LOS ANGELES — SAG-AFTRA today dedicated the Member Imagination Center at the union’s headquarters in Los Angeles. President Gabrielle Carteris, Executive Vice President and Innovation & New Technology Committee Chair Rebecca Damon, Secretary-Treasurer Camryn Manheim and other SAG-AFTRA elected leaders participated in a ceremonial ribbon-cutting to launch the center.
“This space is extraordinary. It is being developed specifically to serve our national membership as a forward-looking think-tank equipped with digital media educational offerings and distance learning capabilities giving members across the country dynamic ways to interface, hone their craft and expand their knowledge,” said Carteris. "No matter where you are in the country, you will be able to access our distance learning program to attend classes and events in the Member Imagination Center."
Newly named SAG-AFTRA Foundation President Courtney B. Vance also celebrated the opening of the On-Camera Lab, which will be administered by the SAG-AFTRA Foundation.
“We’ve been operating a pilot program of our on-camera lab in New York City for the last two years that has been highly successful, and we’d been looking for a space to make this valuable program available in Los Angeles,” said Vance. “We’re grateful to SAG-AFTRA for giving this program a home in their Member Imagination Center. The Foundation looks forward to providing SAG-AFTRA members with high quality, on-camera taped sessions for free, as we do with all of our programming.”
The dedicated space will allow members to tape auditions, learn digital film and television production techniques, attend seminars with world-class technology thought leaders, and participate in classes aimed at building their knowledge and experience in a digital production environment.
An expanded classroom and meeting space and the on-camera lab for self-taping auditions are already completed and operational. Open to all members across the country, the on-camera lab is similar to the successful Foundation facility that was pilot-tested in New York, and which has produced more than 14,588 self-taping sessions for SAG-AFTRA members in just a few short years.
The classrooms and on-camera lab will be followed shortly by additional state-of-the-art digital media facilities, including a full-size studio for SAG-AFTRA video production and member education, an intimate concert stage for performances by up-and-coming recording artist members with seating for VIP industry guests, a podcast recording suite and additional self-taping studios and other distance learning facilities.
SAG-AFTRA’s National Officers, National Board members, Los Angeles Local board members, executive staff and board members from the SAG-AFTRA Foundation attended the dedication.
The Member Imagination Center is slated for completion in spring 2020.
SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris, center, gets ready to cut the ribbon for the SAG-AFTRA Member Imagination Center. The center’s opening ceremony was attended by Executive Vice President Rebecca Damon, second from left, and Secretary-Treasurer Camryn Manheim, third from right, as well as members of the union’s National Board, Los Angeles Local Board, SAG-AFTRA Foundation Board and the union’s new National Innovation & New Technology Committee. (Photo by Jesse Grant/SAG-AFTRA)
Members of the SAG-AFTRA National and Los Angeles Local Boards and SAG-AFTRA Foundation Board commemorate the launch of the SAG-AFTRA Member Imagination Center. The center is a collaborative effort of the two organizations, and will provide members nationwide with multimedia facilities for content creation and learning. (Photo by Jesse Grant/SAG-AFTRA)
From left, SAG-AFTRA Secretary-Treasurer Camryn Manheim, President Gabrielle Carteris, Executive Vice President Rebecca Damon and National Vice President, Los Angeles Clyde Kusatsu at the new SAG-AFTRA Member Imagination Center on Nov. 8. In addition to their work for the media artists’ union, Carteris, Damon and Kusatsu also serve as members of the SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s Board. (Photo by Jesse Grant/SAG-AFTRA)
SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris, Executive Vice President Rebecca Damon and Secretary-Treasurer Camryn Manheim at a ceremonial ribbon-cutting at the national SAG-AFTRA Member Imagination Center on Nov. 8. (Photo by Jesse Grant/SAG-AFTRA)
A cheer is raised as SAG-AFTRA Foundation President Courtney B. Vance cuts the ribbon to the new On-Camera Lab located at the national SAG-AFTRA Member Imagination Center. The Foundation will administer self-taped auditions for SAG-AFTRA members. (Photo by Jesse Grant/SAG-AFTRA)
SAG-AFTRA Foundation President Courtney B. Vance, left, and SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris toast in front of the new Foundation’s new On-Camera Lab. The lab is one of the multimedia facilities available to union members as part of the national SAG-AFTRA Member Imagination Center. (Photo by Jesse Grant/SAG-AFTRA)
The SAG-AFTRA Member Imagination Center at SAG-AFTRA Plaza in Los Angeles will provide space for members to tape auditions, learn digital film and television production techniques, attend seminars with world-class technology thought leaders, and participate in classes aimed at building their knowledge and experience in a digital production environment. (Photo by Jesse Grant/SAG-AFTRA)
The SAG-AFTRA Member Imagination Center at SAG-AFTRA Plaza in Los Angeles will provide space for members to tape auditions, learn digital film and television production techniques, attend seminars with world-class technology thought leaders, and participate in classes aimed at building their knowledge and experience in a digital production environment. (Photo by Jesse Grant/SAG-AFTRA)
The SAG-AFTRA Member Imagination Center at SAG-AFTRA Plaza in Los Angeles will provide space for members to tape auditions, learn digital film and television production techniques, attend seminars with world-class technology thought leaders, and participate in classes aimed at building their knowledge and experience in a digital production environment. (Photo by Jesse Grant/SAG-AFTRA)
The SAG-AFTRA Member Imagination Center at SAG-AFTRA Plaza in Los Angeles will provide space for members to tape auditions, learn digital film and television production techniques, attend seminars with world-class technology thought leaders, and participate in classes aimed at building their knowledge and experience in a digital production environment. (Photo by Jesse Grant/SAG-AFTRA)
The SAG-AFTRA Member Imagination Center at SAG-AFTRA Plaza in Los Angeles will provide space for members to tape auditions, learn digital film and television production techniques, attend seminars with world-class technology thought leaders, and participate in classes aimed at building their knowledge and experience in a digital production environment. (Photo by Jesse Grant/SAG-AFTRA)
About SAG-AFTRA
SAG-AFTRA represents approximately 160,000 actors, announcers, broadcast journalists, dancers, DJs, news writers, news editors, program hosts, puppeteers, recording artists, singers, stunt performers, voiceover artists and other entertainment and media professionals. SAG-AFTRA members are the faces and voices that entertain and inform America and the world. A proud affiliate of the AFL-CIO, SAG-AFTRA has national offices in Los Angeles and New York and local offices nationwide representing members working together to secure the strongest protections for entertainment and media artists into the 21st century and beyond. Visit SAG-AFTRA online at SAGAFTRA.org.
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