Panels

Join the SAG-AFTRA Foundation for a Masterclass Conversation with Francine Maisler and the Casting Team behind Don't Look Up. The panel features casting directors Francine Maisler, Kathy Driscoll-Mohler and Molly Rose. This will be a 30-minute live Q&A on Zoom. This conversation will be moderated by Rochelle Rose, National Director of Performer's Programs for the SAG-AFTRA Foundation and will not be recorded. 

When: 1 p.m. PT / 2 p.m. ET, Friday, Feb. 11, 2022

Questions will only be taken in advance through Google Form Submission which will be provided alongside your registration information. Please submit your questions by end of day, Wednesday Feb. 9.

Synopsis: 

Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence), an astronomy grad student, and her professor Dr. Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) make an astounding discovery of a comet orbiting within the solar system. The problem — it’s on a direct collision course with Earth. The other problem? No one really seems to care. Turns out warning mankind about a planet-killer the size of Mount Everest is an inconvenient fact to navigate. With the help of Dr. Oglethorpe (Rob Morgan), Kate and Randall embark on a media tour that takes them from the office of an  indifferent President Orlean (Meryl Streep) and her sycophantic son and Chief of Staff, Jason (Jonah Hill), to the airwaves of The Daily Rip, an upbeat morning show hosted by Brie (Cate Blanchett) and Jack (Tyler Perry). With only six months until the comet makes impact, managing the 24-hour news cycle and gaining the attention of the social media obsessed public before it’s too late proves shockingly comical — what will it take to get the world to just look up?!

DON’T LOOK UP is written and directed by Academy Award winner Adam McKay (The Big Short) and also stars Mark Rylance, Ron Perlman, Timothée Chalamet, Ariana Grande, Scott Mescudi (aka Kid Cudi), Himesh Patel, Melanie Lynskey, Michael Chiklis and Tomer Sisley.

Click here for details and to RSVP.

The products and services noted herein are provided as an informational service to SAG-AFTRA members and are administered by entities independent of SAG-AFTRA. Any questions must be handled by the provider. This information is not intended to serve as an endorsement nor is any warranty or guarantee implied.

Join The New York Comedy Festival In Person*
*All guests will be required to show proof of vaccination to enter.

The New York Comedy Festival is hosting the first ever Citi Presents: Comedy Included in collaboration with The Female Quotient. It’s this year’s notable destination to advance equality for women, people of color, the LGBTQ+ community, and other underrepresented voices in comedy and entertainment, both on stage and behind the scenes. The conversations will feature the comedians, creatives, executives, and the emerging stories that kept us laughing through tough times.

Click here for details and to RSVP.

The products and services noted herein are provided as an informational service to SAG-AFTRA members and are administered by entities independent of SAG-AFTRA. Any questions must be handled by the provider. This information is not intended to serve as an endorsement nor is any warranty or guarantee implied.

Join the SAG-AFTRA Foundation for a live Q&A with the casting team of CODA, Siân Heder's remarkable film about a seventeen-year-old who is the sole hearing member of a deaf family – a CODA, child of deaf adults. The panel features casting directors Deborah Aquila, Tricia Wood and Lisa Zagoria and will be moderated by Rochelle Rose, National Director of Performer's Programs for the SAG-AFTRA Foundation.

A Q&A will follow the panel, and member participation is encouraged.

Panel begins at noon PT / 3 p.m. ET

Click here for details, panelist bios, and to RSVP.

The products and services noted herein are provided as an informational service to SAG-AFTRA members and are administered by entities independent of SAG-AFTRA. Any questions must be handled by the provider. This information is not intended to serve as an endorsement nor is any warranty or guarantee implied.

What's scarier than stage fright? In honor of the spooky month of October, this SAG-AFTRA Foundation's Voiceover Lab and The Business Online panel confronts the fears that often haunt performers before, during and after they take the stage. Featuring professionals trained in mindfulness, Feldenkrais Method, hypnosis and more, the panel focuses on how performers from all facets of the industry can use mental and physical techniques to calm and center themselves in the face of performance anxiety on and off the stage, screen and microphone. 

This one hour session (4-5 p.m. PT / 7-8 p.m. ET) will include a panel discussion with Suzanne Toren, Melissa Tiers, Peter Pamela Rose, and moderator Gabra Zackman, followed by a member Q&A. Member participation is encouraged!

Click here for details,, panelist bios, and to RSVP.

