A Message From Michigan Local President Eric Wydra

I hope this letter finds each of you well and enjoying spring, as the weather turns warmer in Michigan and Windsor. As many of you are aware, there have been some developments regarding a franchised agency in our market recently. As of April 22, the I Group’s franchise in the Michigan Local was deemed surrendered by SAG-AFTRA. Therefore, no member of SAG-AFTRA may use the services of this agency going forward. As SAG-AFTRA members, we are required to be represented by franchised agents only. You may find a list of the franchised agents in our local at sagaftra.org/michigan.

As of April 22, all SAG-AFTRA agency contracts in force between I Group and our members are terminated (though the agency may collect any commissions earned under said contracts prior to surrender of the franchise) if the monies were earned and paid prior to the date of surrender. Members shall not be under any obligation to pay commissions to the agent on any money earned by members after the termination of the agency contracts, even though such monies are earned by members on employment contracts in existence at the date of termination of the agency contracts.  

I know that this is disappointing news to those of us who have been clients of the I Group for years. If you discover any irregularities with respect to this agency’s financial obligations to you, please report your concerns to michigan@sagaftra.org and our staff will look into it and get back to you. When events like this happen, it is nice to be protected by the union umbrella! Performers working within SAG-AFTRA’s jurisdiction may want to remove this agency from any casting websites and on personal marketing materials. 

There is also a new talent agency in town that has recently been formed. I’ve personally had discussions with its founder about becoming a SAG-AFTRA-franchised agent, and they have been in contact with our staff in Chicago and Los Angeles. Under union rules, we must wait until they officially are franchised with SAG-AFTRA to sign with them. Everyone is working diligently to make that happen as quickly as possible.

I wanted to get this information out to everyone so we all could be informed about these recent developments. Many of us have been union members for years and some of us are new members. Whatever your tenure as a SAG-AFTRA member, I hope you do feel the benefits of membership and the power of the union when occurrences like this happen. If you have additional questions, please email michigan@sagaftra.org and our staff will work to answer your specific questions.

In unity,

Eric Wydra

Michigan Local President