Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/681774
50 SAG-AFTRA | Spring 2016 | SAGAFTRA.org On Location Chicago FLIPPING JOBS I n an effort to further inform and empower members, the SAG-AFTRA Chicago Local hosted a conservatory, Making More Union Work, on Feb 22. The event featured a knowledgeable and dynamic panel that included Tom Allamon of Falcon Paymasters; Casey Janney of Stewart Talent; Sean Hennessy, Chicago Local Manager of Commercials & Corporate/Educational Contracts; and SAG-AFTRA members Lorrisa Julianus and Michael Issac. Members discovered the unique abilities they possess to turn non-union jobs union. Furthermore, members learned how to utilize their agents and SAG-AFTRA staff to create more opportunities in voiceover, commercials and corporate/educational productions. Member Michael Issac offers tips on how to flip a job at the Feb. 22 event. CHARLES ANDREW GARDNER TRAFFIC IN AUSTIN Members in Texas take a unique "bus ride" in Austin during the Austin Actors Conservatory improvisation workshop with casting director Barbara Divisek and director Ray Bengston on Feb. 21. Local members continue to hone their skills through the continuing education offered by the Austin Actors Conservatory, Houston Conservatory and the ProAct Conservatory in Dallas. MediaTech Austin hosted the workshop and continues to support the efforts of SAG-AFTRA membership in Austin. Houston-Austin LAUGHS BY THE DOZENS T he Atlanta Union Radio Players' 12th Annual Lend Me an Ear: Laughs By the Dozens was a huge success. This past October, it raised $5,222 for the Atlanta Community Food Bank, which gave the group more than $45,000 in buying power just in time for the holidays. Comedy sells — the Players broke their old record by more than $1,500! The 45 performers and crew provided some top-grade guffaws for the packed house of more than 200 at the New American Shakespeare Tavern. It was a great tribute to the comedy geniuses of radio: Burns and Allen, Abbott and Costello, Jack Benny, Lucille Ball, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, Mae West and Minnie Pearl, among many others. Next year will be the lucky 13th anniversary, so look for radio tales that deal in intrigue, treasure, superstition and, of course, the theater of imagination. Atlanta The cast of The Fred Allen Show with special guest "Jack Benny." CARAN WILBANKS University of Miami students with SAG-AFTRA member, student and producer Janmarco Santiago, second from right, and Business Representative Linda Isrel, third from right. EDUCATING FUTURE FILMMAKERS M iami Local Business Representative Linda Isrel visited the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida, on Feb. 5 to speak with graduate students majoring in film studies. She made a presentation on the SAG-AFTRA Student Agreement and the benefits of using professional SAG-AFTRA performers for student projects. The students will be working on their thesis film this semester. Several of the students in the class visited the Miami Local office to complete the paperwork for their projects and ask more questions before they begin their first SAG-AFTRA-covered film. Credit is also due to Konstantia "Dia" Kontaxis, an associate professor of cinema and interactive media at the university's School of Communication, who regularly talks to the students about using professional SAG-AFTRA performers for their film projects. Miami