Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/184869
For Members AUDIOBOOK FIRM ORGANIZED RITA MORENO TO BE HONORED WITH 50 th LIFE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD U MIKE LAMONICA nder an agreement with SAG-AFTRA, audiobook producer BeeAudio has promised to pay its audiobook narrators industrystandard rates. The deal is the latest in a series of efforts by SAG-AFTRA to enhance its organizing reach in the area of audiobooks. The agreement comes after SAG-AFTRA issued a "Do Not Work" notice against the Ashland, Ore.-based company in November 2012 because it was paying half or less than half the industry-standard rate to narrators. Under the new contract, BeeAudio's more than 200 narrators will be paid rates ranging from $150 to $240 per completed hour of work. The agreement with BeeAudio marks the 27th audiobook producer organized since 2008. In related news, all titles produced by AudioGO are now covered under the Blackstone Audio agreement. AudioGO, a non-signatory company, acquired Blackstone, a recent SAG-AFTRA signatory, and the companies agreed to amend the Blackstone contract to cover all the AudioGO titles as well. T he multitalented Rita Moreno has been selected to be the next recipient of SAG-AFTRA's highest honor, the Life Achievement Award. Moreno, known for her grace on and off set and stage, rose to prominence in the film version of the groundbreaking West Side Story in 1961. Her career has spanned decades, and in that time she has collected an impressive array of accolades. She is among the elite group of performers, and the only Hispanic, to have won an Emmy, Grammy, Academy Award and a Tony. In 2004, President George W. Bush presented her the Presidential Medal of Freedom and, in 2010, President Barack Obama awarded her the National Medal of the Arts. A humanitarian, Moreno has also harnessed her talents to raise awareness about social and health issues. She marched on Washington, D.C. in 1963 at the rally at which Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech. She worked with civic, cultural and charitable organizations supporting causes such as racial equality, education and fighting hunger, as well as drawing attention to osteoporosis, diabetes, heart disease and HIV/AIDS. Moreno's selection as honoree is a milestone, as it marks the 50th presentation of the Life Achievement Award. She will receive the award Jan. 18 during the 20th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards. The George Heller Memorial Scholarship Fund of the AFTRA Foundation awarded $25,000 in educational funding to 13 students this summer. The fund annually awards scholarships in honor of outstanding union leaders, and this year honored Martha Greenhouse, Charles Collingswood, Ken and Rita Morley Harvey, Bud Collyer, Lillian Clark, Virginia Payne, Reginald Dowell, Mortimer Becker, Fran Carlon, Stanley Greene and Clara Heller. Learn more about the AFTRA Foundation at SAGAFTRA.org/aftrafoundation 12 SAG-AFTRA For Members_v7.indd 12 THINKSTOCK.COM LUCKY 13 SCORE SCHOLARSHIPS | Summer 2013 | SAGAFTRA.org 8/28/13 1:59 PM