To Join or not to Join Acting Unions

This will be a blog post in progress, dedicated to educating those completely green to world of acting unions. So seasoned actors look elsewhere or read to proof for errors.

I once had to translate what "DGA" stood for in my head as director for a project I was in mentioned it very casually. Luckily, actors will not be forking over a much higher entrance to fee to the Directors Guild of America.  Actors' unions, however, still will require you to have a couple grand lying around and give you various other restrictions (or in some cases benefits.)

I mainly will outline SAG and AFTRA as these are the most pertinent for the LA industry. The union for stage actors is AEA, the Actors' Equity Association.

1. Screen Actors Guild
How to be eligible to join:
* Work as a principal or speaking role on a SAG project
* Receipt of three SAG vouchers from background work
* Being a paid up member for at least one year in ACTRA (Canadian), AEA, AFTRA, AGMA (musical artists) or AGVA (variety artists) and then having been paid as a principal at least once

Price to join:
* Initiation fee is currently $2277
* Base annual dues are $116. In addition, 1.85% of all contracts from $1-200,000, 0.5% up to 500,000, and 0.25% to a maximum of $1,000,000 are paid to the union.

What it means: Once you join SAG, you cannot work on non-union projects.

After perusing their site, I see SAG has written a FAQ for beginners.

2. American Federation of Television and Radio Artists


How to join: Anyone with the intention of being a performer in television and radio may join AFTRA. All you must do is pay the fee and dues.


Price to join: $1600 registration fee, $63.90 minimum annual due for those earning less than $2000 on AFTRA contracts. Those earning up to $100,000 will pay 0.743% of that to the union and 0.137% up to $250,000.


What it means: You can work AFTRA jobs, but not non-union jobs (though I have personally encountered a few AFTRA members who took non-union jobs as there simply was not enough work - against union rules but seems like you can slip through the cracks)


What are the benefits of joining either SAG or AFTRA? Generally, you would have higher guaranteed rates and the option of having health insurance. Of course there may be other perks like workshops or other events.


However, joining the unions doesn't guarantee you any work. In some instances, you may end up with less work as you'd be limited to only working what the union has available at a given time. If you are very marketable type, that may not be a problem for you - but that's not the case for everyone.