Holiday Greetings From President Drescher

Dear Member,

The end of each passing year is a prime time for reflecting on what has been accomplished over the last 12 months and a time to look to the future with new hope.

This has been a busy year for our union, yet much has been accomplished and many milestones reached! 

We’re very excited about our new collaboration with IMDb. Now, any entertainment professional with an existing IMDb name page can join IMDbPro and choose whether their age/birth year, birth name, alternate name, and other demographic information display on their IMDbPro and IMDb name pages — all for free!

In a big win for our senior members, our efforts to create easy and better-than-ever options for our Medicare-qualified members were a success! There are new SAG-AFTRA Senior Benefit Plans for all Medicare-eligible members and their Medicare-eligible spouses/partners — including a $0 premium option!

While we’re currently in the midst of the wages and working conditions process for next year’s TV/Theatrical Contracts negotiations, earlier this year, SAG-AFTRA members voted overwhelmingly to ratify a new Netflix Agreement, Network Television Code and Commercials Contracts, all creating progressive new standards and greater protections for members.

In another major achievement, thanks to the support of many high-profile members, revised exclusivity terms were agreed upon with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. This means new employment opportunities for working actors where they didn’t exist before!

As we enter the new year, we are working alongside our sibling unions, exploring the purchase of a SAG-AFTRA headquarters building, and we continue to support amazing legislative efforts that will benefit members: the Performing Artist Tax Parity Act, which will make critical business expense tax deductions available to performing artists; the American Music Fairness Act, which will fairly compensate artists, session musicians and vocalists when their songs are played on AM/FM radio; and the CROWN Act — Create a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair — which will help put an end to hair discrimination.

We are especially proud of the gains made, and we are grateful for the dedication and work par excellence demonstrated by union staff, as well as the involvement of so many members who helped make many of these important milestones possible with your involvement, ideas and unstoppable enthusiasm. 

We want everyone to feel heard, and National Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland and I are here to listen, understand and fight on everyone’s behalf. And although we can never please all the members all the time, this union is a democracy, and it is the majority that determines policy. That’s why it’s so important that every member participate, speak up and share their perspective.

Much has been accomplished, but there’s much more to do, both unfinished business as well as new inroads yet to be carved on behalf of our members. And we will do it together with you, our very hardworking, volunteer, elected members and committee members as well as our wonderful staff who make everything possible. 

We wish you a very happy and, most importantly, healthy holiday season. 

May 2023 be our best year ever! ❤️

Fran Drescher

President