 This is Cynthia Lee Sinclair at Finding Respect in the Chaos on Think Tech Hawaii, and I'm so glad you've joined us today. There are some important things going on in our legislature right now, and you really need to go and find out what's happening. Over the next two weeks, one of the bills, 2719, it's a very important bill that has gone through a bunch of committees and has made it all the way, and it's right here at the end now, but they're trying to change the language. So I'm really encouraging everyone to please call their senators, okay? If you have any extra questions about this, you can call Justin Murakami, who is at the Sex Abuse Treatment Center, and his number is on the bottom of those lists right there that you're looking at. This is a bill that will extend the statute of limitations for child abuse survivors, and it gives them a little bit of extra time to go ahead and heal a little bit before they try to go after their abuser in civil court. And so it's a real important thing that abuse survivors get. So I encourage you to please call those numbers, call your senators, tell them you want the original language in that bill to go all the way through to the end because it's going to make a real difference for people's lives. Thank you very much for your support in advance because I know you're going to do it. And today, let's get with today here today, I am here with David Farmer. David, thank you so much for coming. Thank you for having me. I appreciate you being here. David is the president of the Screen Actors Guild Local Hawaii Local, if I say it the right way, right? Why don't you try and explain a little better to our viewers what exactly that means and what you do and what Screen Actors Guild is, all of that stuff. Okay, okay, I'll try to do that in 30 seconds. No, no, we've got more than 30 seconds, you're okay. Screen Actors Guild, which is half of SAG-AFTRA, goes back to 1933. It was organized as a part of the union movement. Actors Equity was the first actors union in this country, and that goes back to 1913, formally recognized in 1919. So Hollywood, when Sound came in, had a bunch of Actors Equity actors, suddenly because they named it people who could speak. And those actors also had a union bug, and so they got together and formed in 1933, SAG, Screen Actors Guild, and so that's one path. AFTRA was formed originally as a radio union, Jack Benny, et cetera, et cetera. All the radio guys got together and in 1937 formed AFRA, which was American Federation of Radio Artists, and then in 1952 they added T, television, to that sort of AFRA. So these two unions have been going parallel, and what's interesting in the Hawaii 5.0, now coming up with this ninth season, is actually an AFRA contract. And the problem over the years has been to try to get these two entities, which between television and film is like, you know, producers were playing one off against the other. And so it took a long, long time, and then thanks to the efforts of others, but primarily Ken Howard, the late Ken Howard, who was president of SAG, and then SAG-AFTRA, they got together. And so SAG-AFTRA has 25 locals. The King Kongs are LA, number one, number two, New York. And then the rest of them are regional ones, including Hawaii. And we have been around since about 1985 as a Hawaii local. Oh, nice. So as president, I have a board. We have elections every two years. We have conventions every two years. And it's our job, through staff and through our efforts, to service our members and keep them in good graces, as well as get the benefits that they enjoy by being members of the union. Well, I know that the film industry in Hawaii is just sort of exploding, right? I mean, we've got, as I'm going home every day, I mean, like every single day now, I see all the trucks, and I see all the trailers, where the stars stay, and all that. And I mean, it's like, I go past Kualoa on my way home, so I mean, they're filming out there every day. And I know that from what I hear from people, too, is that it's just really starting to explode. And so there's a new thing going on with women in film, too, right? That's how I met you, is that at the women in film form that they just had in Honolulu hair that was pretty neat, there was a, I think, on the panel, they had someone who is a documentary maker and is also an instructor at Windward Community College. We had somebody who works as an, I got a mental block, uh-oh. Okay, never mind. Someone who works in the field of, oh gosh, casting director, casting director, casting director. Thank you very much. The casting director, that's who was at the end of the thing there. That's right. That's where I couldn't quite come up with it. And then there was a, I see that's the word I can't come up with. Oh, there was the actress also who was a fighter. Okay, thank you, help me, help me, see you in there, help me out. And the fourth one, no, now and how, now it gets to me is, the fourth one was- Agent. There we go. There we go. Agent, casting director. That's it, that's awful. Finally got through it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. See, I knew you could help me get there. So we had all these different representatives of these women that are high-powered people in the film industry and to me that's just a really wonderful thing to see as we, when we see women getting more involved and more involved in, you know, everything, everywhere, even, not just in film, but especially in film. We're starting to see them portrayed in better lights because that's one of the things, you know, that, that I think is important because the film industry is what sort of gives general public, you