Tag Archives: SAG-AFTRA

Now It Feels Like Election Season (or Creating So Many Things)

Posted on August 5, 2021 | Comments Off

For me, election season for my union starts a lot sooner than it really begins. Not only do I do social media work year-round, there are different phases to election season. There is time before the candidates are announced where we see who is interested in running and making sure that we have things in order. Between the time of candidates being finalized and ballots going out, there is a lot of preparation and announcing some candidates and what our platform is. And when ballots are mailed, everything ramps up and there is a lot more going on with making sure people know who is running and sharing who else is running with Unite For Strength.

And since ballots have been mailed and people should be getting them any day, we are fully into election season which means I’m doing a lot of work. And while I will admit that it can be overwhelming and I’m not sleeping enough, it’s also so rewarding. I have learned a lot of new skills in order to make our social media look the way it does. I am not a graphic designer (another volunteer does a lot of that), but I know how to do some basics and then send it to someone else to edit and correct. And I do get to be creative with what we make and how we present different information.

There have been 2 big projects I’ve been doing for our social media recently. First, we wanted to make images for our candidates to have that show their support for Unite For Strength. We did have a template to make these (which made my life a lot easier), but they did all have to be created one by one. But I’m so proud of how they look and I’m so happy to have this on my personal social media accounts.

And I loved seeing how others loved these too! Seeing so many of them come across my social media feed made me happy and I know people appreciated my work.

And then over the past few days, I worked on our social media voter guides. We do have flyers that announce everyone running with us, but I wanted to create something for social media too. It was easiest to make it on Instagram because of how the restrictions are on other services. But I love how it turned out with the different photo groups for different types of candidates.

I know there is a lot of work I can do on my personal Instagram to make it look beautiful, but I have been able to do so much with the Unite For Strength Instagram account that I really could use for my own. I probably wouldn’t use the same types of grids that I use since I personally would post more photos, but I would like to take a moment when things calm down to see what I can do to make my account look more professional and polished.

And now, it’s all about making sure all members who can vote do so. Just like with national politics, not everyone votes and getting the voter turnout up is something I personally am passionate about. I work on reaching out to all of my friends who I know are members and making sure they vote. And while I do hope they will vote for me and the rest of Unite For Strength, I understand that not everyone feels as passionately about the same issues as I do so they might not vote the same way I would. But getting people involved and voting is so important.

If you are a member of SAG-AFTRA, please vote. I know I ask this every time there is an election, but I will keep saying it every time. I know there are so many people who don’t vote because they forget or they don’t think it matters. But it really does matter. And if you have questions about why I’m running or why I’m a part of Unite For Strength, please reach out to me. I’d be happy to talk to anyone even if you don’t agree with me or decide you don’t want to vote for me.

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Posted in Acting

Tagged acting, election, SAG-AFTRA, union

Kicking Off Election Season (or Time To Be Busy With Campaigning)

Posted on July 14, 2021 | Comments Off

I’ve gone through SAG-AFTRA election season 3 times in the past. And my involvement during election season has changed and increased over each election. It’s a stressful time for so many of us, but it’s also very worth it. I am passionate about the direction my union is going and making sure that we have the best union possible for all members. And while I hope that I will be elected to the position or positions I’m running for, I also know the importance of getting others who have similar mindsets elected too. And that’s why I’m so happy to be with the Unite For Strength slate.

Things are only getting started with this election season. We have not announced our full slate just yet, but we will be doing so soon. And that’s when I’ll share more about what I’m running for. But we have announced our candidates for National President and National Secretary-Treasurer. And I’m so excited about those candidates as well as the ones we haven’t announced just yet. I love when I discover other members who have a similar passion for union service as I do and I also love to see people move into more and more leadership positions. I know that one day, my group of members will be the leaders of the union and it’s amazing to see that growth happen in front of my eyes. I don’t know how far in union leadership I personally want to go into, but I don’t think there will be a time that I’m a member of SAG-AFTRA and not wanting to be a part of union service in one way or another. Before my first election, I never imagined doing this. Now, I can’t imagine my life without it.

I am doing the social media work for my slate again, just like I have before. I can’t share a ton of information just yet, but I can’t wait until we announce more and I start posting more. Of course, this can be a bit stressful too, but it’s worth it just like election season is. And even though I know there can be a lot of negativity on social media, especially when it comes to politics and elections, I usually see more positive things online than negative which helps a lot.

