Tag Archives: acting

Continuing With Regular Union Service (or Starting To Think Of More Ideas)

Posted on October 6, 2022 | Comments Off on Continuing With Regular Union Service (or Starting To Think Of More Ideas)

I had another LA Local Communications meeting for SAG-AFTRA this week. I know I always say how grateful I am that this committee has regular meetings because I haven’t been able to be a part of a lot of other union things that I am used to doing. So having these happening every month or so has been nice and something that I can look forward to so I can continue to feel connected with my union.

Our last meeting was more of a presentation regarding the union archives. I really enjoyed that meeting and learning about something I really had no idea about with the union before. I hope that in the future, the committee has more presentations like that because I know there are so many things I don’t know about. But this meeting was more of a regular meeting and had agenda items that we typically have.

Most of the committee meetings go over the most recent newsletters and what articles were included in them. And there are always updates on things we went over before and the status of different projects and requests. And after that, we go over the different articles that are in process of being completed. I haven’t written anything yet, but I have suggested several articles and one is being worked on by the staff. I’m ok with not writing the ones I suggested because they do involve things that the staff has better access to so they will have an easier time completing them.

I feel like one of my main responsibilities on this committee is helping to think of newsletter articles and ideas since that is one of the big things we are in charge of. And even though I have suggested a few in the past, many of them were not right for what we are supposed to do (for example, they would be better for the national newsletter and not the local one). But for the past few meetings, I haven’t had any new article ideas to suggest. I know that’s ok and we have a lot of articles in the works right now, but I also want to feel like I’m involved with this committee and an active participant. And the biggest thing I can do would be to have more ideas.

I was thinking about the articles in the works during the meetings and trying to see what might be missing or if something would spark an idea in my head. Unfortunately, during the meeting, I didn’t have any new ideas that I could suggest. I was pretty quiet for this meeting, which is common for me since I also am working at the same time as in Zoom. But I do wish I had something I could really contribute to the group.

When the meeting was done, we set our next meeting date. It’s about a month away, so that gives me a lot of time to keep thinking of article ideas. I’m hoping that something will hit me so I can present ideas at the November meeting. I know I can’t force inspiration or anything, but I can make a more conscious effort to look at what I see in the acting world and what might be helpful for other members to be aware of.

Maybe that will work, or maybe it will take being in the next meeting and hearing someone else’s ideas for me to feel inspired. But I really am setting a goal to try harder with being an active committee member outside of attending the meetings and hopefully when I am in the meeting next month, I will have more to contribute than I have before.

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Default ThumbnailContinuing With My Union Committee Service (or I’m Still So Grateful These Are Done Over Zoom) Default ThumbnailGetting Some More Union Education (or Having A Lesson During A Committee Meeting) Default ThumbnailUnion Committee Work (or Continuing To Be More and More Involved In My Union) Default ThumbnailMaking Sure I Make It To Union Meetings (or Sometimes I Can’t Help My Schedule) Default ThumbnailFirst Union Meeting In A While (or Feeling Informed Again) Default ThumbnailMissing Some Union Meetings (or Even Virtual Meetings Don’t Guarantee I Can Go)

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Getting Some More Union Education (or Having A Lesson During A Committee Meeting)

Posted on September 2, 2022 | Comments Off on Getting Some More Union Education (or Having A Lesson During A Committee Meeting)

I’ve been lucky enough to be a part of a few different committees with SAG-AFTRA. Some of the committees have been national ones and others have been local to LA. And each committee has its own way of organizing meetings. Depending on the focus of the committee, sometimes the meetings are all about news specific to that committee. For example, the National Conservatory Committee usually discussed things regarding the SAG-AFTRA Conservatory with each local and what the national committee could do to support them. And the LA Local Organizing Committee was mainly about sharing industry news and events that we should know more about and could benefit all members to learn about.

