Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/72909
On Location PERFORMERS REPRESENT AT EXPO P From left, SAG-AFTRA members Nicole Hill and Ray Durand, SAG-AFTRA LGBT Committee member Elli, SAG-AFTRA member Brad Natrixas and SAG-AFTRA LGBT Committee member Ron Belaguer Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Actors Committee proudly supported the Original GLBT Expo by sponsoring an exhibitor booth over the weekend of March 17 and 18. In its 19th year, the GLBT Expo took place at the Jacob K. Javits Center and hosted vendors from a multitude of industries and community- based organizations that shared the common goal of increasing their reach to this distinct and oſten untapped niche market. The Expo regularly draws in more than 20,000 attendees, which made the union's presence this year particularly valuable. Staffed by volunteers from the LGBT rior to merger, the Screen Actors Guild's National Lesbian, Gay, services extended New York through the union's diversity department, and the structure, purpose and advancements of the LGBT Committee were among the many topics which were frequently discussed. In addition, a variety of Actors Committee, the SAG booth offered a plethora of informative materials and personal insight concerning experiences specific to LGBT actors. Necessary steps to join the union, the mission of and SAG-AFTRA LOCAL LEADERS DOUG BOWEN-FLYNN SAG-AFTRA Boston Local Co-President Doug Bowen-Flynn is a Boston-based film, television, commercial and stage actor. He began at the age of 5 in a stage production of The Three Billy Goats Gruff. He has since found success in commercials, although some of this work was for low pay and without health or pension credits, no residuals and no protections. Six years ago, Bowen-Flynn became involved in service to members of SAG. Four years ago, with encouragement from his predecessor, Bill Mootos, he ran for the Boston Branch president's seat and was elected. Having worked under less-than-desirable conditions in the past, Bowen-Flynn said he is "grateful to the generations of actors who came before and worked to secure the terms in our contracts. Volunteering my services to maintain and improve those contracts seems the least I can do to give the next generation of actors the same benefits I enjoy. I have been consistently astounded by the commitment of our members and by what we can accomplish when we unite efforts. We put Boston in the vanguard of the SAG-AFTRA merger movement by hosting AFTRA President [Roberta] Reardon and SAG President [Ken] Howard's first joint meeting for SAG and AFTRA members. The rest, as they say, is history!" PAUL HORN SAG-AFTRA Boston Local Co-President Paul Horn combines his performance work with teaching communications courses at several Boston-area colleges, and coaching corporate clients on presentation and public speaking skills. He started as an AFTRA and SAG member in the mid-'80s as a way to get started in the film business, though he admits it was without any particular appreciation for unions at the time. Horn credits Dona Sommers, past executive director of the Local, with getting him involved in the union, and he later joined the former AFTRA National Board. Horn became a driving force in the Local's organizing efforts for nonbroadcast production, and was elected Boston Local president in the late '90s. When asked about the recent SAG-AFTRA merger, Horn shares that "while there was a certain poignancy in bidding farewell to the people and traditions so many of us had grown fond of in the AFTRA world, it now feels like we'll be free at last to devote more time to the causes and goals that always concerned and united us — negotiating better contracts, organizing non-union work, providing more services to our expanding membership, continuing to attract more production, and recruiting and mentoring our own successors." In each issue, we will profile the president or co-presidents of a SAG-AFTRA Local. 50 SAG-AFTRA | Summer 2012 | SAGAFTRA.org provide support to LGBT actors and to educate the membership, industry, and public on LGBT actors' issues, the GLBT Expo proved to be an overwhelming success. Committee member Ron Belaguer emphasized how important it is for the union to be supportive of such events, "Because we are so much a part of what goes on in this city and in this industry, it is truly great to be here with the support of my colleagues, the union and thousands of New Yorkers under one roof." giveaways were distributed to performers who were able to produce a union card. As the goal of the committee is to Boston