How much does Billy Crystal get for doing the Oscars?
Anything is too much.
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/
Four years later, I am still wondering. Any takers?
The irony of Crystal Night.
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?)
Wow, KarlGauss, I applaud your patience in waiting for an answer.
The people at PayScale show what everybody else makes for working the Academy Awards, just not Crystal. They pay their people well.
Whatever it is, they must have stopped paying it, because he came back.
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 agree with labradorian, fwiw. 
I don’t see where you’re getting that from the link? It doesn’t even address the performers.
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.
Here’s a link that claims it’s not more than $15,000.00. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20058985,00.html
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?
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.
I’ll bet that he gets “scale” or the minimum allowed by the SAG contract.
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?
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.
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.
No, absolutely not. You cannot claim a deduction for the value of your own labor. Perhaps he can claim a deduction for incidental expenses.