I had a really interesting interaction on Threads the other day. Someone was asking advice on how they could get Union actors (SAG-AFTRA) into their non-union short films, which for those who don’t know that’s a direct violation of rule #1 of SAG-AFTRA. Now I was surprised by the high quality of responses to this person. Many replied politely that of course union actors aren’t allowed to do that and encouraged the poster to look into a Union contract.
Now I put in my two cents and told this person that there are indeed SCABS (Those working off the card) who would do their projects, but since the original poster (OP) mentioned really wanting to elevate their projects and work with a higher level of talent I told them that these people wouldn’t get them to where they wanted to be. I then instructed the OP to check out the SAG-AFTRA contracts page on the website to look for contracts that corresponded with their budget.
Now in hindsight was I a little cheeky with the SCAB comment, yes. But hear me out, I know some of these people personally, and if you spent more than a couple of hours with them you might understand me better. Working off the card diminishes the value of performers and makes it very difficult every three years when we negotiate new contracts.
So this is where my interaction gets a little dicey.
A random challenger dives into my replies saying that there is no difference between a non union and union actor and attacking me for perpetuating this “myth.” I did a little digging before replying and this person also attacked someone in another reply saying that most of “us union actors don’t even make enough to qualify for healthcare.” Absolute dumpster rat behavior right?
This vermin then tries to swing his “20 years of experience” in my face as an excuse for why he can belittle an entire profession. But here’s the thing gentle reader, a little reconnaissance on this person revealed exactly everything I suspected of them…
They have only self produced web series and short films. Many of these series are barely passable from a technical aspect, we’re talking poor lighting, sound design and recording, and uninspired story. And no awards from any major film festivals. I don’t want to turn this into a revenge post (even though it kind of is), but it illustrates a point.
Union workers, writers, actors, directors, etc. Make a difference. They elevate the projects they work on. Are there great non union workers, of course. Are there shitty Union workers, absolutely. But there’s a huge reason that non union films almost never see distribution, because there isn’t a market for them. No one is clamoring to watch this guy’s next melodrama starring nobody we know.
Anyways thanks for coming to my Union TED talk/bitch session. I hope you learned something and I’m sure this isn’t the last time I’ll get on my soapbox for SAG-AFTRA. 🎭
Jared Boghosian 