Normally during election season, both my slate as well as the other slate campaign in similar ways and they are typically done in person. We pass out information as people are walking into different in-person union events. This year, things will be different. Most of the events that we would be campaigning at are not happening. The main one that I used to campaign at, the Film Society screenings, have not returned yet and I don’t think anyone knows when the next Film Society season would be. I know that everyone is trying to find new ways to campaign and I’m sure I will be doing a lot of it just as I do with campaigning before. And this isn’t the first time we’ve had to do some sort of campaigning without in-person events. We did this for the last contract. And while I will miss these opportunities to campaign in person and meet new people, I know that future election seasons will have that chance when things are safer for us all.

I know the next few months, my life will be a bit crazy and busy with election season, but I’m also very excited about that. I will still try to find ways to be social outside of union stuff because I want to get more of my life back. But having election season here is another thing that feels like the old normal to me, so I’m embracing that feeling. And hopefully I will have some exciting news once all the votes are counted!

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Posted in Acting, Fun Stuff

Tagged election, SAG-AFTRA, union, unite for strength

It’s Almost Election Season! (or Planning For My Summer)

Posted on May 20, 2021 | Comments Off

Every other summer for the past 6 years, I’ve spent a lot of my time campaigning for the SAG-AFTRA election. I’ve done this 3 times so far and each time has been a little different.

The first year I was running, I was running as a delegate and didn’t have much of a leadership position within Unite For Strength. I did end up having a little bit of leadership with some of the in-person campaign events, but it was just because I was going often and could help make sure people had the information they needed. The second year, I had a bit more of a leadership position within the slate with social media work. I was much more comfortable campaigning and felt like I really knew what to do. And the last time I was campaigning, I was even more involved. I was running for both a delegate and local board position. I was fully running the Unite For Strength social media. I didn’t attend that many in-person campaign events, but I worked hard in other ways to make sure members voted and encouraging others to support my slate.

And it’s starting to be time to campaign again now! And this year will be even more different than before.

First, I’m not sure yet if I’m running for both delegate and local board or just delegate yet. That’s still being decided and there is time before that has to be figured out. Either way, I’m excited to be a part of union service again and I hope I’m elected.

But the biggest difference is how to have election season during a pandemic. I am glad that we weren’t doing this last summer when things were much worse, but things still aren’t back to normal again. It’s already been announced that the National Convention will be held virtually this year. I’m not sure how it will be compared to the past 3 conventions I attended, but I know it will be different. I’m going to miss the time I had to meet members from other locals and the social aspect of Convention. But we will still be able to work hard for our members just like we have in the past.

And I don’t know how much campaigning will be able to happen in person either. Last time, we didn’t get to campaign at the DGA since the Film Society didn’t happen the same way it did before. And I’m pretty sure the Film Society won’t be back by this summer, so that will be out. So there will be a lot of virtual campaigning this time, which is something I am used to.

I’m still in prep mode for election season. There is a lot to still work out for both the social media work and all the rest of campaigning. And while I do have time, I know the real election season will be here before we know it. Even though this year seems to be moving slower than normal, I know that the end of the election and Convention will be here quickly. And I hope that I’m just as successful, if not more, this election season as I have been for the past election seasons.

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Posted in Acting, Fun Stuff

Tagged acting, election, SAG-AFTRA

First Union Meeting In A While (or Feeling Informed Again)

Posted on April 14, 2021 | Comments Off

Before the pandemic, I had a few different union events and meetings I would go to. I went to the local board meetings to be an observer which was about once a month. I tried to go to social events like the holiday party. I went to unofficial union meetings through Union Working. And I was on my first committee with SAG-AFTRA, the organizing committee. I never could attend the organizing committee meetings in person because they were during my work time, but they always had a way for me to attend virtually. It was a little odd to be one of the few people listening in when a majority of the committee was together in person. But I made sure I was as prepared as I could to listen so I didn’t miss anything I needed to know about.

When everything shut down, the union had to focus on what was most needed by members. Those things included departments like safety (since people were working) and residuals (so people could be paid). A lot of the staff had to be furloughed so there weren’t as many staff members as before who could help out with different committee meetings. So the organizing committee wasn’t able to meet. While that was unfortunate, I understood why other parts of the union needed more focus.