know, let's see how we feel about women. How do we treat women? How do we portray them on the screen? And so often they're objectified. So often they're, you know, made out to be objects, lots of time sex objects, right? And so I want to see that kind of start to change. I think that would be really wonderful if we could start to see some real changes for that. They're powerful in that they give an image that people who watch it get a self-image back. Right. So for children, for women, for all the diverse people we have in this nation of diversity, it's important that that be reflected on the screen and in the stories being told. And, you know, there's still lots and lots of work to be done, but incrementally I think we are moving in a forward direction. Right. So how much, you know, SAG Africa can have a part in that, because it's like the producers and the directors and the writers and those guys are the ones that, now, but there are they part of SAG also? No, no, no. Not the writers and directors. SAG is, well, when after came aboard, the group that we really added on was the journalists. So your TV, all the, you know, the CNN guys and Fox News, all those, I think are all members. But no, just performers. The director's union is a separate union. The writer's guild is a separate union. And the producers have their own association as well. So these are all different associations. And, you know, basically the jurisdiction that SAG after has is with its members, but also it's a player at the table with the producers on contracts. And hopefully is a moral voice that, because we are, as a union, pledged to diversity, to women's rights, to essentially meet two issues. And that's a product of educating our members, which is very important, because, you know, if our members don't know what's up on that, that's not good. Also to educate the producers, because our members work with employers, who are producers. And so setting the right tone, setting the right, you know, public awareness is a very important part of our union's work. Oh, good. And I'm glad to hear that, because I think it's so important that we start to change what we're saying to people out there, right? Absolutely. Because, you know, everybody watches television. Everybody watches those movies. And it really does, you know, direct society in so many different ways, so that there's a responsibility in it. Right. It's entertainment. The interesting thing, the roots of, especially American theater, goes back to Virginia Colony, and the very first recorded play ever produced. This is really arcane stuff. Oh, I like it. But the fact is that it was, that production was taken to court because it was blasphemous. Oh, right. I remember hearing about this. Right. Very thin of hair. I forgot the name of the play. In any event, the court decided, no, it wasn't, because essentially it was entertainment. Right. And entertainment, theater, film, movies has been the through line together with the business aspect of this, and so that's really, that's its modest role in our society. However, it is a powerful bully pulpit. Yes, it is. As such, the most responsible people who are practitioners take that seriously and use it also as a teaching moment or moments to really, again, help the viewers perhaps move to a place where they have, but for that experience, not been. Right. Absolutely. And my theater instructor, I call her Madam Director because she is so amazing, Tari Kinoshita, who is just the consummate director. And she always, you know, thumps her podium and says, wait a minute, there can be no censorship in theater. Right, right. It should be free to grow and do and be whatever it wants to be. I would take it a step further and say, especially myself and other practitioners like Tari, really approach theater as a religion without it being the trappings of the building and all the other stuff. Right. It really is that passion and it's that level of commitment that detracts us to it. I was lucky enough to get to act in one of her shows. And it was fabulous. I got to die on stage, right? Every actor's dream, you know, have that dramatic moment. It was wonderful to it, especially at this age and stage in my life where I didn't think I would ever get a chance to do something like that, you know? But oh my gosh, it was so much fun. It was absurdist comedy that we were doing called Roberto Zuko. So it was just a fabulous show and she directed it just superbly. And oh my gosh, it was fun. Oh, so much fun. We had a great time. But I know that we are just about ready to take a break here. So I think this kind of leads us into where we're going to go next, which is going to talk very seriously about how the Me Too movement, which began in the entertainment industry with that wonderful Harvey Weinstein guy that hopefully will be charged with every single count of abuse that he is guilty of and not just able to go away into the shadows. But I know that has changed what the entertainment industry is doing, especially for SAG and the union that protects these women. So we are going to cut to a break here, but I hope you'll come back. This is Finding Respect in the Chaos on Think Tech Hawaii. I'm Cynthia Lee Sinclair. We're here with David Farmer, so I hope you'll stay with us. Welcome to Sister Power. I'm your host, Sharon Thomas Yarbrough, where we motivate, educate, empower and inspire all women. We are live here every other Thursday at 4 p.m. And we welcome you to join us here at Sister Power. Aloha and thank you. Welcome back to Finding Respect in the Chaos. I'm Cynthia Lee Sinclair here with David Farmer from SAG, AFTRA, Hawaii Local, which is the union that takes care of