[Alley Dweller]

Really? You can't donate time to a charity and gain any tax benefit? (Not that the Oscars are a charity per se)Really. No deduction for your own time.

If you do something like get paid by the charity and donate your paycheck back to the charity, then you have taxable income in the amount you were paid and an offsetting deduction for the donation back to the charity.

And if you are a renowned artist and donate a painting appraised at $1 million that you yourself painted to a museum, you can only deduct the cost of paint and canvas (http://www.law.harvard.edu/faculty/martin/art_law/denial_of_fmv.htm).

[DataX]

I have no idea, but I think there are often times where people take scale for stuff. You hear about actors doing this for film festival type films. I don't remember specifics, but big name actors do it sometimes.

I assume he knows many people in the audience. It was probably a lot of fun for him.

Also agree that not every actor is the type of person who doesn't save. AFAIK - he doesn't have any big habits (not that I would know). I am sure some of them - when they were struggling - made promises to themselves "If I ever make it - I am going to save money for the lean times."

Then they can do projects they like.

[Bootis]

And the guy running the sound board? He'd better get more than $23/hr. This is an international broadcast and you don't go for the cheap guy and put him in charge of what several-hundred-million people hear. Sound mixing is a very skilled task and I refuse to believe the Oscar's sound mixer makes $20 per hour LESS than the camera guys.


Did you hear the mix? It was dreadful. You wouldn't think they'd go cheap but it sure sounded like it.

[md2000]

No, absolutely not. You cannot claim a deduction for the value of your own labor. Perhaps he can claim a deduction for incidental expenses.

Really? You can't donate time to a charity and gain any tax benefit? (Not that the Oscars are a charity per se)

Huh? In Canada, if you are professional and you donate your professional time, you can get a receipt from a charity for the equivalent. I've done it to prep (donated) used computers for a charity to resell for fnd-raising. The risk, of course, is that if a charity plays games with this concept (overpricing, invalid work, etc.) the donation and or their charity license may be cancelled.

Keep in mind "non-profit" does not equal "charity". Charities are approved and licensed and meet certain criteria. A professonal actors' association may be non-proft, but unless it donates all the proceeds to some "acting camp for inner city kids" fund, it's not a charity.

Everyone wants an academy award. You don't get them for Meet the Fokkers - 3D (although a few years ago Norbert did get one nomination... :D ) so when a small indepent film maker wants to do a low-budget artsy film with a juicy role (i.e. Crash, Girls Don't Cry or Precious) big stars will participate for the basic scale pay, possibly plus percentage.

[Northern Piper]

Huh? In Canada, if you are professional and you donate your professional time, you can get a receipt from a charity for the equivalent. I've done it to prep (donated) used computers for a charity to resell for fnd-raising. The risk, of course, is that if a charity plays games with this concept (overpricing, invalid work, etc.) the donation and or their charity license may be cancelled.

Really? gifts of services are not eligible for a charitable donation receipt, according to the CRA (http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/chrts-gvng/chrts/glssry-eng.html):

Contributions of services, that is, of time, skills or efforts, are not property and, therefore, do not qualify as gifts for purposes of issuing official donation receipts. Accordingly, a charity cannot issue an official donation receipt for services rendered free of charge. For more information, see Policy Commentary CPC-017, Gifts of Services.

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