The only committee that I’m in right now that has been able to have meetings has been the LA Local Communications Committee. I’m grateful that we’ve had regular meetings because there are a lot of things we want to get done within the committee. I haven’t written any articles yet for the local membership, but I have submitted ideas for several and one is being worked on by a union staff member so it can be published (some articles are written by members, but others require staff to help us and the one I suggested needs staff to work on it). And since we are busy planning articles and other forms of communication that we want to get out to the LA Local, our meetings are typically just focused on that and we don’t have a ton of additional education.

But for the meeting that we had this past week, that changed. We still spent quite a bit of our meeting planning articles and other items, but we also got to have some time to learn about the union archives and what that entailed. I know what an archivist does for museums, but I wasn’t aware of exactly what they would be storing for the union. Before our meeting, we had a chance to submit questions that would be asked during the presentation. And since I didn’t know much about what they would do, my questions were pretty basic and simple. But I figured if I was unaware there probably would be at least one other person who was clueless too. So I put down all my simple questions and hoped that they would be able to be answered.

Only a portion of our meeting was dedicated to discussing the union archive, but I think the staff that was a part of it did a great job with their presentation and going over several of the questions that we had submitted. I learned that a lot of the items that have been kept have been about the creation of the union or artifacts from the first few years of the union, such as old membership cards. And I don’t know why I wouldn’t have thought of this, but they do keep information related to past elections and contract votes. It’s smart to keep all of that since there have been so many votes regarding contracts and ratifications that are important to remember. And if someone has a question about the changes in a contract, this would provide a resource to be able to see what historically has been in contracts and what was just something that was assumed to be in there.

I do wish we had more time for the archive presentation and to learn more about how we can share more information with other members and maybe some opportunities for people to understand more about it, but I am grateful that we had some time for education about the union. With everything being virtual and board meetings not open to all members like before, I feel like I haven’t had as many chances to learn about union things. I have missed that and even though observing board meetings isn’t really a time to learn, I always had notes after being there of things I wanted to look up and learn more about. So this committee meeting having the presentation brought back a little bit of that feeling and really helped to make me feel more connected to the union again.

And besides getting to feel more connected to the union, any committee meeting or event I’m able to be a part of really just reminds me of what I’m really pushing for in my life. Sometimes it’s easy to just be sucked into the day-to-day with my day job, especially since I haven’t had many auditions lately. It can feel like I’m not really pursuing my career and just working my jobs. But this gave me some time to be a part of what I have striving for and hope to have as my main focus in life one day.

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I Should Start Focusing On Acting Again (or It’s Been A Crazy Few Years)

Posted on July 29, 2022 | Comments Off on I Should Start Focusing On Acting Again (or It’s Been A Crazy Few Years)

Recently, a friend asked me if I planned to pursue acting again. I wasn’t offended by the question, but to me, I never really stopped pursuing it. But I also know I haven’t been doing the same things I used to do. And because it seems like time moves faster each year, I haven’t really focused on acting as much as I probably should have for the past 2 1/2 years. And I know that there have been a few reasons why.

When the pandemic hit, everything shut down. Nobody knew when there would be acting work or what was going to happen. And at the same time, the agent that I have been with for the entire time I have had an agent sold the agency to someone new. They were going to take over the agency and keep the same client list, but of course, things got crazy since nothing was happening. I know we were supposed to meet with the new agent and get things underway, but that was all postponed. And I really wasn’t worried about making that happen since I had so much else on my mind.

For so much of 2020, I was focused on figuring out my work situation. I had reduced hours and then lost my job like so many other people. And when I was out of work, my main focus was to get a new job. And once I did get a new job, my focus was getting through my training and to be working so I didn’t have to worry about how I was going to pay my bills. At that time, there still weren’t vaccinations available for everyone, so I also knew that if I had any in-person auditions or booked work, it would be a risk for me. I was still doing some self-tape auditions, but I really didn’t have that much going on. But I wasn’t worried since it seemed like everyone else was in the same boat as me and nobody was auditioning or working the same way they used to.

