Twin Cities Members Greet and Meet with EVP Gabrielle Carteris

February 11, 2014

By Mark Bradley

About 30 local members attended the general membership meeting at the Jungle Theater in Minneapolis on Nov. 18. Our special guest was newly elected National Executive Vice President Gabrielle Carteris. The Twin Cities was her first stop on a tour of locals around the country.

The meeting opened with a report on the first SAG-AFTRA National Convention from Local President Bob Davis and National Board member Randal Berger. Davis observed that the convention was well-run and that fears of rancor and disruptions proved unfounded. Randal said that he had a definite feeling of starting fresh and that there was a sincere desire for unity and communication among locals and with national. He emphasized that even as one of the smallest SAG-AFTRA locals, the Twin Cities Local will not be ignored.

Former Twin Cities Executive Director Colleen Aho, who is now a director of Locals Administration, briefed the gathering about her work as part of a locals administrative team assisting locals in various ways, including direct support for governance functions for locals that lost brick-and-mortar offices in the recent restructuring. She mentioned that her group is working to identify priorities and key concerns across locals, and to improve processes such as the coordination of local waivers and organizing of corporate/educational and non-broadcast work. She also mentioned that three major SAG-AFTRA negotiations are coming up in 2014: TV/Theatrical, Sound Recording and Net Code.

Next on the agenda came reports from member committees. Sue Scott reported on the local online calculator project, which will provide a convenient online method for producers to calculate a reliable bottom-line estimate of the cost of hiring union talent. The project is currently under consideration and, if rolled out experimentally in the Twin Cities Local, members plan to do outreach and organizing after a roll-out party.

Peter Moore spoke about the desire to craft an agreement that would be beneficial to the Twin Cities corporate/educational and non-broadcast market. Five members volunteered to serve on a local waiver committee to explore this idea. Patrick Coyle told the group about an ad hoc group that has been formed to look at ways to promote union talent, currently called Booking Union Talent for Dummies. Finally, Mark Bradley, currently serving as chair of the Local Organizing Committee, appealed for volunteers for this constitutionally mandated standing committee, and six members signed up.

President Davis then introduced EVP Carteris, who gave some brief prepared remarks about the state of the new union. She said that convention proved to be valuable in fostering unity in the merged union, noting that in 2012, SAG and AFTRA had merged their institutions, but not their cultures or their ideas. She spoke repeatedly about the need for communication among all parts of our union, and told members that we do not need “permission” to talk with each other or with other parts of our union. Referring to the closure of brick-and-mortar offices, she said, “The union is not about buildings; it’s us.”

A lively and freewheeling discussion followed, touching on ways to expand work for members, organizing new work, outreach to prospective members and effective communication. EVP Carteris urged Twin Cities’ members to build our organizing and outreach efforts, quoting the line, “If you build it, they will come!”

Hopes and Highlights from Members at the Fall Meeting

Thomas Heimdal: His 2013 highlight was serving on the Commercials Local W&W Committee. He hopes we can figure out a way to get signatories back.

Christopher Chisholm: He moved to the Twin Cities in 2013 from L.A. (he hopes that is a highlight). His hopes for 2014 include restoring the Twin Cities Local office and working together and organizing to obtain more tax incentives to entice more filmmakers to the area.

Shelli Place: Shelli did not offer a 2013 highlight, but focused instead on the future, with a hope that we can organize a group to target and reach out to some of the corporations that used to utilize more local union talent in their in-house and commercial productions to try to revitalize the union presence and encourage job growth in all areas.

Jim Miller: Jim’s 2013 highlight was participating in a Web video project, which led to an appearance in L.A.! In 2014, Jim hopes that the online calculator project will get a final go-ahead and we will be able to launch it locally — and really work on growing new jobs!

At left, VP Peter Moore with member Paul Truman. At right, board member Elena Giannetti and member Cathy Fuller