SAG-AFTRA

Fall 2016

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Many actors have endured age discrimination of some sort throughout their careers. Those isolated, individual cases have now morphed into the almost-automatic age discrimination made possible by the online casting services. –GABRIELLE CARTERIS ot Defined by Our Age Union Successfully Advocates for Law Targeting Ageism SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris is best known to millions as Andrea Zuckerman from Beverly Hills, 90210, but she likely wouldn't have gotten the part if producers knew her real age. At the time, she was 29 and competing with other actors to play the role of a 16-year-old on the show. "If they had looked at my age — there was no subscription website at that time … they may never have brought me in," she told L.A.'s FOX 11 during an interview. "You don't have to be older, in your 40s and 50s. This discrimination exists for people who are younger," she said. Carteris threw her support behind AB 1687, the Customer Records bill, authored by California State Assemblyman Ian Calderon, which gives performers the power to have their birthdates removed from subscription sites used for casting, such as IMDb Pro and StudioSystem. Earlier this year, she testified before the California Senate Judiciary Committee, authored editorials and organized a letter, fax and email campaign to urge Gov. Jerry Brown to sign AB 1687. It was easily passed by the state Legislature and, with the backing of the Teamsters, DGA, N SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris discusses ageism in the entertainment industry and the importance of AB 1687 with Steve Edwards and Araksya Karapetyan on FOX 11's Good Day L.A. on Aug. 29.

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