Los Angeles Acting blog by David August: How to Join SAG

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

How to Join SAG

There are currently 2 main ways to join the Screen Actors Guild (SAG):

Obtaining 3 SAG vouchers (pay stubs) for background work (extra work)
work as a speaking actor on a SAG project, as a principle

An actor may join after getting 3 vouchers when the actor chooses. If an actor works as a principle actor they may then join, but might not need to immediately.

The Taft-Hartley Act, a federal law, is the reason one may work a union job their first time without joining. For the next 30 days after that first day of work an actor may work on any SAG shoot without having to join. On day 31 or after, if the actor wishes to work another day on SAG shoot, the actor must join. There have been rumored exceptions to this in practice, but that is how the rules are written.

An actor may work non-union shoots at any time before they join the union. All of the above is the same for AFTRA, simply substitute "AFTRA" for "SAG." As with all things, this may change, so patience and investigation may be needed for your situation.