UKFF Questions Thread v3

[DavidB6937]

6 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

though I know of a couple of older wrestlers who charge wear and tear on their gear and things of that nature. 

That's a really interesting one. Not heard that before. How would that work exactly?

[Lorne Malvo]

6 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

I know of a couple of older wrestlers who charge wear and tear on their gear and things of that nature.

That's as carny as they come. Incredible.

[Cheapheat]

I think I worded my question badly, let me try to explain. So if a company has a budget of 1000 USD for arguements sake, what % of that would be allocated for talent? 

And the second question would be for bigger companies, if I worked for WWE/aew and they sold one of my t shirts, what % of the profits would I expect? Basically how much does stone cold get for each stone cold shirt sold? 

Hope that makes sense. 

[Tommy!]

12 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

So from a promoter's point of view, it's not so much a question of "what percentage of the profits will go to talent?" as "if I expect to make X profit, what talent can I afford to book?". Because if someone's fee is £200, that's a £200 fee whether five people show up or five hundred, and whether you charge a fiver or fifty quid a ticket. 

Couldn't they just book unprepared young lads from a local school as an "opportunity" and pay the rest in ham sandwiches or "US exposure" like the good old days.

[gmoney]

19 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

Again, merch at an indie level doesn't tend to be split - the promotion sells its stuff, individual wrestlers sell theirs. Being able to sell their own merch is one of the bigger earners for a lot of wrestlers.

I was interested to see Great O Khan flogging his own stuff at Royal Quest this weekend. He seemed to be the only NJPW talent doing it and had his own cash only policy. Didn't buy anything, but he seemed like a lovely guy.

[BomberPat]

O Khan did his excursion with RevPro, so has worked the UK a lot and probably has a better idea of how it works.

I don't know royalties/percentages pan out for wrestlers signed to proper contracts. An ex-WWF wrestler once told me that the most money he ever made in a single paycheque was from computer game royalties, though.

I've no idea how the wear and tear thing works, or how much the wrestler in question charges, but his logic is that repairing/replacing his gear as it gets worn out is a business expense, so should be charged to his employer, the same as if he needed a new pair of work boots in his shoot job. There's a sense to it, but then, the kind of jobs I've worked that have required work boots I had to fork out for them myself anyway, so I don't know how well the analogy holds up. 

[Infinity Land]

Hasn't guarantees changed things up a bit these days in the WWE/AEW?

A bit like advances in the music or publishing industry. They don't start making anything extra unless it's recorded as passing the advance amount.

[WyattSheepMask]

3 hours ago, Cheapheat said:

I think I worded my question badly, let me try to explain. So if a company has a budget of 1000 USD for arguements sake, what % of that would be allocated for talent? 

Never booked a show in my life, but I would imagine the best way to look at it would be that everything is on the expenses list. If you have 1000 total for your show and want to hire, let’s say Will Osprey who commands a fee of 250 (hypothetically). That’s 750 left in your expenses, out of which you’ve got hire everyone else, pay for the venue, insurance etc. Unless you want to be considered a shitarse, you may be best making sure you can break even for the production expenses before going and spending/agree fees for talent. If you can’t make that back then it’s probably best to get out of the game already.

Some may just want to be on the show to gain experience and be willing to take either a cut based off of the ticket sales or a very low fee, and if your going to let them sell their own merch then they’ll make the bulk of their money off that.

Edited October 3, 2022 by WyattSheepMask

[Vamp]

34 minutes ago, Cheapheat said:

I think I worded my question badly, let me try to explain. So if a company has a budget of 1000 USD for arguements sake, what % of that would be allocated for talent? 

I don't think you could get a single answer for that. You'd have to consider the percentage of promoters that are just having a jolly, the percentage that are idiots, the percentage that are exploiting wrestlers, the percentage that are planning on doing a runner without paying anyone, whether it's a special show or not, whether it's a loss leading show or not, probably whether it's a double header or not etc. 

However, if you're looking for advice, my booking consultancy fee is normally 60% of the budget for the show, but as you're a forum member I'll do it for 50%. Can't say fairer than that. Cutting me own throat at that price. Don't know what the missus will say, us with starving children 'n all, but honest day's work for honest day's pay and you seem like a reasonable gentleman. 

[Tommy!]

4 hours ago, BomberPat said:

An ex-WWF wrestler once told me that the most money he ever made in a single paycheque was from computer game royalties, though.

Kid Kash has said this a few times in interviews I think.

[Tommy!]

4 hours ago, BomberPat said:

I've no idea how the wear and tear thing works, or how much the wrestler in question charges, but his logic is that repairing/replacing his gear as it gets worn out is a business expense, so should be charged to his employer, the same as if he needed a new pair of work boots in his shoot job. There's a sense to it, but then, the kind of jobs I've worked that have required work boots I had to fork out for them myself anyway, so I don't know how well the analogy holds up. 

Double post - he should be claiming the cost of gear back as an expense against his personal income tax as it's clearly and easy to show it's work ware only, much like jobbing panto dames outfits or Abba's sparkly numbers.

That assumes he's declaring the wrestling income on a self assessment, obviously, which I'm sure they are unless they are a fully contracted employee and the promoter deducts tax on his behalf.

[Cheapheat]

Have there ever been any good Halloween themed matches? 

[Keith Houchen]

On 10/3/2022 at 4:49 PM, Tommy! said:

Kid Kash has said this a few times in interviews I think.

Didn’t Sandman say the same?

[Merzbow]

16 minutes ago, Cheapheat said:

Have there ever been any good Halloween themed matches? 

 

 

[gmoney]

1 hour ago, Cheapheat said:

Have there ever been any good Halloween themed matches? 

Chamber of Horrors!