I don’t have a great excuse for why I wasn’t focused on acting again right after I got vaccinated, but I did look into getting some new headshots and possibly looking at talking to other agents. That didn’t happen, and then last summer was when I found out that my landlord was selling and I got into searching for a condo. And from the time that I started that search until just recently, the condo was the big focus of my life. Finding a new place, planning the renovation, and moving took up a lot more mental energy than I expected. And at the same time, I was dealing with some work changes that also took more focus than I expected. I wasn’t expecting to take this much time without a big focus on acting, but that’s how things happened and I can’t really go back and change anything.

And I know I’ve said this before, but I really do want to get back to being more serious about my career. I know I need new headshots, so I want to figure out a good time to get those done (and save up the money for them). I know that it would be good to get back into class, but I haven’t found one that I’m interested in just yet. And I have to work around my work schedule and so many classes would be during work time for me. I am still doing my self-submissions every day and trying to be productive as much as possible, but I know it’s not enough. So I also need to decide if I want to stay with my agent or consider trying to find a new one. Finding an agent isn’t easy, and it can be even harder now that things still aren’t fully back to normal. But it might be smart to look into options so I can make some good decisions about what I want my next steps to look like.

I know that it might not look like I’ve been pursuing acting for the past few years, but that’s not really how I’ve seen it. I know that it does look different and I haven’t done everything that I could, but I always do keep it in mind. But I need to do more than just keep it in mind and really get back on track and push forward. I know I need to do that or else before I know it another few years will pass me by.

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Missing Some Union Meetings (or Even Virtual Meetings Don’t Guarantee I Can Go)

Posted on June 10, 2022 | Comments Off on Missing Some Union Meetings (or Even Virtual Meetings Don’t Guarantee I Can Go)

I have really appreciated having the union meetings I’ve been attending recently through Zoom. I am almost always working during the time that the meetings are happening, and having them on Zoom allows me to be a part of them. And I’ve been pretty lucky to not have meetings or time-sensitive things I’ve needed to do during the meetings. I can’t always give the meetings my full attention because I’m working, but at least I’m not completely missing out. I have worried that when the meetings go back to being in person they won’t have the Zoom component (just listening to the meetings on a conference call isn’t the same), but I think they may keep Zoom as an option since it has allowed so many more people to participate in union service.

Soon, my work schedule should have some additional flexibility so attending union meetings might be easier, but I don’t have that finalized yet so I’m not exactly sure how it will all work. But I’ve been planning on attending union meetings with the idea that things won’t be able to be moved around and that’s how I probably will continue to plan for them. But of course, all great plans don’t work out every time. And that’s what happened this week.

I was supposed to attend the local communication committee meeting this week and it worked into my schedule perfectly between other things that were time-sensitive, so I was planning on attending just like always. But then, one of my work meetings changed times and was the exact same time as the committee meeting. There was nothing I could do because the work meeting had to be the priority. It’s not ideal, but it’s the reality of my life. It wasn’t fun to miss out on a meeting when I do like to be a part of the plan for union communications. I do take pride in the committees I’m a part of and I know that I need to take it seriously since so many people want to be on committees and can’t. For several years, I wanted to be on a committee and there wasn’t space for me. So I really do appreciate the space I have been given on the committees I’m a part of.

I tried to not feel too down about it because I didn’t have another option. But it was frustrating for sure. And because the information from the meeting hasn’t been shared yet, I still don’t know what decisions were made or what action items I need to be aware of. I know those will come soon, but I don’t like waiting on the information since I missed it when it was announced. I think this is motivating me to do the action steps as soon as I get them because I know I will already be a bit behind in doing the work.

But, I know that there will be more meetings for me in the future and hopefully, they work out with my work schedule. This was the only meeting I’ve had to miss so far because of work since the pandemic, so that’s not bad. I do make every effort I can to attend and my attendance record shows that. And maybe one day in the future, I won’t have a day job to be a conflict (although I might be working on set which would also be a time conflict). But until then, I have to be ok with missing a few meetings if it’s really impossible for me to attend. And I know that doesn’t mean I’m not taking my union service seriously, it just means that sometimes I’m double booked and something else might have priority.

