SAG-AFTRA | One Union
Many up and coming Actors would think it’s difficult to join a union, in order to become a working Actor within the Entertainment Industry. Although many have big dreams to make it in Hollywood, there is rarely an opportunity to make it big in Hollywood. The streets are filled with tourists and venders of all kinds, people are dressed as your favorite comic book Heros trying to get people to purchase a photo, or the not so famous Hip-Hop artists handing out CD’s saying, “Please listen to my Demo for $5.00”. However if one is really serious, it’s not that difficult to join SAG-AFTRA, which is the most important Membership for an Actor or Actress, but you must pay your dues to get in. Now with One Union and new logo brand, they now have one voice, which means they now represent all Radio Personalities, TV News Media personalities, Stage Artists, Choreographers, Multimedia etc., as well as Actors they have developed new steps to join their organization. An Actor who’s not in the Union may still get work, but only Non-Union work until he or she is eligible. The pay is not as good as Union scale, but it’s a good place to start in the right direction. This allows an Actor or Actress to build a good résumé as well as gain exposure. True Talent that is serious about their craft will desire to build a good résumé, and build good relationships with Casting, Directors, Producers etc. However, many Actors and Actresses fail, because they do not realize that time is money, they need to develop good time management skills in order to become successful.
Once an Actor or Actress gains a bad reputation in the industry, they can become blacklisted, as in no one will want to hire you as an Actor. This is why it’s important to show that you as an Actor or Actress is a skilled, dedicated Talent to be reckoned with, who is ON TIME. If you do this, then you may gain many requests from Casting, which will get you more referrals, and this positive feedback ultimately gains the Actor or Actress more work. Taft Hartley is the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947, 29 U.S.C. § 401-531 better known as the Taft–Hartley Act, read more at wikipedia.org. An Actor or Actress may also get into the union or acquire union work, however the Producer and or the Production Company must submit the appropriate forms.
Actors Access, Casting Network LA , or Show Fax are also great resources for Actors to book gigs and or to build your résumé, just remember to be selective, you have your career reputation at stake… It is also important for an Actor or Actress to seek to have an hyphenated title Such as Actor/ Writer, or Actor/Producer in order to capitalize on different opportunities. With this strategy, one would be able to call his or her own shots so to speak and if you are an Actor/Producer of a Film or Television project, you would wear two different kind of hats, which means you can negotiate more points in any given contract, which inevitably means more money. Don’t forget to join IMDb Pro, it’s owned by Amazon
The Screen Actors Guild‐American Federation of Television and Radio Artists #SAG-AFTRA is an American labor union representing over 160,000 film and television principal and background performers, journalists, and radio personalities worldwide. The organization was formed on March 30, 2012, following the merger of the Screen Actors Guild (created in 1933) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (created in 1952). Wikipedia.org
The SAG-AFTRA President is Actor Ken Howard, many would know him from the TV series “The White Shadow”, (“A white former NBA professional retires from the pro game and gets a job as a basketball coach in a predominantly black inner-city high school”.) IMDb.
Throughout the series Ken was faced with all kinds of controversial subject matters, regarding Teen Pregnancy, Race Relations and Gangs in the urban neighborhood.
The show was hit from 1978-1981, Produced by the late Bruce Paltrow. Hopefully one day Socialbilitty can become instrumental in creating a Motion Picture reboot of the show. Some of the topics that were addressed back then are still evident today, and Basketball is even more popular than ever. Just imagine Kobe Bryant, LeBron James or Shaq being involved in the project in some kind of way. The possibilities are endless…
This is the PDF form for Commercials and Infomercials and this is the PDF form for a Principal role. This is why it’s important for a working professional in the industry to also seek representation from a SAG-AFTRA franchised Talent Agencies, as well as a informed Talent Manger who is supportive. Rarely does a up and coming Actor or Actress attract big name Talent Agencies like CAA or William Morris from the start, just concentrate on booking that gig first, and then a boutique Agency is all you need. It is also important for a Talented Artist to read the trades, as in Hollywood Reporter , Variety, or Backstage in order to stay up to date on current projects in the industry.