Actors' Equity To Expand Membership

[ggersten]

Posted: 7/20/21 at 9:53pm

Per Chris Jones (Chicago Tribune) 

"Actors Equity is to announce sweeping changes tomorrow, apparently opening membership to all actors/stage managers without requiring any weeks of work at Equity theaters. Internationals now eligible too. Huge realignment of labor and the American theater."
https://twitter.com/ChrisJonesTrib/status/1417644625163132930?s=20
 

Updated On: 7/20/21 at 09:53 PM

[JayElle]

Posted: 7/20/21 at 10:16pm

I'm guessing they want the dues?

[SouthernCakes]

Posted: 7/20/21 at 10:29pm

100% and they want to nip non-union tours.

I’m in the union and while this is kind of an eye roll - since I did my 50 weeks - I get it. It’s a business.

I’m just curious if this will really hurt the non-union industry. My guess is it won’t. People will just join when they feel it’s appropriate.

But the Union has really snot themselves in the foot this past year and there are so many theaters that simply can’t afford to hire Union actors, so it might hurt the regional world overall

[darquegk]

Posted: 7/20/21 at 10:32pm

I’ve seen some pushback on Facebook and Insta already against professional non-union in any capacity: they want theatres to either fully unionize, or go to a complete volunteer unpaid structure. No more gig economy.

[JayElle]

Posted: 7/20/21 at 10:47pm

SouthernCakes said: in part, "100% and they want to nip non-union tours.....But the Union has really shot themselves in the foot this past year and there are so many theaters that simply can’t afford to hire Union actors, so it might hurt the regional world overall"

What did union do?

[willep]

Posted: 7/20/21 at 10:50pm

As an EMC actor, I was sure 2020 was going to be the year I joined AEA. Now all the Equity actors I know are cursing the union and saying I was lucky not to have joined.

[FosseTharp]

Posted: 7/20/21 at 11:16pm

It’s definitely about the dues.. I’m not AEA but I’m SDC. And speaking of… Equity needs to make their EMC program similar to the SDC associate member situation. Once your join AEA you can only take Union work. So one has to decide if getting an audition for a Broadway show and never allowed to do no eq again is worth it … When I was an Associate member of SDC I was still allowed to take non union work. I only had to sign SDC contracts if I was working with union stage managers/actors.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 7/21/21 at 1:57am

I’m a member and got the email. Basically, AEA says that the purpose of this change is to make joining the union easier for BIPOC. I’m not sure this tracks.

A couple of years ago, AEA lowered the EMC weeks requirement to 25, which made it a lot easier to join. I mean frankly if you can’t get cast in three or four shows at AEA theaters as a non-Equity actor over the course of a few years of auditioning, then that’s probably a sign that you shouldn’t join Equity yet. And if BIPOC actors are at a disadvantage in this regard, that’s on the theatres, not the union.

What IS on the union however is the fact that it is a very New-York centric organization that doesn’t do enough for actors based in “the regions” - a term that is really becoming outdated since more and more professional stage actors are choosing to live outside of NYC and regional theatre has become the backbone of the American theatre. However, many professional regional theatres - due to both funding issues and unrealistic expectations by AEA - struggle to afford having even a handful of union actors in each show. Even in major markets like Chicago actors are afraid to join, and many that do end up dropping their card after finding themselves “unhireable” due to their union status.

I’m all for AEA no longer being an exclusive “club,” but if joining the union remains a career death sentence for the majority of regional actors, then I fail to see how this move is as progressive as they want it to seem.

[LightsOut90]

Posted: 7/21/21 at 5:25am

weird that it has a two year time frame…

[bwaylvsong1]

Posted: 7/21/21 at 8:02am

The Distinctive Baritone said: "A couple of years ago, AEA lowered the EMC weeks requirement to 25, which made it a lot easier to join. I mean frankly if you can’t get cast in three or four shows at AEA theaters as a non-Equity actor over the course of a few years of auditioning, then that’s probably a sign that you shouldn’t join Equity yet."

