Message From Your Local President

The Arizona-Utah Local does not have an office or local staff. However, what is most important is that we have a top-notch team in place consisting of our Local Board and the 1,100 members that reside throughout Arizona and Utah. It is that team effort that has and will continue to keep our local a strong and vital entity.  

Our board is committed to being proactive by reconnecting and engaging each of our members. We want you to contact us to let us know what is on your mind and how we can best assist in addressing your concerns, answer your questions and keep you informed. Member participation and communication is the key.

We want and welcome your suggestions, ideas and involvement. There is an old comedy axiom (I am loosely paraphrasing something Larry Gelbart once said about writing comedy, especially in a group): Don’t be afraid to express an idea or thought for fear of it being called stupid or not valid. It usually does and can spark ideas or memories in others that later evolve into something brilliant.

It has been very encouraging and rewarding to see the growth of attendance and involvement of our membership in the past year, whether it was at the SAG Awards party, the workshops, the annual membership meeting or supporting the SAG-AFTRA Arizona-Utah booth at the Phoenix Film Festival Industry Night (by the way, 25,000 attended this year’s festival).

The enthusiasm and interest of members in wanting to be a part of the team has also been most welcome and appreciated. I want to reassure our membership that much is being discussed, planned and worked on to make the upcoming year one of the best ever for our Arizona-Utah Local. Come join us, let us hear from you that you are interested in being part of the team. The reward for getting involved is meeting interesting, creative peers and being a part of the learning journey.

Contact me or Marcia Fishman (director of locals administration) at azut.president@sagaftra.org or azut@sagaftra.org

Here’s an old joke for ya: How many actors does it take to screw in a light bulb? Five. One to screw it in and four that say, “Oh, I coulda done that!” In our Arizona-Utah Local team, the joke goes: How many SAG-AFTRA members does it take to screw in a light bulb? Five. One to screw it in and four that say, “How can I help?”

Much laughter,

Joe Corcoran
President, Arizona-Utah Local

This item was originally featured in the July 2016 local newsletter.