SAG-AFTRA Los Angeles Newsletter - Summer 2015

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June/July 2015

A Letter From L.A. President

CLYDE KUSATSU •••

Change is an Industry Constant

A Members gather to learn about the Commercials Organizing and Recapture Initiative.

Union Rallies Members for Commercials Recapture Initiative

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ore than 1,500 members from across the country assembled for the April 29 launch of the Commercials Organizing and Recapture Initiative — a multi-faceted commercials organizing initiative to protect and expand work opportunities for professional performers in commercials. At the SAG-AFTRA headquarters in Los Angeles, members filled both boardrooms and the Founders’ conference room to hear leaders report on efforts to increase the number of commercials shot under a union contract. President Ken Howard, National Executive Director David White and National Commercial Performers Committee Vice Chair and Board member Allen Lulu attended the meeting in Los Angeles, and were joined via live stream by National Commercial Performers Committee Chair Sue-Anne Morrow, National

Director of Commercials Contracts Lori Hunt, National Commercials Strategist Gary Saxe in New York and National Commercial Performers Committee Vice Chair John Carter Brown in Chicago. The initiative calls for person-to-person dialogue, as well as industry outreach, coupled with a member-driven social media campaign using the hashtags #BestInTheBiz and #GetPaid. Members were provided with a toolkit to engage fellow performers, agents, managers and producers in conversation about the benefits of working on union commercial shoots. “We are going to do this campaign member to member collectively, because that is how our union was built,” said Lulu. “Our founders made this union strong by standing shoulder to shoulder, and we will continue to keep our union strong by working and standing together.” SAG-AFTRA members are urged to visit SAGAFTRA.org/BestInTheBiz to learn more about the campaign and how they can participate. l AFL-CIO

t our Feb. 8 membership meeting, we honored Timothy Blake with the Ralph Morgan Award for service in her various capacities as National Board member with both SAG and AFTRA, co-chair of the SAG-AFTRA Film Society, and as a member trustee on the SAG P&H Fund. It was a well-deserved honor. I had the opportunity to report to membership that the state of our union is good. We’re all aware these days that the one constant in our industry is change, from the viewing platforms to the demographics of the audiences consuming media. The average age of viewers of network over-the-air broadcast news continues to get older. The millennials and younger viewers consume their content via smartphones, tablets and laptops. Over-the-top programming services like Amazon Prime and Netflix, which deliver streamed content via the Internet to televisions and other devices for subscription viewing, are the new disruptors in the marketplace. Networks and studios are responding to this growth engine and adapting to it. Sony plans to offer its programming content to U.S. PlayStation owners through the PlayStation Vue service. Dish, through its Sling TV, is offering a similar service to Xbox owners, while CBS will be offering streaming access to all its KUSATSU continues on page 6

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SAG-AFTRA Los Angeles Newsletter - Summer 2015 by SAG-AFTRA - Issuu