<p>Yeah, right…</p>
<p>Just to be clear, I never meant to imply that accidents don’t happen on a union set. I’d imagine there are fewer but would really need to research that. My point about workplace safety is that there are rules that set limits for AEA workers. A non-union kid is likely to feel he must say yes to anything he’s asked. There’s no SM or Equity Deputy to advocate for safe decisions. And, more importantly, if anything goes wrong, there is union health insurance and a posted bond and so on. </p>
<p>We were served by a 22 year old just-got-his-BFA actor/waiter about a month ago whose arm was in a cast - shattered, he said, when he was struck by a moving flat during a set change on a non-union show. The kid’s a gymnast/dancer guy who now can’t bear weight on that arm. Nothing from the production. Nothing. He said he was managing with some workman’s comp but has no health insurance and no recourse. So, yeah, accidents occur in all sorts of workplaces but union protections limit the kid’s exposure to many kinds of danger and maximize the safety net available in case of injury or chronic disease. From a parental standpoint, that’s a no-brainer.</p>
<p>Yet if you’re an aspiring young actor, at least in some markets, the decision about when to take a card can be complicated. Hats off to the kids who land Broadway or a stable Equity tour right out of school, but for others the choice isn’t so clear. I’ve just been watching this play out from close up, and even coming from a union (teachers) family can see that in the short term the decision to wait can make good sense for some.</p>
<p>Sure. Also important to know that there is lots of opportunity outside of Broadway and tours. Regional theaters in major markets are very important entry points to a professional career. Note that: “The League of Resident Theatres is the largest professional theater association of its kind in the United States, with 74 member Theatres located in every major market in the U.S., including 29 states and the District of Columbia. LORT Theaters collectively issue more Equity contracts to actors than Broadway and commercial tours combined.” These are union jobs with very livable rates in areas where living expenses are a pittance compared to NYC. :"> </p>
<p>Yes, D has had fantastic regional employment in a couple markets, but even the larger Equity theatres often prefer EMC contracts for young actors.</p>
<p>It’s great she’s working!</p>
<p>Great points. This is a cool thread!</p>
<p>@vocal1046 - Agreed! But of course for our budding young independent contractors it’s one contract at a time. </p>
<p>I guess part of the appeal of even a gruelling non-equity or SETA national tour is that they tend to be longer than the typical (?) 3 month regional contracts, or the MUNY 3 week contracts.</p>
<p>What I did for love… and a paycheck.</p>
<p>@alwaysamom It depends on the celebrity. And I am certainly not talking about a trained actor celebrity. But more about some of the reality show celebrities. The understudy moved on to be the lead in a very successful new Broadway musical, but she still was booed, because the main reason for many to come was to see the “star”. People walked out, and got their money back. This happened over and over again, my dd was in that show for over a year, so we experienced this first hand.
Yes, some of the shows are cast with celebrities that are great and work for the shows. Others not so much. </p>
<p>Many of you are acting like joining the union is easy. Unless you/your child goes to a factory school (Michigan, CCM, etc), they probably won’t even be ABLE to join the union for years. Some will get lucky, most won’t. AEA makes it incredibly hard to join. I have been in multiple theatre and non-theatre unions, and none was nearly as hard to join as AEA. It isn’t the teachers union or bricklayers union. </p>
<p>Also - to the person who had a server break their arm and the theatre didn’t help. I would be interested to hear more of that story. As a theatre were all Non-Union actors help with scene shifts, I would absolutely do everything I could to help an actor injured on the job. </p>
<p>One of the easiest ways to get into AEA, not to say it is “easy,” is simply to be cast in an Equity production where everyone in the cast must be Equity. That happened for my kid. Her first audition after graduation from a BFA program, was the week of graduation. She was cast in a 2 month tour of Seussical with TheaterWorksUSA, which involved joining AEA. She was 20 when cast and obtained her Equity card. So, depending what you audition for and get cast in, sometimes it is just that…you automatically get to join Equity. </p>
<p>By the way, she currently gets her health insurance via AEA and it is very cheap. </p>
<p>@TheaterHiringCo - I don’t mean to make joining AEA sound easy, but I know our D and several of her friends have been offered cards with various contracts and some have opted to Taft-Hartley in the interest of being able to accept other upcoming contracts (often EMC). In every case, though, the decision was agonizing since, as you say, offers of cards don’t happen every day and many young actors fear landing in NYC some day without a card or an agent. </p>
<p>But I have seen firsthand kids with Equity cards passed over for certain contracts because the (Equity) theatre couldn’t afford them for a specific smaller role.</p>
<p>Little about entering this profession is easy, from my outsider’s perspective, except for a very fortunate few (a small subset at even the top schools).</p>
