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What's the Deal with SAG/AFTRA?

You would think with 160,000 members in SAG-AFTRA it would be easy to get into the union. Well, that couldn't be farther from the truth. Getting in the SAG-AFTRA will be one of the most difficult things you will do when you start your career. Is it necessary to be in the union? That really depends. With a significant amount of commercials and plenty of indie film work casting under non-union contracts it is certainly possible to make money as a non-union actor but it’s incredibly difficult to make a “decent living” as a non-union actor in Los Angeles. And, it's next to impossible to get work in legitimate television or studio feature films unless you are in the union. The reason for that is all of the major studios and networks and many commercial production companies have signed union contracts. And consider this, the top agencies will likely not consider you a "professional actor" unless you are in the union. Why would they want 10% of a $100 dollar a day for a non-union acting job when they could get 10% of $1'000+ a day for a union acting job? For most of the best agencies it's just not worth their time to work with non-union actors because they make so little money on non-union work. Los Angeles really is a "Union Town!"

So, How Do I Get Into the Union?

Here are several ways to become SAG-AFTRA eligible:

1) Book a union role and the production company will “Taft-Hartly” you. This rarely happens but when it does here’s how it works: According to SAG-AFTRA rules and regulations once an actor books their first role in a union project covered by a SAG-AFTRA (or AFTRA or SAG) collective bargaining agreement he/she will become SAG-AFTRA eligible. Then you pay your initiation fee (when this was written the fee was $3,000 in Los Angeles, some states may be less) and you’re in! That’s right, you don’t have to be a member of the union to get that first union job. You do have to be a good actor and lucky, though. Getting in this way is sometimes referred to as being Taft-Hartley’d, which refers to a part of the federal labor law.

2) Get three union background (extra work) vouchers. This is not easy and is often up to chance. It can sometimes take years to get your three vouchers. To get into SAG-AFTRA this way you “must have completed three (3) days of work as a background actor under a SAG-AFTRA (or AFTRA or SAG) collective bargaining agreement.” Some background positions on union shows are considered union positions, and others are not. You’ll get a union voucher if you work a union background job and get chosen for one of those union positions. Your goal in this method is to collect three union vouchers as quickly as you can.

3) Get “bumped up” to a principle role. If you're working as a background actor on a show, film or commercial and the director or production team decides they need you to say a line or be seen as a principle actor it’s sometimes possible to be upgraded to a principal performer. For example, if a director suddenly decides he/she needs a line to be said by someone that's not in the script for the sake of the story, he/she might ask a background actor to say it. If you're the background actor chosen to say that line of dialogue you would then be  "bumped up" to a principle performer. You would then sign a principle performer's contract and become SAG-AFTRA eligible. This is rare but if it happens, not only do you get paid more, you're also eligible to be in the union. It;s a win-win!

4) If you are a paid up member of one of SAG/AFTRA’s sister unions (AEA, ACTRA, AGMA, AGVA) for at least one year and you have worked at least one principal job under that union’s contract you can join SAG/AFTRA.

5) Produce a webseries, film or show under a SAG-AFTRA New Media Contract and you might be able to Taft-Hartley yourself and become SAG-AFTRA eligible. That said, let me be very clear about one thing, this is very difficult territory to navigate since the New Media Contract was designed specifically to help SAG-AFTRA members create more work for themselves, and not to provide a way for non-union actors to become union. For that reason I highly recommend you contact SAG-AFTRA directly and work closely with them if you're thinking about going this route. I’d hate to see anyone put in a lot of money and effort into creating a New Media project only to find out they can't be Taft Hartley’d. It happens more than you think.

Mark is very active and involved at SAG-AFTRA. So, if you have any questions about any of these processes and what you can do to help yourself get into SAG-AFTRA, contact Mark HERE.

For more information on how to get into SAG/AFTRA see their website at:

https://www.sagaftra.org/membership-benefits/steps-join