The salary is poor and extras often feel badly treated. It shows a survey that Kulturnytt has done.
– It is a lot of Swedish film that I am passionate about and want to be a part of, but they do not pay well or fairly, says Josephine Hoffman who has many years of experience as an extra.
How many of the ads that are out there now would you say fall away for you?
– Right now there are very very very many.
After more than ten years as an extra, Josephine Hoffman no longer wants to work a full day for a few hundred bucks. This applies to many of the extras we have talked to.
Kulturnytt has been in contact with about twenty extras, we have found them in extras networks on Facebook. Many testify to the same thing. But when we look at ads on the internet where they are looking for extras, we see that fees are not always stated. Josephine Hoffman usually asks every time she searches:
– I have a small checklist. What is the fee? When should I start, about when should we stop, will there be food during the day?
The daily wage for extras range from SEK 999 to a goodie bag, or just “a pleasant experience”. This makes many extras look red.
– A nice experience, it’s one thing, a goodie bag … it’s not a reward!
Josephine Hoffman says that she experiences a context: that companies that pay poorly also treat their extras badly.
– I was at a job once, we were only three and I knew one of the ladies so we stood and talked, and then we heard the crew say “jajaja, but these extras work for free …” and it was like such a degrading background comment from the crew.
– Every time you see a crowd on film, or someone walking in the background, it’s extras. We are needed for it to be a film, says Josephine Hoffman. The film companies and production companies must start paying a decent amount for the job they are looking for people for.
Source: ICELAND NEWS