Conservatory

Now in our fourth year, we at the SAG-AFTRA Muriel Moore/Danny Nelson Conservatory are proud of our continued success supporting the professional actors in our Georgia market. We launched the Conservatory with An Evening with Georgia Film Icon Shay Bentley-Griffin. Shay spoke to a standing-room-only crowd of well over 100 members. Since then our attendance has grown to over 3,300 at our speaker events, casting director meet-and-greets and industry workshops. Our unofficial Facebook group has a following of more than 1,700 people — further evidence of our meeting the twin goals of building community among the professional actors in Georgia and raising the bar of professionalism in our marketplace. Additionally, each year we host one event open to all actors in Georgia, union and pre union alike. Last year’s Open Event was our most successful program to date. The panel discussion Atlanta Agents on the New Atlanta, a roundtable of Atlanta franchised agents, drew a crowd of over 450. Led by Committee Chair Clayton Landey, the panel addressed the issues that most affect us in the burgeoning film and television industry here in Georgia. We are also proud to note that as all of our events are free and open to all SAG-AFTRA members. Our members have stepped up by donating hundreds of pounds of food at each event to those in need in our community. The food is distributed via the BCM Food Pantry. We leap into the new year with casting director meet-and-greets with George Pierre and then Big Picture Casting. Looks to be another great year for the SAG-AFTRA Muriel Moore/Danny Nelson Conservatory!

Conservatory Committee Chair Clayton Landey and Casting Director George Pierre gesture at a basketful of food donations for the Buckhead Christian Ministry Food Pantry.