Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/16674
SAG/MILAGRO DIVERSITY ACTING WORKSHOP A HIT WITH PARTICIPANTS “I cannot tell you how thrilled I am to have been part of such a beautiful project,” said Elijah Kahara, an up-and- coming actor and participant in May 7’s successful Screen Actors Guild’s Diversity Acting Workshop at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Sante Fe, N.M. “I mean the work that SAG, Milagro and the New Mexico Film Office have done, it’s just phenomenal.” Te invitation-only program was part of Milagro at Los Luceros, a new initiative formed by Robert Redford and the state of New Mexico to create and expand training programs in film, arts and the environment, concentrating on Hispanic, Native American, African American and other underrepresented voices in New Mexico. Approximately 100 new actors, seasoned actors and industry professionals participated in the Business of Acting ON SET SAG ON YOUR S creen Actors Guild is here to negotiate and enforce the terms of your contracts. But we can’t do it without your help. As we and our sister union AFTRA move together into the negotiations for the TV/Teatrical Contract, we have just completed a Wages and Working and Camera Technique Workshop, while a handful of new actors, including Kahara, were able to take part in the Cold Reading Workshop with high-profile SAG members. Te program was presented by Screen Actors Guild President’s National Task Force for American Indians. Mentors and panelists included task force members Ed Harris (Apollo 13, A History of Violence, Pollock, Te Hours), Anne Sward Hansen (As the World Turns) and Kalani Queypo (Into the West); actors Irene Bedard (Smoke Signals, Crazy Horse, Pocahontas), Lora Cunningham (Te Book of Eli), Gary Farmer (Smoke Signals, Skins), Jill Momoday Gray (Coyote Waits, Natural Born Killers), David House (In the Valley of Elah, Suspect Zero) and Steven Michael Quezada (Breaking Bad, Love Ranch); playwright-actor Bruce King; casting director Rene Haynes (Twilight Saga); and director-producer Chris Eyre (Smoke Signals, We Shall Remain, Skins). “I am very pleased with this joint effort among Screen Actors Guild, Robert Redford Enterprises, the New Mexico Film Office and the state of New Mexico to provide new actors from underrepresented communities with the skills, tools and opportunities SIDE Conditions process. Members met in Hollywood, New York and throughout the Branches to educate themselves on the contents of the contracts. As importantly, they also reported work problems and suggested solutions to the W&W committee. Tis process has been a critical part of every negotiation that SAG has held on every contract. We can’t negotiate without your help. Your unique experiences working day to day give us valuable information. As the negotiations proceed, we draw our strength and our power from the combined will of the members. Nothing can be accomplished to benefit the members unless you, the members, support what the union is doing. If you do, then we become a formidable force, and our employers know it. If you don’t, our employers know that too. to be competitive and successful in the television and film industry,” said Rebecca Yee, national director of SAG Affirmative Action and Diversity. “Tis program is an example of the benefits of affirmative action. No quotas or mandatory hiring— just doing what we can to level the playing field that is clearly still very unequal.” Te positive feedback from the program was overwhelming, but workshop participant Kahara perhaps said it best: “I’m excited. I’m ready to get cast.” At the SAG Diversity Acting Workshop in Santa Fe, director Chris Eyre, left, and actors Ed Harris, David House and Lora Cunningham, right, are entertained by an anecdote by fellow actor Steven Michael Quezada. Once we have reached an agreement with the employers, you, the members, must ratify the deal. Without your agreement, there is no contract. And once there is a contract, it cannot be enforced without your help, because you are the eyes and ears of your union. Only you can make the union aware of abuses. Only you can make the union aware of new and possibly unfair practices on the set, even those that may not have clearly defined parameters in the contracts. If you don’t let the unions know what’s going on, then you can’t expect the unions to address the problems. Won’t reporting problems and violations to the union cause problems for you? Isn’t it better just to have your agent try to handle it, or better still, to try to handle it yourself? Continues on page 35 WE’VE GOT YOUR BACK: Check out SAG.org’s SAG TV for actors telling their member-to-member stories about how the Guild is on your side. Have a story of your own to share on SAG TV? E-mail movehollywood@sag.org (in Hollywood) or movenewyork@sag.org (in New York). SAG.org Summer 2010 - SCREEN ACTOR 15