The products and services noted herein are provided as an informational service to SAG-AFTRA members and are administered by entities independent of SAG-AFTRA. Any questions must be handled by the provider. This information is not intended to serve as an endorsement nor is any warranty or guarantee implied.

When: Noon - 1:30 p.m. PT / 3-4:30 p.m. ET

Join Scott Sussman, a speech-language pathologist and voice specialist working with actors in New York City, for a talk on caring for the actor’s voice, and what you can do when your voice isn’t working for you. Topics will include vocal health, tips for the working actor, the process of seeking evaluation and treatment for voice difficulties, and an introduction to vocal exercises. 

INSTRUCTOR BIO

Scott Sussman, M.S., CCC-SLP is a speech-language pathologist specializing in voice disorders at the Sean Parker Institute for the Voice at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City. During his career as an actor, singer, and stand-up comedian, Scott received voice therapy to cope with the grueling voice demands of professional actors, and was inspired to become a voice therapist himself. 

Click here for details and to RSVP.

The products and services noted herein are provided as an informational service to SAG-AFTRA members and are administered by entities independent of SAG-AFTRA. Any questions must be handled by the provider. This information is not intended to serve as an endorsement nor is any warranty or guarantee implied.

 Join the SAG-AFTRA Foundation for an extraordinary opportunity to pose your audiobook related questions to four of the most celebrated narrators working in the industry today. This one hour Q&A session (5-6 p.m. PT / 8-9 p.m. ET) will be moderated by award winning Golden Voice Emily Woo Zeller. The panel will consist of the multitalented award-winning narrators Vikas Adam, Luis Moreno and Piper Goodeve. Don’t miss this chance to have your questions answered by the best in the business!

Participant Bios

Emily Woo Zelller (moderator)

Named a Golden Voice and a Best Voice of 2019, 2018, 2015, and 2013 by Audiofile Magazine, Emily Woo Zeller has garnered many awards in her voiceover career, including an Audie, Best Female Narrator from the Independent Audiobook Awards; multiple SOVAS awards, and almost two dozen Earphones Awards. Her voice has also been heard in video games, most recently as Panam in Cyberpunk 2077 and in The Last of Us Part 2, and dubbing for dozens of anime series. She most recently appeared as Doctor Aphra in the Star Wars audio drama, and as the narrator in PASSABLE IN PINK.

Vikas Adam

In addition to the over 400 genre hopping audiobooks Adam has recorded, he's an actor, director, and faculty at the UCLA School of Theater Film and Television. He also records for Audm/NYT and Apple News and co-hosts Ask An Audiobook Pro on Clubhouse.  Vikas has won the Audie Award, a SOVAS award, 15+ Earphones awards, is on several “Best of the Year” lists and has the distinction of being an inaugural inductee into the Audible Narrator Hall of Fame.  

Piper Goodeve 

Piper  is an actress, director, and audiobook narrator who has recorded over 250 titles for both indie authors and major publishers, including Harper Collins, Simon & Schuster, Macmillan, Tantor, and Audible Studios. A three-time Audie Award finalist, one-time winner, well as an Earphones Award recipient, Piper has also taught narration as well as produced and directed multiple audiobooks including #SOBLESSED, read by a full cast of Broadway stars including Brian Dennehy and Race, Sex and Robots read by Amandla Stenberg. She holds an MFA from Brown University, and splits her time between Brooklyn and Vermont with her husband Gabe (also a narrator!) and their sassy cat Caroline. 

Luis Moreno 

Luis is a Spanish-American performer from New York City. He’s worked in Off-Broadway, regional theater, and television since 2006. He's narrated nearly 90 titles for Recorded Books since 2009.

Click here for details and to RSVP.

The products and services noted herein are provided as an informational service to SAG-AFTRA members and are administered by entities independent of SAG-AFTRA. Any questions must be handled by the provider. This information is not intended to serve as an endorsement nor is any warranty or guarantee implied.

How does an audiobook producer find talent? What exactly makes a good sample? For answers to these questions and more, join us for a very special conversation with beloved former EIF staff members Nithya Rajendran and Iris McElroy. Both of these phenomenal voice lab alumni have gone on to produce audiobooks for one of the top 5 publishing houses in the industry. This lively one hour discussion (3-4 p.m. PT / 6-7 p.m. ET) will give insight, invaluable career advice and resource suggestions from two of the industry’s most dynamic producers. Discussion to be followed by a Q&A.

