Organizing and Outreach

Many of you may be unaware that the market already has a regional commercials contract: The Colorado Limited Letter of Adherence for Television & Radio Commercials (CLL).

This contract, sometimes referred to as a “made-in/played-in” offers lower rates; allows for short-term buys, one-year and 21-month prepaid use; and provides employers with the opportunity to work with a diverse group of trained and professional union actors on a single production-only basis, if that’s what they need. With almost 600 active SAG-AFTRA members in our Local to choose from, why wouldn’t producers want to work with the best?

The CLL is great for organizing local commercials of any size. We will be scheduling a special refresher meeting on the contract in the coming months. Any performer interested in learning more about how they can utilize this contract to turn a non-union job into a union job, please contact julie.crane@sagaftra.org or (720) 932-8193/8228.

The SAG-AFTRA Denver Local Organizing Committee is working on instituting a CADET (Cultivating Actors with Direction, Experience and Training) program. Developed by the former SAG Branch in Detroit, the program offers middle and high school students the opportunity to participate in select workshops and other events that will set them apart from their fellow acting and filmmaking classmates. The relationship instills in the CADETs a sense of pride and identity and, for many, their first connection to the power of unionism.

The young performers participating receive a SAG-AFTRA CADET card, and while this is merely a symbolic gesture and in no way constitutes actual membership in the union, it is the hope that the pride in their CADET card will lead to the desire to hold an actual SAG-AFTRA card when the opportunity arises. The CADET project has garnered very positive support from the Michigan SAG-AFTRA members, as well as the community at large.