How Do You Get Into The Screen Actors Guild?
There are three main avenues to join the Screen Actors Guild (SAG). None of these is an easy route so be prepared to work hard and spend a long time trying to get in. However, once you’re in the union, the benefits are fantastic. The steep initiation fee ($2,277 as of February 2007) pays for itself in a couple of years with the guild’s great health insurance and pension plans, not to mention the much higher wages and safety measures required when productions hire SAG members. Here’s how to get in: Secure a principal role in a SAG production. You must be paid for this role, and you must have proof of employment. There is a huge Catch 22 with this method, though; under normal circumstances a casting director will not even consider you for audition on a SAG project unless you are already in SAG. Receive three SAG “vouchers” from background acting (extras). When you work on a SAG TV show or movie as a background actor, you are given a voucher as proof of work. Your union affiliation is cle