But things are starting to slowly reopen here, so that means that things are also starting to pick up again. There are still a lot of things that aren’t back to normal yet, but it’s starting to get there as more and more people are vaccinated. And because they are opening up again, we finally had our first organizing committee meeting since the pandemic.

This time, nobody was at the union for the meeting. Everyone was on Zoom together and I think I preferred that. It was nice to be able to see everyone’s face and to have it easy to know who is talking. And when we had someone presenting information, they were able to do a screen share so we could all see the slides instead of me listening and taking notes (and getting copies of the slides after the meeting). And it was a little easier to hear everyone since everyone was in the same system versus having one microphone in a larger room where some people might be closer or further from it.

But what I liked most about it was that it happened. I have missed feeling like I’m involved in the union. It has become a big part of my life and I don’t know if I really understood that until I didn’t have it. And while I have tried my best to stay informed about what’s going on, I know I haven’t been doing a great job at that. When I’m attending meetings, I’m much more aware of union news than I am when I’m just looking it up on my own. And like with so many things I haven’t been able to do over the past year, I think I didn’t realize how much I missed and needed this until I got to do it again. I didn’t forget about being involved, but there was so much that I was missing that I couldn’t pinpoint anything specific. But after this recent meeting, I realized how much this meant to me and how much I crave it.

There’s no timeline yet for things being back to how they were. I know that there was an announcement that things should be 100% open again in CA by mid-June, but that’s not a guarantee. We’ve all learned over the past year how quickly things can change. But I’m hoping that if things are really able to open by mid-June, that means that we will also be closer to being back to the regular schedule for union meetings. Even if they have to be virtual for a bit longer, I’d love to have these as a part of my routine again.

And while I am waiting for the next meeting, no matter which group or committee it will be for, I want to work on catching up on news and information that I might have missed. I want to find ways to learn and stay on top of the news without the meetings. It won’t be easy, but I know now how important that will be. Maybe this means that by the next meeting I will have things to share. I usually am more of a listener, but I can empower myself to be a more involved and active member.

I’m going to think of this first meeting as the start of things picking up again for me and my work with union service. I hope that is true and I will have more union events to share on here coming up. I love being able to share what I learn and know when I can. And hopefully, I will be able to do that more often between meetings and my own efforts in learning.

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Posted in Acting

Tagged SAG-AFTRA, union

It’s SAG Awards Time! (or I Still Love Watching To See Who Wins)

Posted on April 8, 2021 | Comments Off

The SAG Awards is one of the award shows I look forward to the most each year. It’s the one award show that I get to have a real hand in selecting the winners. I love getting to vote for all the different categories. And I do take voting seriously. I watch all the movies and shows that I can (I can’t always watch everything, but I try my best) and I pick based on the performances and not just wanting to see someone win. And I love watching the show because it feels much more connected to me than other award shows.

But this year, like so many things, the show had to be a bit different. I think all the award shows have been trying different things to see what is going to work and seem like the same show they had before. And I have to say, I love what the SAG Awards did.

Many shows seem to be doing something as close to normal as possible and having all the nominees appearing on Zoom so they can give their speech on live tv. And the run time for the award shows has been similar to what they were when everyone was in a space together. But the SAG Awards almost honored that we are in a different time by not trying to make it seem like a slightly different version of normal.

The show was only an hour long. All the award announcements were pre-taped so they didn’t have to worry about technical difficulties during a live broadcast. They did have all the nominees on Zoom like other shows have, and that helped it seem like each category was celebrating the winner together. It was fun to see these different little communities for each award and watching everyone as a group. And between each award presentation, they had these fun interviews with different actors about things that I think most SAG-AFTRA members could relate to. I don’t know if people outside of the industry enjoyed those segments as much as actors did, but I found them amazing. I especially loved seeing the one where the actors were talking about the random special skills listed on their resume and which ones were real and which ones they put on there and hoped they were never asked about.

The only negative thing for me about the SAG Awards this year was something that was my fault. This year, I didn’t watch that many of the nominated films. I watched so few that I actually didn’t vote for the winners. I didn’t feel like it was fair for me to vote when I didn’t really know if the performances I liked were the best of all the options. And I didn’t really have a good reason not to watch the screeners I got. I had the time, I just didn’t have the motivation. And maybe it was because I also am missing going to a movie theater to watch movies. While I love watching movies at home, it’s usually because that feels so different from what I normally do. But now, all movies are being watched on my tv. So I don’t feel the same way about feeling lucky to watch the screeners I got.