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10 Years Of A Union (or I’ve Been A Part Of A Lot This Past Decade)

Posted on March 31, 2022 | Comments Off on 10 Years Of A Union (or I’ve Been A Part Of A Lot This Past Decade)

Yesterday marked 10 years since SAG and AFTRA merged into one union. I remember the merger vote so clearly. I wasn’t a member of SAG or AFTRA when the vote was announced. I had been a member of AGVA, which is a sister union, and was planning on joining SAG soon. But when the vote was going to happen and it seemed very likely that it would pass, I joined AFTRA so I could be a part of the newly merged union. I did it that way because it was less expensive, but if I had to join SAG to do it, I would have done the same.

During the merger vote, even though I wasn’t able to vote, I was very lucky to be invited to different events that were discussing the merger and I learned a lot before I was a member. And I got to meet a lot of people who were in union service and so many of them were happy to discuss things I should know as a new member. It was really an amazing introduction to the union even before I joined.

When the merger passed, I was so happy because I knew that I was automatically a member of SAG-AFTRA, which was my goal. And even though I didn’t start my union service right away, I was making sure I was informed and learning from the moment I joined. And it was only a few years later that I was asked if I wanted to be a part of Unite For Strength and run as a delegate in the election. From that moment on, it seems like I have only gotten more and more involved in SAG-AFTRA and it’s been an amazing journey!

I know that I’m very lucky that I’ve been elected as a delegate 4 times now. Even though I haven’t been elected to the local board yet, I’m grateful I can run and I do get votes each time. And one day, hopefully, I will be elected. But even without being on the local board, I have been able to do quite a bit. I have been on different local and national committees. I’m a vice-chair of a national committee now. I have participated in a lot of different events through committees that I’m not necessarily in but are open to all members. And I have found ways to help other people to get involved as well.

The past 2 years have been tough for me since I have felt very disconnected from my acting career and the industry in general. But my union service has helped me feel involved and like I am still a part of something that I love so much. Things are continuing to return to how they used to be, but I know they are going slowly because we aren’t sure yet if things will have to shut down more again. But I think everyone is ready to get back to the old normal and I hope that I can get back to how I used to be involved before. But even if it takes time for that to happen, I know I’ll get back to doing that again one day. I’ve only started with my union service. Just like the union has only just started.

10 years down, and so many more to go!

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Continuing With My Union Committee Service (or I’m Still So Grateful These Are Done Over Zoom)

Posted on February 10, 2022 | Comments Off on Continuing With My Union Committee Service (or I’m Still So Grateful These Are Done Over Zoom)

I have been lucky to be a part of different union committees over the past few years, but because of when the meetings are and my schedule, I have always felt a bit disconnected from them. It’s not easy when almost everyone is there in person and I’m listening in through a phone line. As I’ve mentioned before, now all these meetings are on Zoom, which is much better than a phone line. Even though I have to stay off-camera because I’m working, I feel much more a part of these meetings than I did before.

I’m a part of some national committees as well as a local one, and so far I’ve only had official meetings for the local one (I’m the vice-chair of a national committee and I’ve had a meeting with the chair, but not the full committee yet). And this week, I had my local communications committee.

I’m grateful to be on this committee because it involves a lot of work that I have done for years. It’s about social media, writing articles, and providing resources to my fellow union members. So much of this is stuff that I have done through day jobs before, so I do feel like I have a lot I can contribute to the committee and the membership. And after our last meeting, we had an assignment to come up with some examples of things we would like to see on social media, in articles, and as resources listed on the website. This was pretty easy for me and I submitted more than I had to so there were options. And I figured we would go over what everyone submitted at the next meeting.

But at this meeting, I discovered that my email never made it (I’m guessing it was stopped by a spam filter). If this meeting was over the phone, I might not have noticed this because I wouldn’t have been able to see all the documents. But because this was over Zoom, I was following along and noticed my submissions missing from the list. I brought it up to the chair of the committee and she let me resend my email so they could be included in our discussion. I’m glad she let me do that since most of the suggestions I had were not ones that other people brought up. In fact, it seemed like all of us had very unique ideas of what we wanted to see, and I think that diversity and variety are really going to be a benefit for us as a committee and as a union.

