Message from the San Francisco-Northern California Local President

Greetings Fellow SAG-AFTRA Members! 

I am very excited about everything the San Francisco-Northern California Local has been up to recently! And I am especially thankful for the participation of our enthusiastic members, dedicated leaders and stellar staff.

We have been active on many fronts:

Film and Television: Our focus has been on industry outreach throughout the local and beyond. We created an impressive one-sheet, with quotes about our talent pool from prominent local producers and directors. Please contact the local office to access the one sheet.

The San Francisco-Northern California Local partnered with the San Francisco Film Commission and Film Mare Island at Sundance Film Festival to promote filming in the Bay Area, use of SAG-AFTRA contracts and hiring of local principal performers.     

We attended the El Dorado County “I ❤️ Film” event held at the El Dorado County Fairgrounds. It was an extraordinary event, with hundreds in attendance. We made connections with every side of the business from location scouts to editors, directors, filmmakers, crew of all stripes and, of course, local film commissioners.

Film festivals are an excellent opportunity to reach both established and up-and-coming filmmakers. Recent festivals we have sponsored and attended include Cinequest in the South Bay and the Sonoma International Film Festival. We participated on panels, provided contract information, networked and made lasting connections.

I’m also excited to let you know about a new contract available for short projects: the Short Project Agreement, which also includes new avenues toward membership. Please take the time to familiarize yourself with it here.

Commercials and Co/Ed: The SF-NorCal Local has been active in meeting with local producers and industry representatives to promote our Regional Commercials Code and Co/Ed Waiver, aiming to bring more union work to the local. Members also participated in the wages and working conditions process in the lead-up to the recent renegotiation of the Commercials Contracts and have been active in supporting the #AdsGoUnion and #StrikeBBH campaigns. See our support of #StrikeBBH here.
 
Voiceover: The SF-NorCal Local hosted a panel at a local voice training studio in September, Everything You Wanted to Know About SAG-AFTRA But Were Afraid to Ask, plus an evening voiceover networking event. More about the networking event can be read here. The panel was well attended and a great success in bringing together the voiceover community and educating performers about the benefits of working union. The local voiceover committee has been actively working to develop strategies to recapture voiceover work.
 
Broadcast: Several contracts have been negotiated and ratified at radio and television stations, including the local’s two represented television stations in Fresno, and a landmark agreement has been reached covering digital-only reporters in the market. I’m sure most of you have heard about the ongoing and escalating safety concerns for broadcasters while reporting on location. I want you to know the local has been actively participating in the Bay Area Safety Summit, a biannual meeting of local news stations, industry unions, members and law enforcement who work on strategies to promote the safety of broadcast members working in the field.

Membership Meetings: Our fall membership meeting in Oakland was very well attended. Our members were quite enthusiastic about the venue, 1544 Events, as well as the catering, the companionship and especially our guest speaker, Diane Amos. Diane is a fellow member, actor, comedian, improv artist and “The Pine Sol Lady.” The interview with Diane was as informative as it was entertaining! 

The spring membership meeting, held April 22 in San Francisco, was equally well attended. It was great to see so many fresh faces at the new member orientation and to hear everyone’s background. Following a cheerful social hour, the meeting included reports on our recent outreach, broadcast successes and the new Short Project Agreement. Our guest speaker was stunt coordinator and writer-director-producer Rocky Capella. Rocky is a long-established member of our film community. In addition to regaling us with amazing stories about his experiences in the stunt world, Rocky shared a trailer of his passion project film, Guitar Man, the story of a musician working to save at-risk youth.

I hope to see you at the next membership meeting aboard the Delta King in Old Town Sacramento, Saturday, May 4. Look for notifications in your inbox.

Don’t forget to follow our Facebook page to connect with your local at /SAGAFTRASFNorCal and sagaftra.org for up to date news and information.

Happy spring to you all!

Kathryn Howell