*The actors and writers union are on strike! It’s not often that I use my platform at EURweb.com to speak on personal matters. However, I am a long-time SAG-AFTRA member, and I am compelled to address the current WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes and the resilience of actors. I am an actress, writer, and media professional with EURweb.com.
Here’s my elevator pitch. I’m a teaching artist specializing in business, entertainment, education, and the arts. I have a three-picture deal as a screenwriter/actress with an emerging entertainment company. I will soon officially join the Writers Guild, once either of these screenplays are produced and distributed. I am shopping for three other screenplays as well.
I am also a regular on a new series that has been picked up for season two. Now with the writer’s strike and the SAG-AFTRA strike, all of the aforementioned are on hold.
Once I started writing screenplays, my respect for writers and their process elevated by 1000%. I stand in solidarity as a fellow writer and a SAG-AFTRA union member, although a knee injury has thwarted my physical presence at the picket lines so far, I’ve been honking away at my car horn.
Now that my union has joined the strike, it’s personal. The initial shock reeks of concern for the future. How long will it last? What is the impact of current and forthcoming projects? How will we survive?
Writers and actors work up and down the pay scale. The A-listers may have the financial cushion to ride it out for months. Meanwhile, many others are living from gig to gig or paycheck to paycheck.
What the world may not know is just how resilient actors are. Actors glide on a cascade of hope. Every audition brings forth an opportunity. A booking can be for a day, a week, a month, or several years. It can be seen by a few or by the world. The stakes are always high. Actors show up time and time again just to take a shot at being seen, hired, and remembered. Some become extremely wealthy and become household names.
Then there are actors whose names we will never know. They are the day players, the bit players, the voiceovers, the features, and the co-stars. Without them, the A-listers would only deliver endless monologues.
Altogether, we bring memorable experiences. For every actor that you see, there are scores of actors who didn’t get the part or even a chance to audition. We can be many characters in a day, depending on how many auditions we have.
Long before we’re on set with a full hair, makeup, and wardrobe department, we go the distance to present the emotional and physical interpretation of a character. It’s the nature of the business. It’s also indicative of the indelible spirit of the actor.
He, she, they, we take the shots. As actors we take the hits and the misses. We get up at bat again and again. We get more rejections in a year than some people experience in their entire career.
Nowadays I take what I have learned in the entertainment industry and proudly include it in my business as a marketing and media relations consultant, content creator and brand developer.
SB Media presents Money for Your Mission, How to Pitch to Win! It’s a virtual workshop packed with insights and strategies to make an informative and impactful pitch or presentation to get funding for your projects and organizations. The next session is Saturday, July 15th, 2023 10am PDT, 12noon Central, 1pm EST. What am I going to be doing during the strike? This! Check it out at SB Media here.
I was a stand-in on the “Color Purple” and in the room next to Mr. Spielberg when he set up his famous candle in the window shot. My first guest star role as a SAG actress was opposite Martin Lawrence on What’s Happening Now.
It was magical to get my first series regular job with my dream director John Landis on “Campus Cops,” the short-lived series for the USA Network. I made my feature film debut on the Oliver Stone, Bill Stakely & Janet Yang produced “South Central.” It was directed by Steve Anderson and became an urban classic.
These feats were also achieved thanks to Raphael Berko, Media Artists Group and so many other agents who believe in their clients and never give up.
An actor is also hard-pressed to stay relevant and marketable throughout all stages of his or her career. There are highs and lows and times to reevaluate. When I decided to go back to school, the SAG-AFTRA Foundation was there for me.
In 2014 I earned my Masters in Media and Communication Psychology and was a John Dales Scholar. I then developed a curriculum for a drama therapy group that I conducted for 10 years at a psychiatric facility for teens.
I anxiously await when both unions reach an agreement with the AMTPT so that we can get back to work. For many actors, it will be picket lines by day and back to exercising a plethora of skills by night. It’s what we do.
Actors can tell fatalists a thing or two. We always believe that the next role is possible. We’re always able to put the past behind us and show up to make the most of the moment.
This is our moment! We are Union Strong! We deserve every dime that is being fought for and I bear witness that if I am owed a dime, my union will go out there and fight for it!
How can you help? If you know an actor they have a side business, support it! Quick, fast, and in a hurry.
To donate to the SAG AFTRA Foundation Click here.
Contactus@SBMediaandMarketing.com
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