I’m so glad that even though I didn’t watch all the movies this year, I still loved watching the SAG Awards. It makes me so happy to see actors celebrating actors and I feel very lucky that I get to be a part of it. And I loved seeing what the producers of the show were able to do to make it feel special and unique even if it couldn’t be the way we are used to watching award shows. Hopefully, by next year things will be able to be done the way we are familiar with and everyone will be celebrating the winners together.

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Posted in Acting, Fun Stuff

Tagged acting, awards, sag awards, SAG-AFTRA

More Virtual Union Meetings (or Hopefully We Will Be Back To In-Person Meetings Soon)

Posted on March 18, 2021 | Comments Off

Over the past year, I’ve done a lot of virtual meetings regarding SAG-AFTRA. Some of them are more official and some of them are unofficial but still related to union service. I’m not sure if I’ve been a part of more meetings than normal since virtual ones are easier to attend, but I know that it hasn’t been as big of a decrease as I feared at first. There are different virtual meetings and events to attend each week and I only have been a part of a small portion of those. But whenever there is a bigger official meeting, I do my best to be a part of it.

There haven’t been a lot of big meetings lately, but there have been a few. There was one last year regarding the health plan that I made sure to be a part of. Even though I’m not eligible for union healthcare, I wanted to understand what was going on so I could try to help other members who had questions. I also like to understand what is going on because then when I’m eligible in the future I will already have some knowledge about the system. I did that before I joined the union. I attended several meetings that were open to non-union members so I didn’t join without understanding a lot of the union benefits and the important people I should know about.

I do miss attending the Local Board meetings. I was doing really great with attending those each month. And while they are doing those meetings over Zoom these days, they are not open to observers like the in-person meetings are. But as soon as those are able to have observers again, I plan on being back there and being as active and involved in the union as I can.

But last week, there was another big official meeting. The LA Local Membership meeting is an open meeting to all members of the LA Local. Normally, it’s held in a big room and there is an expo before the meeting so members can learn about different committees and services that the LA Local has. And during the meeting, there is a lot of information given, like how things have been going for the union and the progress of things coming up. And for the second half of the meeting, it’s a Q&A where you can ask the local leaders questions about anything union-related. Some people have questions about contracts, some ask about the health and pension plans, and some are more general questions.

Something I love about the LA Local Membership meeting is getting to see so many of my friends. I usually am socializing before and after the meeting. Sometimes a little socializing during the meeting too. But I usually am trying to pay attention and see what new things are happening that I need to be aware of. It’s a long meeting and full of information, but it’s always something I am glad I attended.

This year, obviously they couldn’t have the meeting the way they usually do. So it was done on Zoom with only the leaders being seen. There were presentations about a few things, but not as many as they have done during the in-person meetings. I don’t know if they were trying to keep more time open for the Q&A or if there wasn’t as much to present. But I’m glad they did keep the Q&A time because I know I had a lot of friends that had questions. I had some questions I wanted to ask too, but I couldn’t stay on Zoom the entire time and I didn’t want my turn to come up when I wasn’t on there. So I just listened to what other members asked.

And most of the questions were things that I expected to hear about. Some of the same questions that we are used to hearing at these meetings and some that are specific to this time. Being safe on sets and at auditions is a big concern for everyone, but the union has been doing a great job and creating guidelines for how to accomplish that.

While I didn’t get to meet anyone new in person like I normally do, I did connect to someone through social media after they asked a question that I was able to help with. I’m glad I was still able to help a member, but it was weird having to find them on social media and hope they were ok with a random person messaging them. Fortunately, they were ok with me doing that and I was able to get them connected to others who I thought they should know.

While this was still a really great and productive meeting, I was a bit sad that it was done virtually. So much of what I love about union service is meeting new people in person and connecting with them. You can’t really do that over Zoom. And I think most of us are ready to be done with virtual meetings and seeing people face to face again. But we can’t do that just yet. Things are getting safer, but they aren’t safe just yet. And I don’t know what it will take for meetings to be in person again, but I do trust that whatever the union decides to do, there will be a lot of thought behind it. So I am ok with them not rushing back, but at the same time, I can’t wait for it to happen.

