My Extraordinary Vlog 28 - Unions

1)What are the unions?
SAG (Screen Actors Guild)
AFTRA (American Federation of TV and Radio Artists)
AEA (Actor's Equity Association)

2) Why Join?
Better pay, more benifits, higher status, it shows your serious about your career, and many jobs can only be given to union members (or at least union eligible people).

3) How do you join?
AFTRA is an open union, so you can just pay the initiation fee and you're in. You can also work, filling an AFTRA spot on a show and become a Must Join which means that at the end of 30 days you need to join AFTRA or only work non-union jobs until you can afford to join AFTRA.

SAG requires either Taft-Hartley status (instant eligibility in a union), 3 union vouchers from doing extra work (the AFTRA 30 day clause also applies to SAG), or 1 year of good standing in a sister union and having a job that required you to say at least one line.

AEA is similar to SAG, except that you do chorus work instead of extra work.

4) The Downside of Unionization
You can't legally work a non-union job. If you are caught the production team has fines to deal with. Many union actors break this rule, however because of the lack of union work and a lack of people able to police every set. Therefore, don't join a union until you must join.

5)Financial Core
Financial Core Status means that you pay the bare minimum to keep the union functioning and you can work both union and non union jobs. This also sacrifices your vote in union elections and you lose respect from everyone in the industry because you are defeating the purpose of joining a union in the first place.


Questions, Comments, or concerns? Email markneedleenterprises@gmail.com

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