The six adult stars of the ABC comedy have agreed to terms in their new contracts, and will begin production of the fourth season on Monday, July 30.
- Jul 28, 2012
AceShowbiz - The salary dispute between "Modern Family" adult cast members and 20th Century Fox Television has been resolved. A spokesperson for Fox has confirmed that Sofia Vergara, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Eric Stonestreet, Julie Bowen, Ty Burrell and Ed O'Neill have signed new deals with the studio and agreed to drop the lawsuit which was filed on Tuesday, July 24.
Details of the new contracts are not revealed, but sources say the actors, who got $65,000 for an episode last season, will earn around $180,000 per episode for the upcoming season. As for O'Neill who had been paid more than the other adult stars, he will get more than that.
Additionally, all the cast members will reportedly get a share of the show's back-end profits, an advantage which previously only O'Neill could enjoy. The cast also agreed to extend their deals by one more season, bringing their existing seven-season contracts to a total of eight seasons, in exchange for an increase of salary up to about $350,000 per episode in the eighth season.
The settlement came just in time for the production of season 4, which will kick off on Monday, July 30. "It's no surprise," co-creator Steve Levitan says of the positive outcome, "but I'm of course thrilled and I cannot wait to get on stage Monday morning and start making the show again."
He continues telling The Hollywood Reporter, "It'll feel great, I'm sure everybody is going to be very relieved and I hope that it's the beginning of a great season. I feel really good about it. I'm very happy for my friends on the cast for their success, I really am."
Co-creator Christopher Lloyd also comments, "I'm thrilled. It was a distraction more than anything. And I think the cast feels the same way. It was never arduous. Now other people can go on with the numbers and we'll go on with the letters."