Because so many of us had so many ideas and suggestions, we weren’t able to go through everything in that meeting. But that’s ok since we can go over them at the next meeting. And I’m glad the chair of the committee was paying attention to the time so we didn’t go over too long so we could all continue on with our days.

I’m not sure when the next meeting will be, but even if things are back in person soon, I have a feeling they will continue to make Zoom an option for meetings instead of just having a call in-line be the alternative to going in-person. And this will allow me to feel more connected to the committees that I’m in even if I have to be at home and working while the meetings are happening.

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Getting More Union Meetings In (or I’m Grateful These Are Done On Zoom)

Posted on December 17, 2021 | Comments Off on Getting More Union Meetings In (or I’m Grateful These Are Done On Zoom)

I’ve been on committees for my union in the past, but this time I am on more committees than I ever have been. It’s not a ton, especially compared to how many others might have, but it’s still more than just being on one. I’m always grateful to be selected for committees because there are only so many people who can be on them. And while I didn’t get on all the committees I wanted to be on, I was selected for a couple that I think I can really make an impact in and I’m excited about that.

For national committees, they usually have people who can meet in person and then have a virtual component so people at other locals can join in. And for some local committees I’ve been on before, they had a way to call in to listen to the meetings but it always felt a bit disconnected. I’ve never been able to attend a committee meeting in person before because they are always hours that I’m working. But I have called in to listen and I tried to follow along. But sometimes something is being shown on a screen or passed out during a meeting, and listening in means I miss out on that part of it (although we usually are emailed anything that is passed out after the meeting is done).

But since March of 2020, no meetings have been done in person. Everything is done virtually and they are doing them differently than how they were virtual before. Now, just like so many of us have experienced, these meetings are on Zoom. So it’s more involved than a phone call and the meetings have to share things ahead of time or in the Zoom meeting if there is a handout or something else we should see. And if there is a presentation during the meeting, they are done as a shared screen within Zoom.

I’m actually really grateful for this change and I hope they continue to do things this way even when the meetings are in person again. I know I will likely not be able to attend in person due to work, and I like being able to feel like I’m participating more than just listening on the phone. I can’t be on camera for these meetings due to rules with some day jobs, but that seems to be ok with everyone. I’m not the only one working during these, so at least it seems to be a common limitation that people have.

I haven’t had a meeting yet for the committee that I’m co-chair of yet, but I think that will be coming in January. But this week I had the meeting for the one local committee I’m a member of and the one national committee I’m an alternate of (for that committee, alternates attend all the meetings if they can). It did make this week a bit busy and crazy, but I am grateful to have these meetings to make me feel connected to my acting career more.

There were a lot of things I wanted to accomplish this year with my acting career, and honestly that was almost all put on the back burner for other reasons. I hate that I feel like I took several steps backward, and I can’t blame it all on the pandemic. There are things I wanted to do that didn’t rely on others or how open or closed things were. But this year ended up being focused more on a lot of other things, so I’ve been very disconnected from feeling like an actor. And while I would prefer to have more things in my life directly connected to my acting career such as auditions, I’m glad I have things like these committee meetings that remind me about the amazing acting community I’m a part of and motivate me to get back on track again.

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Union Committee Work (or Continuing To Be More and More Involved In My Union)

Posted on November 23, 2021 | Comments Off on Union Committee Work (or Continuing To Be More and More Involved In My Union)

Each year that I’m a union member, I seem to find new ways to be involved or new ways to be involved in things that I’ve already been doing. Being a delegate has been part of that. Running for the local board is another part. But I’ve also been working on being more involved with different committees.

It’s not always easy to get onto committees in the union. There are only so many spots for committee members and a lot of people apply for each one. But the more I’ve been involved in the union, the more people know who I am. And having people know who I am has been helpful with getting onto committees because they are aware of my past union service and what I can bring to the group.

It’s been a process with getting more involved in committees. After the election in 2019, I was an alternate for one national committee and a member for a local committee. And I tried to be involved in the meetings and events, but because of the pandemic, the opportunities were more limited than they normally are and there weren’t as many meetings so I know I wasn’t as informed as I probably should have been about the committees I was a part of.