The issue is that in the most recent (pre-pandemic) NYC audition landscape, it had become virtually impossible to get seen at AEA auditions as a non-union, non-EMC actor.  You can’t get cast in anything or accrue EMC points if you can’t audition in the first place!

[jlindsey865]

Posted: 7/21/21 at 8:16am

Have the dues always been that expensive?

Updated On: 7/21/21 at 08:16 AM

[PlayItAgain]

Posted: 7/21/21 at 9:20am

bwaylvsong1 said: 

The issue is that in the most recent(pre-pandemic) NYC audition landscape, it had becomevirtually impossible to get seen at AEA auditions as a non-union, non-EMC actor. You can’t get cast in anything or accrue EMC points if you can’t audition in the first place!"

thats why most people get there points/weeks what have you in regional productions

this is a really gross cash grab, they can couch it in diversity accessability or what have you but if that was truly the case there wouldnt be like a 2 year time frame on open enrollment

[JennH]

Posted: 7/21/21 at 9:21am

Ho boy, do I have opinions…how does this move solve the root of any of the actual problems at hand?
What’s more, my FB feed runs the gamut in terms of what people think about this, both Union and not. But the Union members praising this does confuse me when Equity didn’t do a thing for its members over this past year. Just like a couple years ago when the point threshold to join was lowered, it didn’t do anything except open the floodgates without Equity doing a dang thing to address the disparate ratio of Union work to Union actors by bargaining with theaters to become Union/hire Union actors. Membership means nothing when no one is working and I’d love to be proven wrong, but if someone wants to tell me why this WONT cause theaters all over to drop their Union status and go entirely non Union, I’d love to hear it. I mean that genuinely, not being snarky.
And yes, let’s remind ourselves that equity doesn’t seems to care about any members outside of the NY area. Genuine issue I keep hearing from many members who live in other markets.

Sidenote-I’m typing this on my phone because for some reason I can’t respond to this thread on my computer, and it’s ONLY this thread where this is an issue…umm, why?

[Kad]

Posted: 7/21/21 at 9:35am

Why would this cause Equity theaters to go non-union? That makes no sense. This change won’t affect union theaters; it would just broaden their hiring pool. There’s nothing attached to this that makes it more onerous to be an Equity house. There will certainly be a rush to join the union, but there will still remain a robust amount of non-union actors because Equity’s membership rules regarding only working on union contracts still remains. In areas with lots of non-union work, that means it would still remain logical for local actors to stay non-union. In fact, it incentivizes actors to take ANY work- union or not- because it all makes them eligible to join now.

Equity- or any union- cannot just conjure up work from thin air. Hiring union members costs money, which is not something many theaters have much of. This would most affect non-union tours, which have more money than most smaller regionals and are affordable to produce mostly because they can underpay their actors and SMs.

[Broadway61004]

Posted: 7/21/21 at 9:37am

If this means that all the non-union houses are going to suddenly go Equity because they now have performers in their talent pool who are Equity, then this would be great.  But we all know that is 100% the opposite of what is going to happen and that not a single new Equity job is going to be created because of this.  So now, instead of having a union of 51,000+ members for around 19,000 union jobs throughout a fiscal year, keeping 60% of their members unemployed each year, there will be a union of quite realistically 100,000+ members for the same number of jobs, keeping 75% of their members unemployed each year.  If that's progress, then I'm a wizard from Mars.

[Kad]

Posted: 7/21/21 at 10:09am

100,000+ is not a “quite realistic” number.

Updated On: 7/21/21 at 10:09 AM

[SouthernCakes]

Posted: 7/21/21 at 10:20am

I mean in a time where all the Equity auditions are virtual - and you are literally just sending a video into the void and hoping some casting assistant sees you - this is a little irksome. Especially considering they’re trying to make it some ethical decision when I’m sure they’re just trying to get more money and care less about their members. The fact that Tootsie is going Non-Union for a big splashy first National tour should be every indication that the Union needs work.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 7/21/21 at 10:38am

SouthernCakes said: "I mean in a time where all the Equity auditions are virtual - and you are literally just sending a video into the void and hoping some casting assistant sees you - this is a little irksome. Especially considering they’re trying to make it some ethical decision when I’m sure they’re just trying to get more money and care less about their members."

