Should i join aftra before merger

Professional stage actors belong to Equity. That simple, open door option is no longer possible. In other words, not all background work is going to lead to eligibility. However until they have a major role, joining is optional.

To many it signifies recognition as a professional. In weighing the pros and cons of joining the union before your child is required to, however, it may be wiser to wait until either they must, or until they have worked enough to make the healthcare option viable. Initiation fees are a large sum of money, and belonging to a union can cut off important opportunities for a non-union performer to get work.

The merger itself has resulted in some amount of confusion, and their historical separation has left some pieces still separate, even after the merger. Health insurance under the unions is also still separate, at least at the time of this writing—your kid would be covered under either SAG or AFTRA insurance usually whichever union they have qualified first under. I hope this helped clarify what can be a very confusing subject. Or book an hour consulting with me to come up with an individualized plan that takes your own unique needs into account.

For about the cost of an hour with a professional acting coach, you can get your questions answered and a road map to help you move forward toward your dream. If your young actor is 12 or older, they will enjoy reading my second book, Young Hollywood Actors , which shares stories and advice from some of their favorite performers.

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Voice Over Pay: Under normal circumstances not charity, etc. As a result, performers who split their work throughout the year between jobs under the SAG contract and jobs under an AFTRA contract may fail to meet the earnings thresholds under either contract to qualify for benefits.

SAG and AFTRA chose not to attempt to address this issue before entering merger talks and as a result, the two unions could not solve this problem through their merger agreement.

Instead, they must now bargain with the various employers with whom they contract such as the Alliance of Motion Picture Producers and the Joint Policy Committee of advertisers and manufacturers.

However, agreeing to merger without solving the benefit plan issues is like putting the cart before the horse. If the merger goes through, in order to appease the members who have agreed to this combined entity, the union will have to achieve a solution to the split benefit issues. Making changes to either plan will be prohibitively expensive. The employers are going to resist having to cough up hundreds of millions of dollars to solve the new Union's problem. That is why if the merger does get approved, there are going to be many unhappy members down the line.

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