actors for television and for, of course, the big screen and even includes radio personnel, too, and personalities. And the internet. And the internet, too. Hey, that means I can be, well. Potentially. Potentially. Potentially. We can do some business. That sounds like fun, but we'll have to wait till after the video. OK, so we are looking right here at the Code of Conduct, which is from 2018. So this is brand new, right? It's just, so after the Me Too movement, and we, we started to talk a little bit about it before the break there with Harvey Weinstein coming on the scene and really making some, I should say, making some changes because of the people that brought him, right, to the altar, so to speak, you know. But the Me Too movement actually began before that about, yeah, about, you know, 10 years almost beforehand. And then Alyssa Milano is the one who really brought it into play. And now it kind of is applied across the board, even, because I know we talk about it for domestic violence. We talk about it for, for child abuse, even. People are coming out with that. So it's not just workplace sexual harassment anymore, but that's where it started. And so I know that I saw some really big changes here for Code of Conduct and this new Code of Conduct that, that you let me look at because, you know, what we know the definition anyway of sexual harassment is that the unwanted advances of somebody in the workplace, but it, it looks like in here, that's going to actually apply to a much bigger, broader sense of like the producers we were talking about a little while ago. If you're working for a producer that has crossed the line, SAG, AFTRA, excuse me, I almost forgot the T, SAG, AFTRA can step in to help protect that, that actor that's being harassed, right? True. Only just to explain a little bit more how that goes. A grace note. This code is, is new, although we have had a policy of, of basically the ability of members and it's a member driven process because in order to have the union do anything, a member has to step up and say, either something happened to me or I saw something happen on set. Stop. Wait, is it stop, report? Yeah. How does it go? No, I can't remember. Yeah. Shoot. Stop, support, report. That's what it was. Exactly. Stop, support, report. And so if you see it, support it and then report it. That's right. And so there's a, you know, there's all this stuff's online, but there's a complaint form that a member can access to get the, get the ball rolling. And they can just go to that website that we'll have on the screen at one point. There it is. There you go right there. You, for more information, you can go to that website and. And it also has a, the website has rich content. And one of the things too is the actual, the discrimination, harassment or harassment, I prefer harassment. But that's because I'm a factor. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's the policy that the code is related to. There's also a page of Know Your Rights to inform our people. And, you know, and of course, the most obvious sexual harassment is what we hear with Harvey Weinstein and his ilk of touchy. And there's plenty of ilk out there, huh? But, but there's also, I mean, there's hostile workplace. Right. There is also quid pro quo. You can, I got a juicy part for you, but you got to play games with me. You know, that, that whole thing. Or if you don't play with me, you, you will lose your, yeah, right, to work here ever again. And then wasn't that always like the biggest threat anyway? It was all ruining you. You'll never work in Hollywood again or whatever. Of course, it is true that, you know, workplace is not, show business is not the only workplace that's had this problem and continue to have this problem set, right? It's still fairly notorious such that the casting couch is a term of art. And I would say that, you know, I don't know, maybe even back to the Greeks, who knows, but that it's been an, I had a teacher once at the University of Mitsaoke, the late Mitsaoke. And he said a very cryptic remark in a lecture once. And he said, but the ultimate goal of all aesthetic impulse is carnal knowledge. Now, wow, that does a very interesting insight because there is something in the creative process, whether it's the fine arts, whether it's theater, whatever, that is very carnal knowledge centered. And in fact, as a director myself, what I look for is to let is to release actors to be their animal selves, because ultimately we human beings are animals. It's a much denied fact, but we are animals. Absolutely. They are most of what happens in a play in a well written play is not the words. The words are just the gloss. What happens is the behavior and the behavior A is animal behavior, and it's often sexually loaded. So all the way we're really and think about the films and television that have been explicitly dealing with sexual matters. So it comes with a territory, right? Comes with a territory. Victim hood does not victim by sexual violence does not as a as a as a real life part of the understatement, but it is so much a part of the content of what this business is about, right? That it makes it a very special challenge to to keep that the abusive parts under check under control. Right. But as you say, the Me Too movement has certainly thrown a big spotlight. Actors equity also has, you know, and also too, I must say some jurisdictions have one union for all actors. Doesn't matter what medium you're in. Oh, really? A stage, film, television, it doesn't matter. You're an actor, you're a cartoon actor, and maybe some day it took it took like 100 years, no, 100 years. But it took it took like 75 years to