Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/681774
SAGAFTRA.org | Spring 2016 | SAG-AFTRA 7 G A B R I E L L E C A R T E R I S A Letter from the President "With sadness for the loss of my good friend and partner in leadership, I am also excited to serve SAG-AFTRA as president." for negotiating our TV/Theatrical contract covering movies, television and new media. You, too, have a role in this process. We need your observations, opinions and support. Through our A Call to Arts partnership with the White House, we recently honored the extraordinary Ghetto Film School and director David O. Russell. GFS, a production-focused high school with campuses in the South Bronx and MacArthur Park, serves young people interested in a career in the storytelling arts. Guests included GFS founder Joe Hall, alumni Andrew Grell, Whoopi Goldberg, Helen Mirren, Christopher Walken, Christian Slater, Parker Posey, Gayle King, John Turturro, Chris Tucker, Tony Bennett, Debbie Harry and others. Over several days in Washington, D.C., I met with Secretary of Labor Tom Perez and attended private White House briefings on several entertainment industry initiatives. We are closely monitoring the progress of the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances as it moves through the Senate and will be supporting other efforts aimed at closing the gender pay gap and increasing diversity on screen and throughout our industry. We will fight to keep these conversations in the forefront and to encourage the rest of the industry to do the same. We also co-hosted the first Celebration of Journalism, honoring our broadcast news members. Joined by a number of well-known actors and broadcasters, we created new connections and relationships Dear Member, O n March 23, we lost the man whose leadership helped bring our two legacy unions together. Ken Howard was a brilliant actor. He was also an exceptionally humane person. It was his humanity that drove his talent, and his humility that called him to serve his union again and again. Shortly following Ken's death, we also lost former Screen Actors Guild President Anna Patty Duke Pearce. I am grateful to have worked on screen with her and to have joined her in Washington, D.C., to advocate for artists rights. Ken and Anna had much in common, including their dedication to the membership. That is a dedication I share. With sadness for the loss of my good friend and partner in leadership, I am also excited to serve SAG-AFTRA as president. Working closely with Ken on the merger and throughout the last several years, I know he would urge us to move forward. We successfully negotiated a new agreement on our Commercials Contracts covering approximately $1 billion in member earnings. The committee members, vice chairs and my co-chair, Sue-Anne Morrow, worked tirelessly to secure a solid deal with significant gains for members. I am also grateful to our national executive director and chief negotiator, David White, for his skill and dedication to the membership. Shortly, we will begin the Wages and Working Conditions process in preparation with members of Congress, non- governmental organizations, business and industry allies, and our co-hosts Variety, The Washington Post and the SAG-AFTRA Foundation. It was a valuable trip and we are well served by our members and staff in Washington. Over the next several months, I will be visiting other locals and look forward to meaningful engagement and interaction with you. Connecting and engaging will be much easier in the months ahead as SAG-AFTRA goes digital. I am pleased to tell you that after diligent planning and hard work by member leaders and staff, we will be beta testing and launching our mobile app later this year. With features like a virtual membership card, residuals tracker and push notifications, deeper interaction and communication will rest in the palm of your hand. As we move forward building our future together, I am asking you to strengthen your engagement. Working side by side with each other, we are stronger, having built a powerful position in this evolving industry. I am honored and proud to work on your behalf. In unity and solidarity, Gabrielle Carteris