NON-UNION....What is this?? CONFUSED!?

Question:I know i oughto know about these, but people talk about them here all the time, and i still dont know what they are..

can someone please explain to me what these mean/do/HOW DO YOU GET ONE!!
are they important for getting acting jobs/auditions..ECT

APPRICIATED THANK YOU :)

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I know i oughto know about these, but people talk about them here all the time, and i still dont know what they are..

can someone please explain to me what these mean/do/HOW DO YOU GET ONE!!
are they important for getting acting jobs/auditions..ECT

APPRICIATED THANK YOU :)

Jobs are fitting into union or non-union depending on the production company and union rules.

SAG, for example, covers extra work but the work rules are 12 only, after 12 they can use non-union.

Union extra are paid $125 for the first 8 hours. Non-union are paid $50 (minimum wage) for the first 8 hours.

Obviously you get 2 1/4 non-union people for the price of one union person. So going non-union is economical.

Some feature films have union and non-union casting. They can get away with this outside juridiction (outside Los Angeles county for example) if several production companies are working on the project. If one of them is not union they can cast and bring in non-union actors and assistants.

The other production companies who are signatories bring in the union players.

Then when the production gets pick up by a studio, which is always a signatory, all the non-union players can become SAG eligible if they meet certain requirements.

You have to speak or sing or dance on camera, say lines or do bits of business given to you by the head director.

Then you generally have one year to join SAG which costs $2,500 in a single payment certfied check.

They can also bump up a non-uniion extra to a speaking role if they've given the other 12 speaking roles or if there is a specific reason such as what you were doing as an extra.

Say all the extras were people at a party and one non-union extra was a waiter and then needed someone to say there was a phone call. The waiter would be a choice. So you bump em.

Now, once you JOIN SAG you can't do non-union extra work or acting work on film anymore or you get fined and suspended.

You also can't be handled by an agent who isn't SAG franchised.

As a SAG eligible or SAG member you can try out for union pictures.

Producers and casting directors will generally NOT see non-union actors at casting sessions for a UNION picture for common roles.

Only in OPEN casting where they couldn't find what they wanted through the union ranks and are now looking to cast the major players and will consider and look at unknowns.

So closed casting is only open to SAG and SAG elible throught their SAG franchised agents who usuall subscribe to the Breakdowns and the Commercial Tickertape.

These list all the union jobs being cast.

Once in SAG you can also join the other unions if offered a job but you still have to buy a work card or pay some type of local feel if it's a NY Equity production.

Screen actors guild. You need to be a member to get a job and you need to have a job to become a member.

SAG stands for Screen Actors Guild. It's a union to which actors and such belong to ensure equity in work.

Basically, a union is a collective of people within a profession that hold charters and rights to protect their workers. It is run by an Excutive Board whose actions are determined by the input of the workers, as well as bargaining of collective agreements with employers (hence the reason why many productions hire solely union workers).

SAG is for film industry.
AEA (or CAEA) is for theatre (Actors Equity Association and Canadian Actors Equity).
IATSE (International Alliance of Theatre Stagehand Employees) is the crew union.

You can't "get one." You have to become a member of the union through a process of Apprenticeship. It's a long road, but pays off big time in the long run. Often times these days if you wish to pursue theatre professionally (especially film), you generally have to be a part of the union as per the collective agreements with unions.

So, to answer the second part of your question, yes. A union affliation will open doors in terms of auditions you can attend and jobs you are eligible for.

However, as I said, you have to be accepted into the membership program and work towards creditation to eventually recieve a union card. The amount of time that will take will depend on what field you are in. IATSE qualifications are much stricter as they are intensely technical and the criteria for Stage Management also takes a while (mine took almost 3 years), whereas it's pretty easy to become union as a performer.

Hope that helps. All the abovementioned unions also have websites with links on how to apply for apprenticeships, required experience, etc.

EDIT: No, it can't be any job. It obviously has to be a job in the industry (actor, director, stagehand, stage manager, costume, props, etc etc). Generally you also have to hold a theatre degree (especially for tech) to be considered.

SAG= screen actors guild

u have to get a job to be a member w/ them

non union= not w/ SAG