SAG or SAG Eligible – What Does Your Resume Say?
April 29th, 2008 by txactorRecently, I wrote a piece in this blog asking for input from actors about the issues of being a SAG member vs being ‘SAG Eligible’.
So far I haven’t heard from any actors who want to offer their input. To be fair, many actors who might reply probably have no idea this web site exists. But, since I first posted my ‘call for opinions’, the site has been viewed several thousand times and maybe some actors will chime in eventually.
I first got interested in this issue because I kept seeing ‘SAG Eligible’ on actor’s resumes when at auditions. I remember being a little annoyed when I first saw this label at the top of a resume. It struck me as saying ‘I want the credit…I just don’t want to pay the price’. Maybe that’s too harsh.
But, either you’re in SAG or you’re not. In or out doesn’t necessarily mean squat about an actor’s talent and in our market it means almost nothing about an actor’s professional experience. But membership does come at a price. Pretend membership does not.
Let me say upfront that I have good friends who are SAG eligible and have chosen not to join SAG…yet. I have no animosity toward those friends or any other actors in that situation. However, I make no apology for being adamantly in favor of SAG membership. I’ve been a SAG member for many years and that, no doubt, colors my thinking on the matter.
I thought it would help to have some way to relate the number of SAG member actors in Central Texas to the number of represented actors who advertise themselves as ‘SAG Eligible’. That has proven a little more difficult than I had hoped.
According to an official at SAG, there are approximately 450 SAG members residing in Austin and San Antonio. Frankly that number seems a bit high to me, but that’s the number I’ve been given so I’ll use it. I tried to poll area agents to get an idea of how many SAG and SAG eligible actors they represent. That effort wasn’t very successful, I’m afraid.
Therefore, I’m not sure how many ‘SAG Eligible’ actors reside in the Austin/San Antonio area. I do know that a quick survey of just one Austin agent’s web site shows that particular agent represents almost 150 actors who identify themselves as being ‘SAG Eligible’. That’s one third of the reported Central Texas SAG membership and that’s only one agent’s talent roster.
The decision to join SAG in a right-to-work state, particularly a state where one is never forced to join the guild regardless of the amount of work performed, is certainly not an easy one. So I guess it’s not surprising to see actors who ostensibly qualify for SAG membership tout themselves as being ‘SAG Eligible’.
It’s a way to ‘rub up against’ SAG membership without making the commitment…financial or otherwise.
It’s not that difficult to understand the mindset of actors who can legally work both union and non-union productions. Some of the rationale often heard include:
- There isn’t enough SAG and AFTRA work in this market to make a decent living.
For most regional actors this is unfortunately true. For most actors in any market, making a middle class income is very difficult. But, I suspect there will always be a lack of SAG and AFTRA work in our market as long as there is a ready supply of talented, experienced, SAG eligible actors who remain non-union so they won’t lose out on any possible work. Which comes first, more SAG actors or more SAG work?
- Why cut out a significant portion of the possible work, even low paying work, by joining SAG and taking myself out of the non-union work pool?
This line of thought makes sense for the beginning actor who wants a professional career or for a hobbyist who has no professional aspirations.
It takes time to develop into a professional caliber actor. It takes experience and practice.
Joining SAG too soon can be a mistake for the young or new actor of any age. That’s a great benefit to working in a right-to-work state. The actor is not forced to join the guild before they are really ready to compete as a professional actor.
That said, declining to join when your resume is replete with professional credits is another matter.
- I live in a right-to-work state. The law allows me to work on SAG productions and get SAG wages and working conditions without joining SAG. I can get SAG pension and health benefits without joining SAG, too. If it’s legal to do that, why would I pay money for initiation fees and dues to a union? That sounds dumb to me.
Personal and professional ethics do exist…even in the movie biz. Sometimes doing the ‘right thing’ means taking action that some people will say is ‘dumb’. Is it right to take benefits secured by SAG actors’ collective bargaining agreements, fueled by their initiation fees and dues payments and never give anything back to the organization of fellow actors that secured those benefits for you?
- Even if I join SAG I can still work non-union because of right-to-work laws..
That’s not correct. If you join SAG, you are agreeing to adhere to Rule 1 which states that SAG members will not work for non-signatory producers.
- I want to join SAG some day. But right now it’s too expensive. I’ll join before I go to L.A.
Wow. Thanks for your support for the local acting community. Particularly the SAG actors who live and work here. I’ve heard this line a hundred times. I guess it’s okay to take all you can get while you’re here, but when it comes time to move to ‘the big time’ then you’ll suck it up and pay the freight.
How do you decide when you are a professional or when you’re professional enough to take the SAG plunge:
Here are some questions to ponder:
- Do you spend a significant amount of your time working to become a better actor?
You’re on the right track.
- Does your agent regularly call you for auditions or is an audition a ‘once in a great long while’, out of the blue, SURPRISE!!! kind of thing?
If your agent hasn’t called you in weeks or months, and you haven’t called the agent either…you’re probably not too serious about an acting career. You probably don’t belong in SAG.
