Campaign Watch: Your Top 25 Questions for the SAG Presidential Candidates – updated
We could come up with our own list, but we’re opening this up to you, the readers – and anyone else who writes in. Send your questions for the SAG Presidential Candidates to editor@sagwatch.net, or leave them in comments below.
We’ll compile a list of the top 25 or so questions, and post them in the form of a questionaire. The candidates can either respond, or not…and they can propose questions to be asked of each other and provide their own responses.
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Update: After a number of requests, we’ve agreed with you that it would be a good idea to make a list of questions for National Board candidates as well. So, feel free to send those in via e-mail or comments, too.
We’ll put a deadline on this, August 5th. On that day we’ll compile the questions that have been sent in and put them out as a new post, with a special page or area for responses.
I was thinking about that. A trade union has its hiring hall, where workers are sent out to jobs based on seniority (so long as there’s a basic skills match). Sort of like Central Casting, yes?
But in principle, the choice of actor for a role has more dimensions than the choice of sheet metal worker for a HVAC project. Or is the choice of leading and main supporting actors equivalent to the selection of a contractor, where qualitative differences of experience, specialization and aesthetic sensibility become deciding factors (along with price)?
P.S. “Good looking” is not per se the quality that determines a desirable actor. “Right looking” might be a better descriptor, encompassing not only the George Clooneys and Jennifer Anistons, but also the Steve Buscemis, Willem Dafoes, Linda Hunts and Amanda Plummers.
Stu
I was always in favor of a qualifing seminar to get your card in any actor union.
It would be a mandatory seminar all about
1) rules of the membership (Global Rule 1 for example)
2) expected professional behavior on a set (very important and right now everyone learns on the job)
3) professional principles in general
4) How to treat your career like a business
5) benefits of being a union member
6) all about serving the union
very basic things like that. You don’t get your card unless you attend a certain number of hours.
It may be costly at first, but better in the longrun for actors and producers alike.
There could also be a nominal fee involved.
Especially in the current era of organized labor, where the percentage of unionized workers is lower than any time in many decades, you can’t expect new union members to know much about unions and the conduct expected of union members. So an orientation seminar is an excellent idea.
Throw some history to the mix.
A lot of new actors may not recognize the names of Morgan or Cantor, but they ought to be exposed to who they are and what they accomplished. The first generation of union builders is gone, and the ones who learned from them are nearly gone, too. I learned so much about SAG and AFTRA from people like John Randolph and Frank Maxwell. Understanding the heritage these men represent would go a long way to rebuilding the sense of real loyalty to the unions and their ideals that has been so damaged recently.
And add a session on P&H and H&R. Explain how they work and how to make the most of it. I used to show up at NY local orientation meetings just to pass out census cards for new members. I always ended up doing a Q & A session that usually paid dividends down the line.