That's a great question. The norm here on the west coast seems to be 2 months. Generally, under SAG, payment is made to the agency on time but the agency usually holds it for awhile. At least in our case. 3 months, too long. 4 months, still too long. 2 months, too long but we have to deal with it. I think patience and more patience and if it carries of for more than 4 months, call the production payroll company directly. I'll follow any other comments as I, myself, would like to know what others do. Bonnie Gillespie put out an article recently about paying commissions. Check it out.

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As far as look, I think you have a great, unique look and should be going out. I'm not sure your willingness to travel to LA but I totally could have seen you as a pirate in Pirates: At Worlds End. They used alot of BG Players week after week as pirates. Not sure of the Florida market but you can do some things yourself.

What's your type? Once you know that, what shows cast your type? Who casts these shows? Send them Headshots, resumes and a demo reel if you have one. You have to do drops to casting offices, submit for everything you could be right for and hit the pavement. Keep your skills up through workshops and learning. It seems like work begats work so the more you put into it the more you'll get out of it.

Have a great day & I look forward to hearing more about your journey!

If it wasn't a union job there can be a lot of twists and turns when it comes to getting paid in a reasonable amount of time. If you were a local hire AND the production company was based in Florida then I would check out your state's labor laws to see if they set a time in which they are required to pay you. Most state's labor laws require payment within 30 days from the completion of the work and if they don't pay you on time you may be able to collect penalties for every day they are late in paying you. If the production company is in another state then you'll probably be waiting awhile. My first paying gig was a print job for Levis back in 1990. It was shot out here in L.A. and the production comapny was in Florida. It took 6 months to get the check from that job. I also had problems getting paid on my second job, a non-union commercial also around that time. My so called SAG franchised agency (which went out of buisiness shortly after) tried to rip me off. I had to go in and get in their face in order to get paid and the agent told me that I would never work again. I just laughed at him. I joined AFTRA in '91 and SAG in '92. Even if you're in the unions you can still have problems getting paid. I did a film in '99 under a SAG deferred contract (you only get paid if the film sells). Not too long ago, I found out that the film was sold in 2004 and they didn't bother to tell us. A claim was filed with the union and they are going after the producer on all of our behalves. Most agencies out here in Los Angeles only hold onto a check for about 2 weeks before issuing a check. They have to wait for the check from the production company to clear first then it goes their accounting department, after which the check is mailed out to you. For those of us who do union commercials, we have become accustomed to getting paid a little late. Although SAG has specific rules about when actors have to be paid, the biggest payrol company for commercials (which shall remain nameless) almost always pays us a few days after the deadline set by our union contract. For the most part when you're in the union, problems getting paid will be far and few between and will be the exception rather than the rule. In my opinion if the production company issued a check to your agency on your behalf on time, there is no excuse for the agency to hold the check to 3 months. If I were in your situation I would start looking for another agent but would wait to dump the one I was with until I found another. Good luck and keep plugging away. Getting work in this industry is all about persistence.