I recently joined SAG this summer after being Taft-Hartley’d on 3 projects; a short film, an indie feature and a national commercial. I’ve been seriously acting since 2011 and I built up a decent amount of credits and experience doing non-union indie projects and producing my own work. I joined because I felt I am ready to compete with the professional actors. I was able to pay the initial dues in one flat payment with my first big residual check I got from my national commercial. It felt like a huge accomplishment and definitely a big step in the right direction of my dreams.
I appreciate this video. At age 54 I restarted acting classes, retiring from a long graphic design career. The art of acting is natural for me, so it is easy to impress my instructors and fellow actors. And that is good. My actual list of roles in film and t.v. is very small. So that is not so good. Yet, here I am, SAG-eligible. And at this age, you don't want to wait. My goal is to move ahead and join in February - March of next year (2016). So I guess I'll have less non-union opportunities, and do more auditions. and I guess, that means pursuing an agent?
Catherine Cela Thanks for your comment! Be sure to check out the Backstage article we linked to in this video. It details all the ways that you can join.
Hi Kafle! Sorry we missed this comment. SAG-AFTRA is the film and tv actors' union, and if working professional as an actor in film or television, eventually you will need to join SAG-AFTRA. You can get more info at sagaftra.org. Hope this helps!
+jackson jason SAG-AFTRA also has payment plans. They don't want the initiation cost to prevent you from furthering your career. Contact them when you plan on joining and they'll help you out!
I recently joined SAG this summer after being Taft-Hartley’d on 3 projects; a short film, an indie feature and a national commercial. I’ve been seriously acting since 2011 and I built up a decent amount of credits and experience doing non-union indie projects and producing my own work. I joined because I felt I am ready to compete with the professional actors. I was able to pay the initial dues in one flat payment with my first big residual check I got from my national commercial. It felt like a huge accomplishment and definitely a big step in the right direction of my dreams.
I appreciate this video. At age 54 I restarted acting classes, retiring from a long graphic design career. The art of acting is natural for me, so it is easy to impress my instructors and fellow actors. And that is good. My actual list of roles in film and t.v. is very small. So that is not so good. Yet, here I am, SAG-eligible. And at this age, you don't want to wait. My goal is to move ahead and join in February - March of next year (2016). So I guess I'll have less non-union opportunities, and do more auditions. and I guess, that means pursuing an agent?
Do you have an update on how things went? Did you join SAG?
I’m a graphic designer now and ...this is really inspiring. Thank you for sharing your story.
Great video! I'll suggest a professional mic or editing the sound with audacity.
I think a better Q&A would be "HOW to join SAG-AFTRA", as a companion for this one.
Catherine Cela Thanks for your comment! Be sure to check out the Backstage article we linked to in this video. It details all the ways that you can join.
Workshop Guru Awesome! But wait, I don't see the link?
Catherine Cela It's embedded in the video at 2:30.
www.backstage.com/advice-for-actors/resources/4-ways-join-sag-aftra/
THANK YOU!
This is super helpful! Thank you!
Thank you Ben!! :)
Thank you! Very helpful!
Thank YOU for watching, Tina! :)
Very helpful. Thanks
great!!
Help me to be a member and I want to do extras on TV
Hey pretty you can go on mycastingfile.com I did lots of extra work and it's free Promise
doesn't sound sketchy at all....
what is sag aftra and do i really need it??
Hi Kafle! Sorry we missed this comment. SAG-AFTRA is the film and tv actors' union, and if working professional as an actor in film or television, eventually you will need to join SAG-AFTRA. You can get more info at sagaftra.org. Hope this helps!
Do You pay that $3.000 one time
+jackson jason It's a one time payment. Annual dues are about $200/yr + a percentage of your earnings.
+jackson jason SAG-AFTRA also has payment plans. They don't want the initiation cost to prevent you from furthering your career. Contact them when you plan on joining and they'll help you out!
Nope. Not doing it.
It’s not worth the $3000 to join?