Words from Your Local President

First off, I want the membership to know that no keyboards were harmed in the writing of this, my annual Arizona-Utah Local’s State of our States Address. Now that I have that out of the way, I say let us proceed with optimistic fervor for what we hope to accomplish in the coming year.

First, let’s take a snapshot look back at several past events.

I attended, along with the rest of our Arizona-Utah Local delegation (Margie Ghigo, Ted Raymond and Billy Holden), the national SAG-AFTRA convention last October in Los Angeles. Much was learned and information garnered to help us be a more informed and effective local.

Thanks to all, whether you were in front of the camera or behind the scenes, for another successful and fun-filled evening for everyone who attended our SAG Awards viewing parties in Phoenix and SLC. See you all again next year.

Upcoming events and dates to keep in mind:

• Utah membership meeting: Saturday, March 10
• Arizona membership meeting: Saturday, April 28
• Phoenix Film Festival Industry Night: Friday, April 6, 5–11 p.m. We will once again have our SAG-AFTRA booth and if you want to be a part of the team, contact us at azut@sagaftra.org.

Speaking of being interested and getting involved in our Arizona-Utah Local, let it be known that there are two open seats available on the board: VP Southern Arizona and Local Board member – Utah. Another avenue of service for membership is involvement in committees that cover such areas as the SAG Awards, conservatory, agent relations and strategic planning, to name just a few.

I was thinking the other day of one of the things that my grandma Esther used to say: “The difference between cooing and booing is but one small change.” I suspect the same could be said about the short trip between cheering and jeering. Grandma also used to tell me, “Take your crying bib off and get to work,” but that’s another story for another day. 

My point is — if I can ever get to it — is that I am so grateful and proud to be working with our Arizona-Utah Local Board members who all start on the positive side of the ledger as they work for the benefit and betterment of our entire membership. They are filled with positivity, energy, kindness, knowledge and humor.

Speaking of cheering, I want to welcome our new director of locals administration, Lisha Brock. Lisha will be working from the SAG-AFTRA Dallas office, but will be visiting us regularly to help us with such efforts as the new Regional Commercials Code, membership meetings and events. Lisha has more than already proven to be a valuable asset and addition to our local. She has accomplished much in a short time and we couldn’t be more pleased to have her on board with our board. (Ya, ya, I know, that was unintentionally intentional.)

Also intentional are the numerous mentions about the same events in this newsletter. As a longtime scuba instructor, I know that the more you see and hear something, the more likely you are to remember and retain that information.

I want to thank all of our SAG-AFTRA Arizona-Utah Local membership “cast and crew” for your contribution of ideas and for your positivity as we move forward in 2018 with humor-filled energy and purpose.  

Joe Corcoran, President
SAG-AFTRA Arizona-Utah Local