Hopefully, this was one of my last big union events that will be done virtually. I know there is some chance of things coming up that will be virtual, like the National Convention, but that’s also half a year away. Nothing has been decided yet and so much can change between now and then. All I can do is continue attending the things that I can and try to find ways to still be involved and make connections. And I’m sure it won’t be long before I am back to attending things in person and maybe I’ll even start missing the time that I attended things virtually.

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Posted in Acting

Tagged acting, meeting, SAG-AFTRA, union, virtual

A Virtual Holiday Party (or Missing My Union So Much)

Posted on December 22, 2020 | Comments Off

I’ve been getting more and more involved with my union. A lot of my involvement has been related to union service, such as being a delegate and attending board meetings. And being involved with union service is important since the members are leaders of the union. Even though we have staff, so much of what the union can do is because of the membership. So being involved in union service is something I try to do a lot of and try to encourage others to do so as well.

But I also have been trying over the years to do more fun things with the union too. And there are normally a lot of fun opportunities, such as going to screenings and attending classes and Q&A interviews. And a few times a year, there are big social events for the union. The biggest one in my opinion is the annual holiday party!

I’ve attended the holiday party for the past several years. I haven’t always been able to attend, but I always try my best. And it’s just a good fun time. It’s all about being social with other members. There is food, lots of photo opportunities, and lots of time to just talk to each other. Since there is no real agenda for the holiday party, it’s a great time to catch up with union members I haven’t seen for a while and to meet new members. Since most of the members I know are also involved in union service and a lot of members aren’t involved, it’s always been a time that I get to meet a lot of new people.

It can be a little overwhelming being in a big crowd when you don’t know everyone, but I’ve never regretted going. Sometimes I don’t stay too long, but I always go when I can and I always leave feeling so happy.

So with everything going on this year, missing the holiday party was just another thing that couldn’t happen. But that didn’t mean that it was completely gone. Normally, the holiday party is for the Los Angeles Local, so it’s only members from LA that are a part of it. But this year, with everyone getting used to having virtual hangouts, they made the holiday party a virtual one! And it was with union leaders from all over the country!

There were different videos that were included in the virtual party that highlighted different Locals within the union. And it was very positive and upbeat about how we have made it this far during the pandemic and soon things will be going back to how we are used to having them. Film and TV have started up again but at a very reduced capacity. I think everyone is ready for the entertainment industry to be back up and running and all of the leaders were very encouraging about that happening soon. We can’t control when the pandemic will end, but we can be prepared for when it happens so we can get back to work.

There was also some entertainment at the virtual party. Since our union covers singers too, we have amazing singers in the leadership. And there was even a short video with a cooking demonstration. It was really cute and I loved what they were able to put together.

I did miss out on seeing my friends and meeting new people, but that’s how I’ve been feeling about this entire year. I’m hoping it won’t be too long before we can all be together again. And I know I will appreciate it even more. And I hope that next year, they can do both the in-person and virtual holiday party. I love the in-person one because I get to meet so many members that live in LA. But I loved the virtual one and how it included members all over the country! That feeling of unity was wonderful and I want to continue feeling that.

I guess I’ll just have to wait and see what happens next year with the party (or parties). But I’ve got my fingers crossed that we will have 2 parties in a year!

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Posted in Acting, Celebrations, Fun Stuff

Tagged holidays, party, SAG-AFTRA, union

Celebrating A New Contract (or Feeling Good About This Accomplishment)

Posted on July 24, 2020 | Comments Off

I wrote about my union contract ratification vote before. This is something we do every 3 years for our TV/Theatrical contract (we have ratification votes on contracts every 3 years, but they happen often since we have so many contracts). But this time, it felt different. I don’t know why it got as contentious as it did, but it was a very odd feeling. I know that there are some people who had heard misinformation about the contract (for example, hearing that we lost all minimums on the contract when it was only for a very small and specific category), so some people were being very vocal against the contract and then changed their minds when they looked more into it.

And educating members so they would look more into it was something I took seriously. Even though I was for the contract, that didn’t mean I didn’t look into it and investigate every part of it. There were parts that I didn’t love as much as others and there were a few things that I wish we could have gotten more into the contract. But overall, it was an amazing contract. We are really working toward putting residuals in things that are more common, like streaming. And we got a lot of protections on set for actors who are doing more vulnerable scenes like nudity or simulated sex. And whenever I heard a member saying they were voting no for a reason that wasn’t factual, I gave them the facts. I said that I understood if they still wanted to vote no, but I wanted them to make that choice on what the contract really said and not the misinformation.

