Until the check clears the banking systems, you won’t know if the money is real or make believe.

It’s the deal you agreed and negotiated for that dictates how much you will receive and when. Don’t agree a deal that pays you from box office success only, unless you need credits on screen and on IMDB. You might never see a cent.

The smaller the producer’s business, the sooner you will see your first check. The bigger businesses take time to get a check written and sent out. Accountants take so much time authorizing each check to see if they can delay it for a period keeping the money in their account longer. The delay can be weeks or sometimes months.

If you don’t have a track record in the industry, your up-front payment (if any) will be low. You may have signed up to receive a total of $50,000, but don’t forget your agent will take their 15% share first. You must not forget to place some aside to pay your tax bill, your manager and perhaps your attorney and your grocery store.

Don’t forget to send your check to the WGA or whichever screenplay organisation you are a member of – many writers live outside of the US.

Your first check now looks closer to 50% of what you expected to receive, but wait: you’re new check is only around 30% of the total, as your first payment. You won’t receive 100% of your money in the first check. You’ll be sent your money in stages over the course of time and often dependent upon reaching the first day of filming. If the movie doesn’t start filming, you may not receive any further funding.

Always beware, the producer may not be able to raise the funds they originally suggested so the more you place in your bank account, the sooner, the safer it is.

Over the course of a year, one sale might be great for you, but don’t forget to consider your cash flow – when you have to pay your bills compared to the way the producer or studio will pay you. The two plans might not fit perfectly.

Well, Forbes Magazine has just published their annual Ultimate Star Payback League and the results are just in:

Earnings are per dollar (paid to the star and return gained) and are based on the star’s last three movies before 1st January 2008.

Those at the top of this year’s list include:
1. Vince Vaughn – $14.73
2. Tobey Maguire – $13.44
3. Julia Roberts – $13.19
4. Brad Pitt – $12.73
5. Naomi Watts – $12.16
6. Matt Damon – $12.16
7. George Clooney – $11.56
8. Jennifer Aniston – $10.48
9. Hugh Jackman – $9.90
10. Ben Stiller – $9.50

Those at the other end of the list:
1. Nicole Kidman – $1.01
2. Jennifer Garner – $3.62
3. Tom Cruise – $3.99
4. Cameron Diaz – $4.03
5. Jennifer Lopez – $4.10
6. Jim Carrey – $4.11
7. Nicolas Cage – $4.16
8. Drew Barrymore – $4.38
9. Will Ferrell – $4.67
10. Cate Blanchett – $4.97

This just goes to show you that figures can be played around with and any result you want can be found. A lower paid actor staring in a big movie success will appear as a much higher rate of return than those top earning actors who have to sell millions of theatre seats to get their payback.

We’d all be sure to want to have Nicole Kidman as the star in our movie, even if it only brings us another one cent over each dollar we pay out. In fact, if truth be told, we’d accept any of the actors mentioned in the entire list; just think of the publicity.

You’ll need to find a new actor about to break in to the big time and find that great ingredient that follows all skills, preparation, planning, production and marketing: luck.

Stars do sometimes appear in film flops. The trick is to make sure it isn’t your movie.