- Have you canceled travel plans, celebrations or surgery rather than miss an audition?
Okay. You are serious about this acting thing. SAG should be in your future.
- Have you ever answered “NEW HEADSHOTS” when asked what you want for your birthday?
If you haven’t, please take the words ‘SAG Eligible’ off your resume.
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Do you consider ‘a video copy of the final project’ to be adequate payment for your contribution to a film or video project?
Nothing wrong with this. Especially if you’re trying to gain experience and looking for tape or film for a demo reel. Just understand that most projects that advertise this as your payment never get finished and you never get the promised footage. If these are the type projects you’re pursuing, you’re probably not ready for SAG membership.
- Are all or most of your credits in amateur productions, university or commercial film school productions where no one is paid?
You’re doing what you should be doing to gain experience. Keep working and look forward to the day you become a professional, SAG actor.
- How many credits for paid work does it take before an actor should consider him/herself a professional?
I don’t know the answer.
How many credits go on the resume before the term ‘SAG Eligible’ appears under the actor’s name?
I suspect that happens after the very first job in a SAG signatory production.
Whatever the number of credits, mindsets or other criteria an actor employs, there comes a time when an actor who is regularly competing for paying jobs will surely identify him/herself as a professional. And when casting directors, agents and other industry professionals will do likewise. Maybe that’s the time to consider changing that label at the top of the resume from SAG eligible to SAG member.
Here is a response I got to the article via email. I’m posting it here with the author’s permission:
Hi Tommy,
Ever since I lived in Austin 5 years ago and took class with Mona some 10 years ago, I have always been very curious about the SAG and SAG Eligible thing. I’m really glad you are addressing it. I live in Los Angeles now. I’m not able to really be in the mainstream of the acting world. I’m taking care of my brother who is disabled, going to school and I’m quite far from everything but still close enough to reap the benefits of being a card carrying SAG member. That was the best thing I did for myself professionally.
The day I qualified to get my SAG card I went for it. I had the money, I was in LA and I had earned the right to be a member. The day I joined, I received a packet that has changed my life forever. There was this flyer from Career Transition for Dancers, a branch of the SAG Foundation announcing all these perks, counseling, workshops, classes if one had been a professional dancer at anytime. Fortunately for me I had been a professional dancer.
I don’t have time to go into all the details right now but this spring I began working on getting my BA in Performance Arts thru the LEAP(Liberal Education for Arts Professionals) at St. Marys College with the intention of teaching. I learned of this program thru CTFD. If I hadn’t joined SAG I wouldn’t have known about this and I am doing something so valuable for myself now. I”m in my fifties and I’m sure you are aware of the ageism in film that is going on so I felt it would be advantages to get something else going. Maybe I’ll learn to direct and can make my own films. Since coming back to LA from Hawaii 3 months ago, I have been to the SAG Bldg at least 4 times for different events that I can participate in being a SAG member. One of them being a career counseling session at CTFD.
What I’m trying to say is that it’s not always about getting “acting work. ” Being a member of one of the most amazing unions in America affords more than meets the eye.
I will always be enormously grateful for my membership and not to mention, I love getting paid what I’m worth whether I’m a day player or have to do background work which I did in Hawaii. I got a pretty nice pay check when I worked on a Japaneses film.
So I thought you’d like to get something from an actor since I read not too many people responded to your blog. I know a lot of the SAG actors in Austin and a few of the SAG elegible. Tell them to come to LA and try to be SAG eligible. They’ll laugh at you here.
Good luck with your life there and do let me know you got this e-mail. You can see me at my website. http://www.pilarsings.net . Here’s to SAG and it’s members!!
well here is a short , comment, I am not an Actor, Not in the traditional Sense. I am a Puppeteer, or more correctly, a Puppet Performer, I have been for 13 years, , But in order to work ,in certain productions, they Require SAG membership, (and yes I know about Taft Hartley rules), But since I am not a member , I cant get many of these jobs, how is someone , supposed to join, if I cant get in SAG production, in order to get the sag credits to make someone eligible, Basically the circles that they force you to run to get membership, are ridiculous, and as I am sure you are aware the number of SAGS related job opening for someone with my skills are far less than say for a traditional actor.
now is I was to get a job with sag, I cant work with other jobs that ant sag, SO exactly how can someone support a Union that makes getting work impossible, but will not let you work on other things in between the Rare Sag job.
PuppetGuy,
A few ideas:
In a subset of the industry like puppeteering, there is probably a ‘clique’ of performers who do the majority of this work. I have no idea how you get a foot in that door. I am sure that those who are doing the majority of the work are probably not anxious to make it EASIER for others to compete for the relative few jobs that are available at any particular time.
You appear to be posting from the NJ area so I assume you work the NY market area. Have you tried gaining entry into SAG via background work…the voucher system?
A newer opportunity is available via the SAG New Media contract. This contract covers work created for the internet.
Currently there are no required salary minimums under the new media agreement. This is a very flexible agreement that some non-union actors are taking advantage of. Work performed under the new media agreement does qualify the actor for entry into SAG. Think about creating your own opportunity in this fashion.