BIOS

Nithya Rajendran

Born in India and raised all over the US, Nithya Rajendran has been in the audio space for her entire career: from starting in the music industry to doing live sound at prominent NYC venues to most recently running the EIF VO Lab at the  SAG-AFTRA Foundation. She now produces audiobooks of all varieties for a large global publishing house.  She currently resides in Memphis, TN.

Iris McElory 

Iris is a multifaceted audiobook producer, engineer, and all-around audio fan. With over a decade in the biz, she’s had the pleasure of working in all manners of VO production as an engineer and editor, and the business as an assistant agent at Abrams Artists, before settling into a producer role at HarperCollins Publishers and most recently Penguin Random House Audio. One of her favorite jobs however was working in the SAG-AFTRA Foundation voiceover lab in New York City.

Click here for details and to RSVP.

The products and services noted herein are provided as an informational service to SAG-AFTRA members and are administered by entities independent of SAG-AFTRA. Any questions must be handled by the provider. This information is not intended to serve as an endorsement nor is any warranty or guarantee implied.

Are you finding yourself burnt out with voiceover jobs, or the hustle involved with trying to get voiceover jobs? Do you wish the life of a voice talent was a bit less chaotic? Join award-winning narrator and industry veteran Gabra Zackman for a conversation about how to find some Zen in your career at every level of the business. This engaging discussion will offer invaluable advice on how to maintain a healthy work-life balance while managing your bookings, meeting your deadlines, looking for new work and networking. For anyone wishing to create a sustainable voiceover career, this conversation is not to be missed. 

INSTRUCTOR BIO

Gabra Zackman

Gabra Zackman is a New York City-based actress, audiobook narrator and writer (the Bod Squad Series, Pocket Books 2015; audiobooks co-produced with Rohan Audio for Audible Studios, 2016). She has performed off-Broadway (including Bedlam’s Sense and Sensibility by Kate Hamill), in regional theaters, several Shakespeare festivals (9 Seasons with Hudson Valley Shakes), and on TV in Law and Order, SVU, and AMC as well as a handful of indie film roles. Gabra is a company member of the Upstart Creatures, as well as their Outreach Director. Gabra has recorded over 500 audiobooks in nearly every genre. She has won Audiofile Earphones awards for her work, including a citation for Best Fiction Audiobook of 2017. Gabra’s recording of Michelle McNamara’s I’ll Be Gone in the Dark was on Audible’s Top Ten Audiobooks list for multiple weeks and number one on the New York Times Best Selling Audiobooks list. She is a 2018 Audie Award and Odyssey Award winner for the multicast Sadie. Her newest venture is as co-producer of her original audio series Nice and Naughty with Love Bytes Originals, and she is currently director and co-producer of the No Fear Shakespeare series for Hachette. Visit www.gabrazackman.com to learn more!

REQUIREMENTS

Participants must be present for the entire program 3-4 p.m. PT / 6-7 p.m. ET.

Click here for details and to RSVP.

The products and services noted herein are provided as an informational service to SAG-AFTRA members and are administered by entities independent of SAG-AFTRA. Any questions must be handled by the provider. This information is not intended to serve as an endorsement nor is any warranty or guarantee implied.

Join SAG-AFTRA's National Director of Audiobooks, Jane Love for an invaluable discussion about working in the exciting and expanding world of audiobooks. We'll explore the way our members do this work, as well as rates of pay and other normal terms and conditions of employment. We'll discuss resources available to members and answer questions about this niche area of SAG-AFTRA covered work. For anyone pursuing work in this vibrant industry, this discussion about rights, rates and resources is not to be missed!

INSTRUCTOR BIO

Jane Love

Jane Love has been with the union for 32 years, having spent most of those years in the Washington-Mid Atlantic Local.  She, together with Associate Executive Director/Labor Counsel for News and Broadcast, Rich Larkin, began organizing the audiobook industry in earnest in 2008 and has since increased union covered earnings from roughly 1 million in 2008 to more than 34 million in 2020 in partnership with an amazing group of member narrators.  Audiobook work is the fastest growing area of work in SAG-AFTRA's jurisdiction with earnings having jumped more than 20% in 2020 during the pandemic over 2019 earnings.  Love was appointed National Director, Audiobooks earlier this year.

REQUIREMENTS

Participants must be present for the entire program  Noon - 1:30 p.m. PT / 3-4:30 p.m. ET

Click here for details and to RSVP.

The products and services noted herein are provided as an informational service to SAG-AFTRA members and are administered by entities independent of SAG-AFTRA. Any questions must be handled by the provider.