Screen Actors Guild Launches Digital Casting Revolution

iActor Puts Station 12 Cast Clearance & Exclusive SAG Talent Pool Right at the Industry’s Fingertips

Los Angeles (March 4, 2008) – Screen Actors Guild (SAG) announced today the launch of iActor (www.iactor.org), the only union-hosted online casting directory featuring onsite Station 12 cast clearance and showcasing exclusively SAG members. iActor provides casting directors, producers and production entities the ability to source and then directly verify an actor’s union eligibility for work in SAG-signatory productions, known as “Station 12” cast clearance. By bringing Station 12 cast clearance online, an industry first, iActor streamlines the casting process, resulting in valuable time and production savings.

iActor is free to SAG members and the entertainment industry. In addition to its proprietary online Station 12 cast clearance, iActor provides casting directors with the ability to find SAG actors using a customizable search function, create and tag folders according to personal work methodology, preview resumes, view headshots from multiple resumes in a slideshow, and both print and email individual resumes. iActor also provides a content-rich resource for casting directors searching regional talent pools for SAG actors. Currently, 23,790 union members representing a cross section of earnings and geographical locations have created resumes on iActor.

Made possible by a combination of SAG resources and grants from the Industry Advancement Cooperative Fund (IACF), iActor represents a powerful collaboration by SAG members from across the country who serve on the iActor Task Force, led by National Task Force Chair Robert David Hall (Coroner Albert Robbins, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation) and Screen Actors Guild Director of Online Casting Steve Graham.

“iActor is an important convergence point for Screen Actors Guild and the casting industry,” says SAG President Alan Rosenberg. “As an actor, I know the value of a digital presence and access to jobs in this shifting casting landscape. As SAG president, I am pleased our union has created a service to help both sides of the production equation.”

According to SAG National Executive Director Doug Allen, “Our union has a 75-year history providing relevant benefits to our members as well as the entertainment community. Clearly the Internet has changed the casting paradigm. It’s our duty to respond with a real time, high-impact production tool that levels the playing field for talent and the industry and can help create access to job opportunities for our members, no matter where they live and work.”

iActor features a robust technical assistance package, including a help line staffed with iActor liaisons—digital experts who are available to guide industry professionals and members through the registration and upload process. The site also offers downloadable “quick start” user guides and narrated tutorials. The iActor liaison team can also be deployed to casting offices and production companies for one-on-one assistance.

The launch of iActor represents a leap of innovation and imagination as Screen Actors Guild celebrates its 75-year history and its position as a nimble, responsive union meeting the current and future needs of its members and the entertainment industry at-large. To learn more about iActor, visit www.iactor.org or email info@iactor.org.