But when the applications came out this year for both national and local committees, I knew I wanted to apply again and hopefully get back on the committees I was a part of before and possibly be added to additional committees if possible. We haven’t heard back from the local committees yet, but I’m hoping I’ll be asked back to the one local one I was on before. And I was asked to be an alternate again for the national committee I was an alternate on last time.

But this year, I also found out some exciting news about one of the national committees. The Health Care Safety Net committee is all about providing information for different health care related opportunities and helps to organize things such as health fairs, clinics, and screenings. And not only was I asked to be a member of this committee, I was asked to be the Vice Chair!

As Vice Chair, I will help the Chair to run the committee and meetings and make sure that we are accomplishing all of our goals. I had my first training with the union recently and I learned a lot about how the national committees work and what we need to do behind the scenes to keep a committee running smoothly. It was really informative and I understand the process that the committees go through a lot more now. As the Vice Chair, I don’t pick who is on the committee, that was already done. So I know who is on the committee and our staff liaison will help us contact all the committee members when we have our first meeting (which will likely be around the beginning of the year).

I will have other trainings about running meetings and other union rules and policies, but I’m already really excited to be even more involved with the union than I have before. I never thought I’d be asked to be one of the leaders of a committee yet, I was just hoping to be a member. But I do know I’ve been working hard the past few years with my union involvement and I guess others are seeing that as well. And while I am a little nervous to be a leader because it is something new for me, it’s very exciting too!

I can’t wait to see what I’m able to do as the Vice Chair and what the entire committee can accomplish during the next year and a half. And as I’ve said every time I’ve gotten more involved in the union, I love that this is adding more ways for me to feel connected to my acting career when so many things about acting are out of my control.

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Not The Convention I’m Used To (or Still Taking On More Responsibility)

Posted on October 20, 2021 | Comments Off on Not The Convention I’m Used To (or Still Taking On More Responsibility)

As I mentioned yesterday (and have written about quite a bit), my union’s national convention was this past weekend. This was my 4th time being a part of Convention as an LA delegate. But because this was the first time the convention was virtual, everything felt a bit like it was new to me. There’s a lot that can be done virtually but there were also a lot of things I missed. But since being elected again, I have been so excited to see what it would be like this time.

Going into the weekend, I had some responsibilities I was used to and a few new ones. I was one of the leaders from my slate, so other members could ask me questions if they had them and I tried to keep people informed. This year, we did this over text instead of in person, but that didn’t feel too different. I also was a part of a convention committee regarding the voting, but our voting was going to be handled differently than it normally was so we didn’t have the same concerns. The initial meeting I had for that committee ended up being the only time we needed to meet. There were a few other things I helped to be in charge of, but it was mainly around organization and making sure that others knew the agenda for each day, so I was used to that.

The first day of the convention is usually the night before it actually starts when we have the welcome mixer. This year, they did a bit more than just that. Earlier in the day, they had a virtual open house so we could go into the virtual convention website and explore and test things out. They did practice votes so we could learn how to use the online voting system and they had staff and IT help there for any of our questions. I’m glad I dropped into it because I realized the browser I normally use wasn’t the best one for the website. Then in the evening, we had a virtual mixer. It was very different from what we are used to, but I liked the system they used. There were different virtual spaces we could go into and you could move your avatar around. And if you were closer to another avatar, the conversation was louder and you could hear them. So it was like being in a room with a lot of other people. I still missed seeing the delegates from around the country, but at least we were able to connect a bit.

And the 3 days of the convention were filled with a lot of voting and a lot of learning as usual! We started with the different vice president elections, and I was so happy to see the candidates that I was supporting win their seats. But I think one of the most excited VP votes was for our executive vice president. The winner of that was my friend (and boss at my day job), Ben! I know Ben is going to be an incredible VP and I can’t wait to see what he can accomplish in the next two years (and beyond since I know this is just getting started). Even though we weren’t voting in the same room, I was texting a lot with my friends while we were waiting for the results, so I didn’t feel as alone.

