Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1367665
sagaftra.org | Spring 2021 | SAG-AFTRA 81 Michelle Damis S AG-AFTRA Portland Local President Michelle Damis has been helping people stay in shape during the COVID pandemic by offering free, online fitness training sessions. Damis, an actor, stunt performer and exercise instructor, initially turned to Zoom to teach her clients from several local athletic clubs. "I'd been doing other meetings on this platform," she related in a recent interview for Portland television station KGW, "and I thought, 'Well, why can't I teach classes here and connect with people who have taken my classes for years?'" She's particularly focused on working with mature clients and those from vulnerable populations. "They already work so hard to stay in shape, and what were they going to do?" She has around 200 regular participants, with clients from other states and even foreign countries. She says the weekly live, interactive sessions create more of a sense of community, so everyone has an incentive to show up and follow through with their workout routines. "Our group has been growing and staying focused and really positive and staying healthy," she said, "we're just doing what we can." ISAAC LANE KOVAL Portland FAIR Act continues from page 55 National Board continues from page 16 The President's Award was presented to Krebs' family in recognition of his extraordinary service to the union and its members. Krebs passed away on April 6 (see page 34). During its Feb. 6 meeting, the Board approved the SAG-AFTRA Influencer Agreement (see page 66) and passed a resolution to preemptively deny former president of the United States and former union member Donald Trump from readmission into SAG-AFTRA. And a tribute was held in recognition of former SAG-AFTRA Senior Advisor John McGuire's 52 years of service (see page 68). terms in recording contracts, they will almost always insist that the artist agree to deliver additional records beyond those already owed. What makes it worse is that these contracts are frequently negotiated early in an actor's or recording artist's career, often long before they have established themselves. They are entering into a multiyear contract at a time when they have very little bargaining power and, because of the special record company protection, recording artists don't have the ability to renegotiate with equal bargaining power after seven years. Is this a problem in California only? This is a television industry and music industry problem. California's robust public policy favors employee mobility, and that concept is already well established in California law. This is a California proposal, but the union is planning to leverage it to change business practices nationwide. The law would establish strong limits on studios' and labels' ability to hold artists off the market and keep them unpaid for extended periods of time. Why do producers insist on these provisions? Producers argue that they need these draconian options and exclusivity restraints because the talent is a "capital investment," and they don't want competitors to use the same "asset." Artists are humans, not assets; people shouldn't be treated like property. It is absurd to argue that a viewer will stop watching their favorite show simply because an actor plays a different character in another show. Today's consumers don't watch one favorite show in a time slot over which they have no control. They watch what they want, when they want. The explosion of television and music streaming has caused producers and record labels to adapt their business practices and production schedules. Due to streaming services, record companies have reduced costs and gained historic revenues. With no corresponding update to artist contracts, they are doing this at the expense of the artists. Why should I care? This is a working actor issue, not a Hollywood star issue, and working actor issues are worker issues. You should care about any scenario that allows an employer to both stop paying its workers and keep them from finding paying work elsewhere. Because if it's allowed in one industry, it can happen in any of them. What can I do to support the FAIR Act? Sign up to support the bill and receive regular updates at sagaftra.org/fairact. And be sure to share your support on Twitter and Facebook. The fight has only just begun.