RTW: Right To (Know Your) Worth

Let’s face it: Earning a living as a professional performer isn’t exactly the easiest career choice. The ups and downs of this business — coupled with intense and non-stop competition — make for a challenging life even during the best of times.
 
And the downs in a right-to-work-for-less state come with the pressure to compromise your union status by productions that tempt you to work off the card. We’ve all heard it before: “We’d love to book you, but you’re union, and we can’t afford/don’t want/won’t go union.”
 
Below is the substance of a letter written to a fellow member experiencing that down state of mind. It's a helpful reminder of all the reasons why being a union member in a “right-to-work” state is so important.

Hi XXXXXX, 

I share your frustration regarding local directors and producers being hesitant to sign a SAG-AFTRA agreement for their films. There is definitely more work involved in putting a project under contract to protect performers, and this is often the reason many give for going non-union. 
 
Many of us are so grateful for our chance to act we forget it truly is work. Remember, any director or producer who offers you a role in their project is asking you to work for them, to do the prep-work necessary to create a character, learn the necessary lines, show up to set on time and prepared, and to conduct yourself in a professional manner at all times. 
 
When a director/producer offers you a role in their film but tells you they are not willing to cover you under a union contract, they are counting on you wanting the role so badly that you are willing to do all of the above and lose your status as a union member to do it. They will point to their past success and tell you this role will help your career, and they will use the union and your membership as a scapegoat for not booking you.
 
Think about this for a moment. You wrote “... I worked really hard to get my SAG card and it was so worth it to be a part of the union out there.” And yet, this production is telling you that your hard work is meaningless. How will that translate into your experience on their set? Will they take breaks for meals at suitable times or will you be expected to fend for yourself? Will you get overtime pay if the shoot runs into very long hours? Will you get paid a decent rate (and is your agent taking 20% since it’s non-union)? 
 
For that matter, when will you get paid — if at all? And if the film does get distribution, will you receive any sort of residuals for your participation? 
 
These are just some of the protections provided in a SAG-AFTRA contract for which you and I have both worked so hard. I would be lying to you if I claimed that you’ll find as many union film and television opportunities in Texas as you did in Los Angeles; that’s just not going to be the case. However, our SAG-AFTRA DFW Local office has an extensive history of turning jobs union when our staff is given the opportunity to get involved. The new Micro-Budget Project Agreement provides exceptionally flexible rules and terms for members wanting to produce their own work.

I urge you to reach out directly to the Dallas office to ask for assistance anytime a potential job hangs in the balance due to contractual concerns. Sometimes it takes going the extra mile to make it happen.
 
Thanks again for reaching out, and I look forward to visiting again soon,

Brent Anderson
SAG-AFTRA, DFW Local President
dallas.president@sagaftra.org