Totally - I predict that video submissions will in many cases replace EPA’s and ECC’s even post-pandemic, and now there is even less of a chance of video submissions actually being viewed. Unless AEA makes it easier for it’s members to be hired, this is going to further crowd an extremely overcrowded field.

[bwaylvsong1]

Posted: 7/21/21 at 10:41am

PlayItAgain said: 
thats why most people get there points/weeks what have you in regional productions
 

My point is that those auditioning in NYC (logical for someone pursuing a theatrical career) can’t audition for said regional productions that give points.

[Broadway61004]

Posted: 7/21/21 at 10:48am

Kad said: "100,000+ is not a “quite realistic” number."

I hope you're right, but I think you may be severely underestimating how many non-union performers who have been desperately trying to join are going to suddenly sign up within the next year now that they can.

[Spikemark1]

Posted: 7/21/21 at 10:57am

This is a hugely disastrous move on their part.  It's insane from every angle.  Obviously they have no grasp of the repercussions this will cause.  Fitting (hopefully) end of the leadership over the last year(s).

Updated On: 7/21/21 at 10:57 AM

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 7/21/21 at 10:58am

bwaylvsong1 said: "PlayItAgain said:
thats why most people get there points/weeks what have you in regional productions


My point is that those auditioning in NYC (logical for someone pursuing a theatrical career) can’t audition for said regional productions that give points."


True, but going to NYC fresh out of college/high school with little professional experience is often a bad idea anyway. Going to a major regional city for a few years and building up credits and experience before heading to NYC is usually the best way to begin one’s career. Outside of NYC if you are non-Equity, show up at an Equity open call and are willing and able to wait, you will usually get seen eventually. Many theaters also have separate audition days just for non-Eq’s and you can even make an appointment and be in and out of there in half an hour.

[JennH]

Posted: 7/21/21 at 11:06am

Broadway61004 said: "If this means that all the non-union houses are going to suddenly go Equity because they now have performers in their talent pool who are Equity, then this would be great. But we all know that is 100% the opposite of what is going to happen and that not a single new Equity job is going to be created because of this. So now, instead of having a union of 51,000+ members for around 19,000 union jobs throughout a fiscal year, keeping 60% of their members unemployed each year, there will be a union of quite realistically 100,000+ members for the same number of jobs, keeping 75% of their members unemployed each year. If that's progress, then I'm a wizard from Mars."

THANK YOU. Sometimes I feel like I’m taking crazy pills for thinking along these lines, but I know I’m not the only one. Opening the floodgates without creating available work does NOTHING except backfire. 

[Lavieboheme3090]

Posted: 7/21/21 at 11:09am

Add me to the list of people who can see that for sure a complicated issue, but to anyone out there that would listen to a poster on an anonymous chat board. Do not join a labor union because you think it's the right step for you career. Things are still going to be so unstable in the theater world least for another year, and just because they are opening this up now doesn't mean it's the right move for you personally. They have opened this door, and it is doubtful they are going to shut it again. Just be very thoughtful about any steps you take. 

[bwaylvsong1]

Posted: 7/21/21 at 11:54am

Tapping23 said: "
that’s not true. Those regional productions have a number of equity spots they have to fill and then the rest can be non-equity. Normally the ensemble and smaller roles. They wont be able to do non-equity tours or regional shows that are not under AEA contracts

"

I think you’re all missing my point entirely, which is probably my own fault.  Circa 2015, there was a huge  influx to NYC of actors of all union statuses.  Since then, auditions have been so crowded that the chances of being seen as a non-union performer at a call for a union production has become slim-to-none.  Yes, these non-union/EMC spots exist, but they are generally not going to those auditioning in NYC who are not already EMC.

@The Distinctive Baritone, that would all be well and good if I weren’t an NYC native and already living here lol.