get or more than 75 years to get after and sag together, right? Actors equity has a different culture than these two. And so but I think if not maybe another lifetime, but eventually it'll all be one union, which would greatly facilitate a lot of things. I think so too. Separately now they are doing they're doing their utmost to try to make this this awakening apply across the board. Wouldn't that be nice? And I mean, across the board in all the industries, like you were saying, it's not just entertainment that's dealing with this stuff. This is in every high powered CEO that has told this girl if she doesn't lay down on his couch, she's going to lose her job. Well, and be demoted or whatever. Even within the context of film production and television production. Think about it. You've got directors guild, you've got writers guild, you've got the teamsters. You've got the teamsters. Oh, all the production guys. All the production guys, you know, and and one of in my experience, I haven't I can't tell you I've seen an example of this. But I do know in the in the day back in the day, a like a lady crossing a set with the with the production crew doing wolf calls or stuff was not unheard of. And so that's that's that's a form of sexual violence and harassment. And so so even within the context, the narrow context of this industry, the fact is we are partners with a variety of the other unions, a variety of other businesses when you bring in the advertisers and think what about the food court? The food about the food comes in, you know, the craft service people. So it's it's it's more than just members, members of the important part for education as well as their ability to monitor what's going on and report if they see something. But it's a it's a it's when you think about it, it's a collaborative business and art form. Right. You know, nobody does this stuff by themselves. Even one person shows are not done by themselves. That's right. So that's that's the challenge. Right. It's a big challenge to try to, you know, do all of this. There's so many things to think about and to apply for this with this new code of conduct, but it's really comprehensive. So I'm really I'm I was really impressed with it. I really was. And I think too, what about the proactive stuff, you know, the let's start teaching men to be more respectful. And that brings me to I have this for you. There's a thing called the White Ribbon Campaign. I recently went around the world studying the way different cultures deal with domestic violence and child abuse and things like that. And one of the things that I found was a program that started in Canada. I learned about it in Geneva and it is called the White Ribbon Campaign. And what it is is just for men, men wear the White Ribbon. And when they put it on, they take a pledge. And the pledge is that they will not commit, condone, or keep silent about violence against women and girls. So will you take the pledge and wear the pen? I shall do it. Should I put the pen on first? You can put the pen on and then raise your right hand. This may take a moment, but hey, let's see. I think you can just stick it right through there. Your skin don't stick it through your skin is what I meant to say. I don't mean just stick it right through your skin and stick it through your shirt, but don't stick your skin. How about if I help you? There you go. Let me help you. I can do that really quick for you. Us men, we have limits. Well, of course you can't see it and then you're just trying to feel it. Yeah, I know. You guys be lost without us. Absolutely. I know that. All right, raise your right hand. All right. Repeat after me. I will not commit. I will not commit. Condone or keep silent. Or keep silent. About violence against women and girls. About violence against women and girls. I just missed it. I will not commit, condone or keep silent about violence against women and girls. There you go. And I got a couple more. All right, ready for you to just give to any man that you know that might... I'll stop him on the street. Stop. No. Because I saw a woman a few years ago. Oh my God, maybe somebody that's in this in your union, right? Okay. All right. Good, good. Oh my gosh. And on that note, there's been so much here that we've gotten to talk about and there's so much more to talk about because like we said, it's such a big issue that... And it's moving all the time, it's developing. So, yeah, there's a lot, a lot of stuff. Changing and growing, but I'm very encouraged to see that you are getting out there with this stuff and you are becoming proactive. And the fact that this new 2018 Code of Conduct has come out shows that you guys are trying and that really makes a difference for me as a survivor and an advocate. I really am encouraged to read through this Code of Conduct and see that you're changing. And also, too, when Ken Howard passed away, Gabrielle Cateris filled in and then was elected. And she is very proactive and I think if there had been any president, we'd still be here. But Gabby has been a major, major part of this initiative as well in terms of being out in the public, really talking about it. Good for her. So, again, we are a woman-led union and grateful for it. Yeah, I know I am. I'm grateful for you being here, too. Thank you so much for coming, baby. Thank you, Cynthia. It's been great having you. Pleasure. Really great having you. All right, everyone, this has been Finding Respect in the Chaos. That's what we're doing, looking for respect. And we found some here. So, I hope you will join us again next time, week after next, on Think Tecawaii, Finding Respect in the Chaos. This is Cynthia Lee Sinclair.