SAG-AFTRA will present a wide array of 20 professional development programs, as well as a special keynote panel, at its inaugural national convention taking place Sept. 26-29 at the JW Marriott Los Angeles L.A. LIVE.
A total of 14 panels and six workshops will be presented to member delegates attending the convention, which brings together union leaders, delegates and invited guests. The featured programs are designed to further the union’s mission of organizing all work done under its jurisdictions; negotiating the best wages, working conditions, and health and pension benefits; preserving and expanding members’ work opportunities; vigorously enforcing its contracts; and protecting members against unauthorized use of their work.
A special keynote panel session, Conversation From the Leading Edge, will take place on Friday, Sept. 27 in the main convention hall. The panel features a thoughtful discussion among leaders engaged in innovation in areas that affect the SAG-AFTRA membership. Panel participants will discuss how technology, art and business models are undergoing rapid change and share their varied perspectives on where all this change is headed.
Keyvan Peymani, head of digital at ICM, will moderate a panel that includes Terry City, VP West Coast, Buzzfeed; Thania Guardino, marketing and accounts exec, Somo Mobile Ltd., Greg Siegel, SVP entertainment development, Break Media; and D.A. Wallach, recording artist and artist-in-residence at Spotify.
The list of breakout sessions of panels and workshops (listed alphabetically) are as follows:
PANELS
• The Affordable Care Act: Everything you wanted to know … and more!
• Background Actors: E pluribus unum
• Broadcast Personal Services Contracts Primer
• Casting & Auditions: Your Rights and Obligations
• Collective Bargaining in Broadcast Shops
• Commercials 101: The Game Show
• Contracts 101: Overview of the Actor/Performer Collective Bargaining Agreements
• Introduction to the New Media Agreement
• Media Industry Outlook
• New Business Models in the Age of Digital Media
• Presentation of Study: Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity Diversity in the Industry
• Public Policy: Making Government Work for SAG-AFTRA Members
• Speak Up: Audiobooks Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
• Stuntpersons, Singers and Dancers: Common and Unique Problems
WORKSHOPS
• Agency: State of the Franchise(s)
• Create Your Own Script-to-Screen Program
• Equal Employment Opportunity: Know Your Rights
• Organizing: Ever feel like you’re doing it all wrong? Sharing Lessons from Successful Campaign and Recruitment Strategies
• Play or pause? Take care of your voice; it takes care of you.
• Social Media and IP for Performers
The special keynote panel session is open to convention delegates and invited guests only. Breakout sessions of panels and workshops are educational opportunities available specifically for convention delegates only. For more information about the SAG-AFTRA inaugural convention, please visit SAGAFTRACONVENTION.org.
About SAG-AFTRA
SAG-AFTRA represents more than 165,000 actors, announcers, broadcast journalists, dancers, DJs, news writers, news editors, program hosts, puppeteers, recording artists, singers, stunt performers, voiceover artists and other entertainment and media professionals. SAG-AFTRA members are the faces and voices that entertain and inform America and the world. A proud affiliate of the AFL-CIO, SAG-AFTRA has national offices in Los Angeles and New York and local offices nationwide representing members working together to secure the strongest protections for entertainment and media artists into the 21st century and beyond. Visit SAG-AFTRA online at SAGAFTRA.org.
Pamela Greenwalt SAGAFTRA.org Phone: 323-549-6872 Contact Pamela via email
“ฦvolution” Comes Full Circle At The Chelsea Film Festival
The Chelsea Film Festival, running from October 16th through October 20th, 2024, at Regal Cinemas here in Union Square, is set to host the East Coast premiere of ฦvolution, a thought-provoking experimental micro-short film that proves big ideas can come in small packages and in perfect circles.
In just 1 minute 16 seconds, this cinematic gem by Award-Winning Director Romina Schwedler, with original music by Argentine Composer Ignacio Montoya Carlotto, explores a cycle as old as time: life leads to progress, progress leads to destruction, and destruction, well, leads back to life. But is this vicious circle unbreakable? ฦvolutionย suggests the answer is yes, unless we decide to open our eyes.
Inspired by the overwhelming number of recent events that threaten human existence,ย ฦvolution, possibly the shortest film in this 12th edition of the festival, plays out entirely through the symbolism of circles, cleverly illustrating โin the blink of an eyeโ the repeating patterns of history, and confronting viewers with the uncomfortable truth that our so-called โprogressโ may, in fact, be guiding us to our own ruin.Premiering at the Regal 14 Union Square, New York City, on October 18, 2024, at 11 a.m., Romina Schwedler's micro-short, featuring Leah Young with cinematography by Alan J. Carmona, will be sure to spark conversations longer than the film itself! Forcing viewers to reconsider the true meaning of evolution, not just as a biological process, but as a reflection of our collective journey as humans.
With a string of festival appearances across the globe, including CineGlobe at CERN (Switzerland/France), Oscarยฎ... Read More