A majority of the time was spent on resolutions. I didn’t submit a resolution this time, but I was a co-author on one and was planning on speaking for it. But due to a lot of different factors that took up time, we didn’t make it to the resolution I was going to speak on. It was a little disappointing, but I know that people wanted to debate and have time on other resolutions which took time away from others. We did also have some technical difficulties, but we always have had those when we vote so I don’t think that affected things that much. I wish there had been more time and I know a lot of people tried to speed up the process where we could, but it just didn’t happen.

Overall, I do feel like this was another good convention. It wasn’t perfect, but it never is. There are things I would love to see changed, and that’s why I know I have to continue with my union service. But I did see change happen at the convention and that’s exactly why I do this. I hope that in 2 years, I will be elected again and the convention will be able to be in person. As much as I enjoyed not having to leave my house (and being able to wear comfortable pants), I missed getting to see everyone and the energy in the room. That’s not easy to experience virtually.

But at least we had our convention this year and we are still moving forward as a union!

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I Stand With IATSE (or Union Strong)

Posted on September 24, 2021 | Comments Off on I Stand With IATSE (or Union Strong)

I know a lot of news about the entertainment industry can be very inside baseball and most people don’t know what’s going on or are very concerned about it. Most of the time, unless you are in the industry, you don’t see news updates or understand what things mean if you do see the news. I think the union elections are like that. Even though this past election was making a lot of national news, most people didn’t know what it meant or why it mattered. And that’s ok. And when things do reach a majority of people, like when there was a writer’s strike, most people only saw the surface of what it meant and might have been upset that their shows weren’t happening.

But right now, there is something happening that I don’t feel is getting the national attention it should and it is very important.

Starting next week, IATSE is going to have a strike authorization vote because of the status of the current negotiations on their contract.

IATSE is the union that covers so many of the people who work behind the scenes on set. They include sound technicians, editors, costumers, hair and make-up, electrical technicians, and so many more. These are all the people who help to make the shows and movies people love look so amazing. They help the actors work by creating the environments we perform in and making sure that we have what we need to do our job. Without members of IATSE on set, production wouldn’t be possible.

In their current negotiations with the AMPTP (the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, who is the same group that my union negotiates with), they are asking for things that I agree they deserve. They want better wages, more reasonable rest periods between work days, making sure everyone gets their breaks and meals, and other things that will make their working conditions better and safer for them. I think they deserve these things and more.

When I work on set, I have long days. Most of my time is sitting around and waiting. But members of IATSE have even longer days. They arrive before actors come to set and they stay after we are sent home. They do not get to rest in a trailer and wait for their time to work because they are always busy and working. I know that I am always grateful for the crew of sets that I work on, but I also know that I can show my appreciation more for them. And standing with them for this negotiation is just the start of what we can all do.

Coming up in about a week, different groups within IATSE are going to vote on whether they would like to strike or not. Each group has to have at least 75% agreeing with the strike for it to go through. And if it goes through, it’s not guaranteed that a strike will happen. But the negotiating team from IATSE will have the ability to call a strike if the negotiations still are stuck. And if there is a strike, everything in the industry would stop. Production is impossible without IATSE, and that proves even more why they deserve what they are asking for.

I don’t think anyone wants a strike to happen. So many people have been out of work due to the pandemic and things are just picking back up again. But at the same time, it’s not fair not to negotiate for what they deserve just because they want to work. They want to work but in safe and fair conditions. And if a strike is what it takes so they can get that, then they need to strike. And I stand with IATSE 100%.

I don’t know anyone who doesn’t stand with IATSE. We all see how hard they work when we are on set and the conditions that some people worked in were not fully understood until recently. I know I am guilty of that. But I’m doing what I can to try to help make things better.

Please sign this petition to show your support for IATSE in these negotiations. If you enjoy any tv shows or movies, then you should support the people making them. I stand in solidarity with IATSE because I know they would do the same for us. And I will continue to stand with them even if the strike does happen.

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