Chicago

SAG-AFTRA Chicago Local members and staff will be volunteering at the Greater Chicago Food Depository on Friday, March 1, from 9 – 11:45 a.m. at 4100 West Ann Lurie Place (near Midway Airport), Chicago, IL 60632 Free parking is available. 
We never know exactly what we’ll be doing until we arrive, but volunteer opportunities include repacking bulk products to individual/family sizes, assembling boxes with assorted food, checking expiration dates, labeling or sorting products.

The Greater Chicago Food Depository is a nonprofit food distribution and training center that fights hunger throughout Cook County. The GCFD distributes donated and purchased food through a network of over 700 food pantries, soup kitchens, community programs and shelters serving more than 800,000 adults and children yearly. 

Space is limited. To volunteer, please RSVP to Jolene Jones at jolene.jones@sagaftra.org by Friday, Feb. 15.
Don’t forget to bring your family and friends! Participants must be at least 14 years old.

The Chicago Professional Representatives Committee invites you to an educational series Your Agent and You.

As a SAG-AFTRA member, are you familiar with the SAG-AFTRA exclusive contracts used by franchised agents and what can be negotiated or changed? Do you know how to calculate the commission due to your agent, when it is due and what is commissionable? Come learn what it means to be a franchised agent, and why it matters to your career.​ Build a beneficial relationship with your agent by finding out what your agent expects of you and what you should expect of them.​

Week One: What Is a Franchised Agent?
6 – 8 p.m., Monday, Feb. 4

Where: KMRC
1 E. Erie, Suite 660 
Chicago, IL 60611

Are you represented by a franchised agent? Here is a list of Chicago franchised agents; make sure your agent is on the list.

Please RSVP to kathy.byrne@sagaftra.org or (312) 867-5508.

You and a guest are invited to a special live-viewing of the 25th Annual SAG Awards and membership mixer. It’s a must-see event and a fun evening, so we hope to see you there! 
 
When: Sunday, Jan. 27, 2019
5 p.m.: Cocktail reception with light hors-d'oeuvres and cash bar
6:30 p.m.: Doors open to the theatre
7 p.m.: Awards show viewing
 
Where: Carbon Arc Bar and Board and Davis Theater
4614-4620 N. Lincoln Avenue
Chicago, IL 60625
 
Be sure to share your experience and excitement about the SAG Awards in the Chicago Local on social media using #sagawards.

Cost: Free to SAG-AFTRA Chicago members in good standing. Additional guests are $15 each (two maximum). Space is limited.   

RSVP: Email Kathy Byrne at kathy.byrne@sagaftra.org. If bringing guests, please include the number attending along with their names.  

When: 5 p.m. cocktail party; 7 p.m. showtime

Attire: Cocktail attire

Cost: Free to members, $15 for guests (Maximum two per member). Must pay in advance.

Contact: RSVP to kathy.byrne@sagaftra.org by Jan. 18.

About to sign a contract with your agent? Be fully informed of your rights before you sign on the dotted line! SAG-AFTRA’s Professional Representatives Department will hold an educational seminar on general service agreements or GSAs (i.e. the contracts that some agents have been using to represent our members instead of the standard Legacy SAG and/or Legacy AFTRA agency contracts). These GSA contracts are signed outside of SAG-AFTRA’s protection, and it is imperative that members have a working knowledge of what these contracts actually say before signing them—your professional future and your income may depend on it. Staff will also take this opportunity to address how these contracts may apply, and discuss what your options are. This educational seminar will be especially helpful to any member having trouble making sense of the complicated legal language contained in the GSAs that their agents have provided them. We look forward to seeing you all on January 11, 2019.

The event will not be taped, nor will any kind of recording device be permitted. Please bring writing materials or a laptop with you in order to take extensive notes.

RSVP ESSENTIAL

This workshop is only open to paid-up SAG-AFTRA members in good standing. Unfortunately, no guests allowed. Parents/guardians of performers under 18 years old are welcome. SAG-AFTRA members, PLEASE BRING YOUR MEMBERSHIP CARD OR DIGITAL CARD ON YOUR APP (paid through April 30, 2019) FOR ADMITTANCE.

Only those members who have received confirmation emails from SAG-AFTRA may attend, so please act quickly as seating is limited.

Please note that failure to cancel your reservation if you are unable to attend may impact your ability to take part in future events for this department.

Please direct all questions about this event to the SAG-AFTRA Professional Representatives Department at (323) 549-6745.

About to sign a contract with your agent? Be fully informed of your rights before you sign on the dotted line! SAG-AFTRA’s Professional Representatives Department will hold an educational seminar on general service agreements or GSAs (i.e. the contracts that some agents have been using to represent our members instead of the standard Legacy SAG and/or Legacy AFTRA agency contracts). These GSA contracts are signed outside of SAG-AFTRA’s protection, and it is imperative that members have a working knowledge of what these contracts actually say before signing them—your professional future and your income may depend on it. Staff will also take this opportunity to address how these contracts may apply, and discuss what your options are. This educational seminar will be especially helpful to any member having trouble making sense of the complicated legal language contained in the GSAs that their agents have provided them. We look forward to seeing you all on January 10, 2019.

The event will not be taped, nor will any kind of recording device be permitted. Please bring writing materials or a laptop with you in order to take extensive notes.

RSVP ESSENTIAL

This workshop is only open to paid-up SAG-AFTRA members in good standing. Unfortunately, no guests allowed. Parents/guardians of performers under 18 years old are welcome. SAG-AFTRA members, PLEASE BRING YOUR MEMBERSHIP CARD OR DIGITAL CARD ON YOUR APP (paid through April 30, 2019) FOR ADMITTANCE.

Only those members who have received confirmation emails from SAG-AFTRA may attend, so please act quickly as seating is limited.

Please note that failure to cancel your reservation if you are unable to attend may impact your ability to take part in future events for this department.

Please direct all questions about this event to the SAG-AFTRA Professional Representatives Department at (323) 549-6745.

The first selection for the 2019 At the Table table read series for SAG-AFTRA/IFP will be Kris Swanberg’s I Used to Go Here.

The plot of the story revolves around a 35-year-old writer who gets mixed up in the lives of a group of college students after she’s invited to speak at her alma mater.

The table read will take place in the Kaufherr Center on Monday, Jan. 28, at 6 p.m., with a rehearsal on Thursday, Jan. 24 at 5:30 p.m. 

If you are interested in submitting for a role, please email Kathy Byrne at kathy.byrne@sagaftra.org, and she will send you the character breakdown and submission information. The submission deadline is Jan. 11, 2019. If you previously submitted to be included in the database for this program, you will receive the submission information shortly.

At the Table Schedule for I Used to Go Here:
Jan. 11, 2019: Submissions due.
Jan. 24, 2019: Rehearsal at 5:30 p.m.
Jan. 28, 2019: Table read at 6 p.m.

Swanberg began her film career at Southern Illinois University, where she studied documentary film production. Her first feature, It Was Great, But I Was Ready to Come Home played in competition at the SXSW Film Festival in 2009, followed by her next feature, Empire Builder (2012) and short film Baby Mary (2014). Her third feature, Unexpected, premiered in competition at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. Currently, Swanberg is teaching film at Northwestern University and prepping for her next feature film.