I’ve never been this involved in a contract ratification vote before. And part of that is due to my work with running our social media. Every day, multiple times a day, I would check Twitter and Instagram to see what others were posting about the contract. There were specific hashtags I checked constantly. I wanted to share posts about people excited about the contract or answer questions that some people might have had. But that also meant I would be seeing the posts that were against the contract or were negative. And seeing those every day wasn’t easy. But I tried to keep my focus on the positive ones.

The ratification vote was due on Wednesday, and we all were working hard up until the last minute. Since the voting was done online, we didn’t want to miss a minute to make sure that members were making an educated vote. Of course, I was hoping they would vote to approve, but I also wanted everyone to be educated even if that meant they voted no. And when voting was done, we really had no clue if it would pass or not.

It felt like we waited a long time for the results to come in. I was on a Zoom call with some of my friends from the union about 2 hours after the end of the vote and we were still waiting to hear what happened. And maybe 2 1/2 hours after the end of the vote, we finally saw the press release with the results.

The contract passed! It was 74.22% to 25.78%. And while that was exciting, what I was most excited about was the number of members who voted. In the past, it’s usually between 15-16% of the membership that votes. That number is really low and we have worked hard to try to get more members to be involved and to vote. And this time, we had about 27% of the membership voting! Yes, I know that number is still really low and 2/3rds of the membership did not participate, but we still almost doubled what we typically have. As much as I would have liked to have over 50% participating, this is a good step toward that and hopefully, we will be there in the future.

After I found out the contract passed, I was a bit of an emotional wreck. I worked harder on this vote than I have on any other. I was very involved and very aware of what both sides were saying. I didn’t feel certain it would pass even though I was extremely hopeful that it would. And this wasn’t just my effort. Hundreds of people worked hard to make this happen. I am so grateful to everyone who got the message out and voted. This was huge. And I am so proud of what we as a union accomplished.

Now, we just have to hope that we can reopen things soon so we can start working on this contract. I hope that I have a chance to do that soon. We worked hard for this, and I can’t wait to get to use it!

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Posted in Acting, Celebrations

Tagged acting, election, SAG-AFTRA, union, unite for strength, vote

Another Amazing You Are The Union Livestream (or Learning So Much About Being A Better Ally)

Posted on July 23, 2020 | Comments Off

Every one of the You Are The Union livestreams that we have done so far has been incredible. I am so proud of what we have accomplished with them so far and the engagement we have been getting from people who are watching them. I’m so lucky that Amir and I were able to figure out how to make these happen and I think both of us are so excited to see what we can do in the future with it.

One thing that we have focused on is bringing attention to different parts of our industry. We did that with the BLM livestream that we did. And we did it again a week ago when we had a livestream about performers with disabilities.

Even though I have an invisible disability with my hip issues, I wouldn’t call myself a performer with a disability. I don’t know much about that world and the challenges that PWDs (performers with disabilities) face. So when Amir and I discussed doing this topic for our livestream, I was excited to do it but also nervous because I didn’t want to accidentally offend someone.

Fortunately, the panelists that we got for this livestream, Anita and Christine, were amazing! While we were getting everything set up and ready, we explained that we didn’t have a lot of knowledge about this part of the industry and we apologized in advance if we said the wrong thing. They both said that they appreciated us giving them a space to have an open chat with all members on how to be better allies for PWDs because many are afraid to ask the questions that might not be the most appropriate thing to ask.

The other thing that I’m so proud of with this livestream is that we were able to make it accessible for anyone hard of hearing. We would love to have live captions for our livestreams, but right now that isn’t feasible due to the cost (but if anyone knows of pro-bono organizations that do that, please let me know!). But we reached out to some of our friends who have studied ASL and they were able to connect us to interpreters who were able to do live ASL interpreting throughout the entire thing! We knew if we wanted to do a livestream about PWDs, we couldn’t leave out an entire community of performers. We didn’t know how we were going to accomplish this, but we were so lucky to have Elizabeth and Diana be our ASL interpreters and they did an amazing job.

Whenever we have these livestreams, I don’t get to fully pay attention because I am running all the behind the scenes stuff. But I always do get to watch a little bit. And every time I watched this one, I was just in awe. The conversation was incredible, we got some really good questions from the people watching, and seeing the live ASL interpreting happening made me so happy. Amir and I had a goal to make this livestream fully accessible, and through connections we had and the generosity of several people, we were able to do just that. Sometimes I’m just amazed at what we can get done considering we are just 2 members doing a livestream.

