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trying to not completely flip my lid over the fact that sag seems to have rustled this up very quickly when podcasts have been around for 20+ yrs and just got lumped into an already v fallible new media agreement bc ultimately more unionizing is good but boy!!! i'm losing it!!! https://twitter.com/nwquah/status/1360297450376884224
you know what has *not* been a top priority of the union? having any fucking clue what podcasts are. I have made myself available as a resource every time i've called the new media dept. and the result has been that every few months I get an email from an aspiring podcaster-
-wanting to do a sag production and asking *me* what contract it's under because THEY CALLED SAG AND SAG COULDN'T TELL THEM.
I've vague tweeted about this stuff before but this, and countless other reasons, is a huge factor in why most of my productions are non-union now
I've vague tweeted about this stuff before but this, and countless other reasons, is a huge factor in why most of my productions are non-union now
when we did remote productions at the beginning of covid that involved either a) sending our performers equipment or b) sending them to a private studio where they would be the only person in there, engineered by someone across town through ~technology~ sag gave us nO guidelines
we had to scramble to put together our own guidelines based off state guidelines/our own very stringent personal research, but CHRIST, what is a union for if not protecting its members????
individual folks at sag have been lovely but their infrastructure overall fails constantly
individual folks at sag have been lovely but their infrastructure overall fails constantly
i have great sympathy for how hard esp the beginning of the pandemic was in terms of shifting an entire industry and creating new rules. I get it!!
but there we were, providing safe, paid work for actors across the country, ready to comply, and they just refused to communicate
but there we were, providing safe, paid work for actors across the country, ready to comply, and they just refused to communicate
don't even get me started on the jOKE of the new agreement over the summer that was meant to make sets safer in post-me-too world by creating more rules around nudity on set.
as far as I could tell, still nary a intimacy coordinator requirement to be found. I voted no.
as far as I could tell, still nary a intimacy coordinator requirement to be found. I voted no.
and that's the thing - I've been a card-carrying member of sag for 6 years. I vote in the elections, I really, really, REALLY want to support the union.
but ultimately, it's more cost-effective to do non-union in podcasting right now. and I hate that.
but ultimately, it's more cost-effective to do non-union in podcasting right now. and I hate that.
and when I say cost-effective, I mean in man-power and time cost, not monetary cost. sag new media drama podcasts contracts (say that 10x fast) have rates of 205/4hr sesh. I pay 400/6hr day for leads at min for most prods that have a 5-figure budget.
98% of actors I've worked w do not make enough money from sag jobs to qualify for healthcare. my productions are not going to push them over the edge. so why would I do sag when it involves filling out a completely nonsensical contract w absolutely 0 communication from the union?
I've said it once and I'll say it again: if a union is not doing everything it can to protect its most vulnerable members, it is failing at being a union. being part of the wga audio alliance has been so interesting bc one of the FIRST things that they did was reach out to *me*
not saying that any organizing effort is perfect but at least the wga was like "oh hey, maybe we should try to talk to someone who has actually written a fiction podcast before unionizing the space?" and has made that a fundamental part of their efforts
whereas I've been on the phone w sag SO many times being like "pls let me tell you about podcasts and how they work and how much time it takes and what equipment is involved" to have them go "here fill out this form that asks if you're gonna have nudity or live animals on set"
woof ANYWAY that's enough ranting from lauren for today. again, may delete this, etc. because I still do work with sag on several productions and I recognize its not a good look to jab at a union, but it is just sO INCREDIBLY FRUSTRATING