<p>For the benefit of anyone who is or might be confused by these postings:</p>
<p>There are three pathways to Equity membership:</p>
<p>1) Employment under an Equity Contract</p>
<p>2) Prior membership in a performing arts sister union (Four A’s) Applicants must be members of a sister union for at least one year, in good standing and must have worked as a performer under that union’s jurisdiction on a principal or “under-five” contract or at least three days of extra (“background”) work</p>
<p>3) Completion of 50 weeks as an Equity Membership Candidate (EMC)
This program permits actors and stage managers-in-training to credit theatrical work in an Equity theatre towards eventual membership in Equity. After securing a position at a participating theatre, you may register as a candidate. Eligibility under this program requires a total of 50 weeks of EMC work at participating theatres.</p>
<p>Ok here is a question…if your child is SAG eligible but hasn’t joined yet, would that translate over into Equity?</p>
<p>See above: SAG-AFTRA is a member of the 4A’s. </p>
<p>Thank you <3</p>
<p>Equity has great “How I got my card” stories on the website. For example, here’s Kristin Chenoweth:
I had just graduated from Oklahoma City University and was headed to the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia to become an opera singer. I decided to make a pit stop in New York. My best friend, Denny, wanted to move there to make it as an actor. I went along! I was at Actors’ Equity waiting to be seen for a show at Papermill. Because I wasn’t a member of the union I had to wait five hours to be seen! Finally I got in for my audition and ended up getting one of the leads in a musical called ANIMAL CRACKERS. I had an important life decision to make: Opera or Musical Theatre? Guess what I chose! Not only did I get my Equity Card through that job, I never had to wait five hours again!!"</p>
<p>MomCares - Your child is the exception and not the rule. </p>
<p>The trouble with a board like this is that the ease with which some make it sound (like the Kristen Chenoweth story) is just not most performer’s reality. </p>
<p>TheatreWorks is probably one of the top groups giving people Equity cards. This is similar to what Sesame Street Live did in the early 2000s. They really help populate the AEA pool, and is how many young actors I know got their card. </p>
<p>Again, I stress, for a good 90%+ of performers, getting your Equity card is VERY hard, time consuming, and takes a great deal of dedication. (Unless you manage to backdoor yourself through SAG/AFTRA or one of the others)</p>
<p>This entire board is about exceptions to the rules. 90% of applicants will not be admitted to most of these BFA programs. Nonetheless, the conversation proceeds based on the shared premise that our spawn will be in the 10%. </p>
<p>The people who get the jobs are the people who get their cards, plain and simple. This is equally true of SAG-AFTRA. (The bar for membership is, in fact, probably far too low. Seriously, three days of extra work?) </p>
<p>The ability to snag a job that union members vied for sure seems like a pretty reasonable acid test of readiness to enter the professional market. </p>
<p>Anyone looking for a career that does not involve difficult, time-consuming, quite probably fruitless work that requires a great deal of dedication not only should not be a AEA member, he should probably steer clear of the arts altogether. </p>
<p>(That is, unless he can get an IATSE job. That’s union security for you! They’re Teamsters. For heaven’s sake, learning to hang lights may be the most important thing to do in college.)<br>
:-h </p>
<p>Here’s another excellent story - the pathway of self-respect followed by Rául Esparza: </p>
<p>"I had been working in Chicago for a year at Equity theatres under non-Equity contracts. Sometimes the roles were small, sometimes they were extraordinary. The kicker comes when Frank Galati, the great and generous artist, offers me a beautiful role at the Goodman Theatre in his adaptation of CRY, THE BELOVED COUNTRY. The role is not large, but it is important, and Frank inspired the very best in me. </p>
<p>It begins to bother me that I am working harder than many company members and earning far, far less because I am not Equity. As that show ends, I am offered a principal role in ZORBA by a theatre in Highland Park. A major role, not the star, not the lead, but one of the six major roles in the musical. Five of those roles were Equity contracts; I am offered $50 a week on a non-Equity contract. It won’t even cover gas money from downtown Chicago to the suburbs not to mention groceries or rent. </p>
<p>I have enough weeks under the Equity Membership Candidacy program, so I ask the theatre to offer me an Equity contract. They say NO. They ask, why would you want to join Equity? I say, so I never have to argue over $50 again. They say, you’re new in town. If you join Equity, you won’t work in Chicago very much. Think about it. I say, I’ll take my chances. </p>
<p>A few months later, the Goodman offers me another role in their lovely annual production of A CHRISTMAS CAROL. Here we go again: I say I want to join Equity. They say congratulations and welcome aboard. I took my chances, and all these years later, from the Goodman to Steppenwolf to Broadway, I’m glad I’ll never have to argue about gas money all by myself again. I’ll always have Equity behind me to ensure that I am treated with respect and dignity and never threatened for asking for what I am fundamentally worth. "</p>