Since I can’t always focus on the livestream completely when it happens, I always watch it after (I also have to do some editing to add cards to the beginning and end for the replays). And this one I made sure that when I watched it after, I gave it my full attention. I wanted to make sure I heard all the lessons and advice that was shared. We did this livestream to not only educate other members but to educate ourselves. And I didn’t want to miss out on that opportunity. I learned so much and I can’t wait until we can have another livestream on PWDs because I know there is so much more for me to learn.

If you have not had a chance to watch this livestream, please watch the replay. You can learn so much about how we all can help our fellow members. And helping each other succeed is so important.

Comments Off on Another Amazing You Are The Union Livestream (or Learning So Much About Being A Better Ally)

Posted in Acting

Tagged acting, SAG-AFTRA, union, You Are The Union

Another SAG-AFTRA Election (or 318 Million Reasons To Vote Yes)

Posted on July 14, 2020 | Comments Off

My union service has increased every year. I’ve been getting more and more involved. Even during this pandemic and being isolated, I’ve been finding new ways to be involved. Doing this has been so important to me for many reasons. Right now, it’s important because it gives me a sense of service and purpose. And no matter what the world situation is like, it’s important to be involved because I feel like all members of the union need to be educated on union issues. There are so many things out there that are either confusing or half-truths, and I want people to know exactly what is going on.

And right now, there is something urgent that I have been trying to educated members on. We are voting on our new TV/Theatrical contract. And I am highly encouraging members to vote yes!

There are so many reasons why I think members should vote yes. I do recommend checking out this website on some of the amazing things we gain with this contract. And the biggest thing is that this contract is a $318 million dollar gain over our current contract! That is huge and it is historic! I think for so many members, this alone is a great reason to vote yes. But there are many others.

For the west coast, we have increased the jobs for background performers. I know that some people are upset that the increase is by 1 performer and not more, but the negotiating committee worked hard to get that. They would have loved to have gotten more, but it was a fight to get the 1 spot that they did.

We are also getting a huge increase in our residuals for streaming. The increase will be 26%! I have heard some people upset that broadcast syndicated residuals did not get the same increase and that when those deals are expired that they might be decreased. But there is a reason for that. In 2019, there were about 50 shows in broadcast syndication. In 2020, there were only 17 left. And that number is going to continue to decrease while streaming increases. So it is more important to get the increases in streaming where most shows are headed.

And one of the most important things we gained in this new contract is stronger protections for nudity and simulated sex on set. There are so many things within this category that we got. For auditions, they can no longer require you to submit nude photos for consideration. You must be able to see every person who is able to see your audition. So someone can’t be watching over Skype and you cannot see their face. On set, they are no required to get you a way to cover up between takes so you don’t have to sit there exposed while they work on setting up the next shot. And if you are working a background job that has nudity or simulated sex and you are not comfortable with the work, you can say so and they are still required to pay you for the day even if you go home. That’s just the start of what we got!

To me, it’s an easy choice to vote yes. I understand that this contract isn’t perfect and there are some things that I wish we had gotten, but it’s still an amazing contract. And if we vote no, there is no guarantee we will have something close to what we have. We will have to start for the beginning to try to get all these gains again, and the world is different now compared to a few months ago when this was negotiated. While some people see voting now as a move of strength that we should have a stronger contract, this contract was fought hard to get and the other side is not guaranteed to agree to anything. I am very happy with this contract and I hope that it is approved by the membership.

If you are a SAG-AFTRA member, please make sure you vote by the 22nd! Your vote is important and it matters! And if you have questions about this contract, please contact me. I want everyone who votes to know what they are voting on and I am happy to help explain what I can and get you connected to someone who can explain what I can’t.

Comments Off on Another SAG-AFTRA Election (or 318 Million Reasons To Vote Yes)

Posted in Acting

Tagged election, SAG-AFTRA, union

Tag Archives: SAG-AFTRA

Now It Feels Like Election Season (or Creating So Many Things)

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Another Amazing You Are The Union Livestream (or Learning So Much About Being A Better Ally)

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Another SAG-AFTRA Election (or 318 Million Reasons To Vote Yes)

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