Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1525111
10 SAG-AFTRA | Summer 2024 | sagaftra.org A Letter from the Secretary-Treasurer Fellow Member Siblings, I got a late start to this letter because I always want to bring you encouraging news. And now, finally, hope swells within me as an undeniable vibe change has taken place in our country. I always say our industry is a microcosm of our nation. We're both in a period of transition, and it's going to take a lot of difficult choices as we muster the grit needed to get to the other side. As of press time, members working in the interactive media space are now on strike! Video game performers, we have your back. You are SAG-AFTRA performers. You deserve rights, respect, A.I. protections and gains in compensation. And here is some good news: While the quicksand of transition may be distressing, despite nearly a year without work from the TV/Theatrical/Streaming Contract, our union conserved in many areas. Thanks to our robust investment portfolio, income-producing real estate, and strategic approach to costs, we spent only half of our intended strike budget. Because of this, rockstar CFO Arianna Ozzanto and I were happy to report a surplus at our most recent National Board meeting, and we were able to make a healthy donation to the SAG-AFTRA Foundation to benefit members in need. If you pursue this profession long enough, you'll be well-acquainted with the fact that your career goes through peaks and troughs. The uncertainty can be an existential moment for many. Some blame the current industry slowness on our historic labor action, but such sentiments are misguided. What we accomplished during the summer of 2023 was essential to preserving our profession. And as we make these CEOs our partners again, we must keep reminding them that we are all in the business of creating the visionary art audiences crave. The corporations' current approach to doing business is unsustainable, and I believe they will be forced to reckon with their dwindling subscriber numbers unless they change course. After all, the public wants quality human storytelling, journalism and entertainment, and will not tolerate anything less. There will be a renaissance. And SAG-AFTRA members will be ready for it. Last month, with L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, I attended a groundbreaking at a new 300,000-square-foot production facility in Downtown Los Angeles. The construction of this studio has already resulted in hundreds of jobs, and it will further encourage independent Los Angeles-based production. I'm hoping our legislative allies heard the ground break in Sacramento and will return our healthy tax credits. Here's hoping other states will follow suit so we can keep production in the U.S. Once we all start returning to work, you can have peace of mind knowing — thanks to the contract gains we've achieved — that our voices and likenesses are protected from unauthorized replication and use. The union has also made huge strides in securing legislative A.I. protections for not just SAG-AFTRA members, but for everyone! In addition to all this, I'm heartened by the persistence of the creative community. Our siblings in IATSE have overwhelmingly ratified their union's contract. And, as of this writing, Teamsters and all of the Hollywood Basic Crafts Locals have reached a tentative agreement with the AMPTP. SAG-AFTRA led the way for the industry unions to achieve their gains, making it clear that entertainment workers are entitled to participate in profits in a real way. I got a thrill recently, traveling abroad and seeing that the SAG-AFTRA strike bell rang loudly on the global front, with residents in other nations applauding our accomplishments. And, at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, I was so proud to be a part of the quartet of powerful, diverse women who represent this union — delivering high standards while doing everything "backwards and in heels." Fellow humans of SAG-AFTRA, I am inspired and reinvigorated by the seismic shift that we're all experiencing on a national scale. Look at what's possible when we envision a better world. Always putting the membership first, Joely Fisher J O E LY F I S H E R "There will be a renaissance. And SAG-AFTRA members will be ready for it."