Check out the new media agreement on sag.org or sagindie.org.
In order to really make a living at your chosen field you’re likely going to have to become a hyphenate – Actor-Writer, Actor-Producer, Actor-Director.
Ok, so, I read your article and completely see your point on SAG E – however; I am the mother of a 7 year old who just became eligible 2 weeks – literally, she is 7.
While my daughter is serious about acting, she is still a child – with a million dreams for her future. And please note, we don’t take this lightly – we know she is in a very privileged statistic to have achieved this at such an early age and on a major studio film (shot in Louisiana, not Texas).
My question is how long can she be SAG E? That is one thing we can’t seem to find out anything on – once eligible, always eligible?
My husband and I are pondering what to do next and we are also going to reach out to the union. We just don’t see LA in our/her immediate plans so, we are a bit unsure of what to do next.
Any suggestions? And yep, she has an agent.
Thx!
TXActorMom
Great question, TXActorMom.
When I originally wrote the SAG eligible post it was in response to seeing so many resumes of EXPERIENCED Texas actors who tout their SAG eligibility status but never seem to feel they need to join.
A seven year old with one movie, or even a commercial or two under her belt has some different considerations.
As a youngster you want to be careful not to have her join SAG too quickly. She needs time to learn and grow and those experiences may come in some non-union, low budget films, for instance.
If your daughter gets busy…that is she’s working multiple times a year in SAG and/or AFTRA signatory productions…commercials as well as film…she should join. As time goes on and if she loses interest or just doesn’t get any more work because, for instance, she grows out of the ‘look’ that helps make her marketable, then she can always take an honorable withdrawal from the guild and not continue to pay dues.
I THINK the SAG eligibility is ongoing for an unspecified time period, but I’m checking with SAG to make sure.
Hello there,
I came across this forum because I was looking for some clarification as to whether, as a non-union actor having recently been employed under a SAG New Media Contract, I am now SAG eligible. Your above post seems to indicate that I am, which would be great news. (I have lodged an enquiry with the union, but they’ve not yet replied.)
Assuming the affirmative, and moving on to answer your original question, will I then join immediately? Honestly, probably not, I’ll wait for my next SAG role and join then. Why? Well, I’m up for a couple of indies right now, one of which I might get. It’ll be cheap and cheerful and – if it films like it reads – very funny indeed. It might even turn into a sleeper hit if it’s well marketed (great positive visualization going on here, right?) I don’t think it’s evil of me to take advantage of SAG’s eligibility clause to try and get in an odd indie or two before I sign away what’s left of my savings to afford the downpayment on my membership. And if SAG thought it was evil, why give actors any eligibility period at all? They could demand the money right way, but they don’t.
Just my thoughts.
Best, KD.
It is my understanding that work under a SAG New Media Agreement will make you SAG eligible. Depending on how much work you already have on your resume, I don’t blame you at all for taking your time before joining SAG. Better to wait and join SAG after you have some good credits and some good film on yourself than to join too soon and then work both sides of the street in violation of Rule 1. Best of luck.
This is a cool subject. Thanks for it. Good points, too. I just found out I was eligible and actually found your post after Googling “How To Put SAG Eligble On A Resume”–because, like so many things, I figured that “SAG-E” has a display format.
A couple of sub-subjects to consider, though:
1. Every time I hear or read about whether or not someone gets or doesn’t get a job based on their SAG status, I think “What a cop-out”. Meaning, it seems that people use their lack of SAG membership as an excuse for not getting a part, when perhaps if they were good enough they would have landed it no-matter-what?
2. At first–while striving for the opportunity to become a SAG member–I just figured that I would obtain eligibility, save (some more) money, and join SAG. It’s so much more complicated than that, though. For instance, I became eligible sooner than anticipated, and therefore don’t have NEARLY the (now) $2,300 to join. So not only is the money more of a pressing issue, but I have to be aware of that fine line where on one side I assume that casting personnel and agents will consider the “SAG-E” notation as a symbol of hard work and dedication. But on the other side if I don’t have enough credits to my name I should probably wait to really “compete” as you stated. It’s similar to Junior Varsity vs. Varsity sports, I think; Should you wear that varsity jersey if you can’t play at that level? If not, wait. If so, go at it?!
3. There is also the issue of financial-status vs. professional-stigma; on one hand, becoming a SAG member will limit not only my ability to participate in Non-Union roles, but it will greatly reduce my abilty to work as an extra; as only a percent of any SAG production is required to be SAG (right?). And, although wages are meager, extra work is paying bills right now. On the other hand, if I have “SAG-E” on my resume for… 9 months (give-or-take?), perhaps I should remove that note until Screen Actors Guild membership is more of a realistic possibilty.
And hopefully it’s not 5 grand by then.
Evidently you can be SAG E for decades – if not permanently. I was quite active in commercials 35 years ago – never joined SAG – checked for eligibility today and I am still SAG eligible. Just FYI.