Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/754215
38 SAG-AFTRA | Fall 2016 | SAGAFTRA.org WGA West, the Association of Talent Agents, the AARP of California, California Federation of Labor President Art Pulaski, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Reps Ted Lieu and Brad Sherman, and thousands of SAG-AFTRA members who wrote and called to express their support, was signed into law by Brown on Sept. 24. The law will take effect on Jan. 1. "Gov. Jerry Brown today stood with thousands of film and television professionals and concerned Californians who urged him to sign AB 1687, a California law that will help prevent age discrimination in film and television casting and hiring," said Carteris. Ageism is rampant in the entertainment industry — and the problem is worse for women. Earlier this year, Kim Cattrall told ABC that women's "expiration date" was 35 in the entertainment industry. Cattrall stars in Sensitive Skin, a Netflix series about a former model facing aging. "Younger is not where it's at. Older and feeling young is where it's at," she said. In 2015, women worked only 38 percent of all jobs under SAG-AFTRA's major TV, movie and new media contracts, despite the fact that they make up more than half of the U.S. population and nearly the same percentage of the union's membership. For women over 30, the situation is even worse, with women working just over half the number of jobs worked by men over 30. In an Aug. 24 editorial in The Hollywood Reporter, Carteris highlighted the problem with performers' ages being listed on sites like IMDb Pro. "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. The information is put front and center before those making the decisions about whom to audition and whom to hire. Casting personnel practically can't avoid seeing it, even if they try," she said. Her point is that an element of unconscious bias can creep into casting decisions when information on ages is unavoidable. As every actor knows, it's not about what you are, it's about what you can play, and the hope is that with a performer's age out of the spotlight, they can let their acting do the talking. AB 1687 BECOME S LAW Here's an excerpt from the new law. For the complete text, visit leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. 1798.83.5. (a) The purpose of this section is to ensure that information obtained on an internet website regarding an individual's age will not be used in furtherance of employment or age discrimination. (b) A commercial online entertainment employment service provider that enters into a contractual agreement to provide employment services to an individual for a subscription payment shall not, upon request by the subscriber, do either of the following: (1) Publish or make public the subscriber's date of birth or age information in an online profile of the subscriber. (2) Share the subscriber's date of birth or age information with any internet websites for the purpose of publication. (c) A commercial online entertainment employment service provider subject to subdivision (b) shall, within five days, remove from public view in an online profile of the subscriber the subscriber's date of birth and age information on any companion internet websites under its control upon specific request by the subscriber naming the internet websites. A commercial online entertainment employment service provider that permits members of the public to upload or modify internet content on its own internet website or any internet website under its control without prior review by that provider shall not be deemed in violation of this section unless first requested by the subscriber to remove age information. Q Is the ability to request removal of age available only to paid subscribers of subscription websites? A Yes. Websites are only required to respond to requests from paid subscribers. However, nothing in the law prohibits a non-subscriber from making such a request. Q Does this law apply to non-subscription websites with entertainment-related information, like Wikipedia? A No, it only applies to sites that are subscription based and employment related, like IMDb Pro and StudioSystem. Q Will age-related information be taken off both the paid subscription website and a website affiliated with the paid website, such as IMDb Pro and IMDb? A Yes, if the free website is a companion site, the age- related information must be removed from both. FAQ ABOUT THE NEW LAW For more, visit SAGAFTRA.org/ab1687