VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[oldvoicehag]

I know this is a touchy subject. I have been union for several years, in a heavy "core" city. I have been very fortunate to have secured many national clients, but the tide is changing here, and so has my personal financial situation. (recently divorced)
I have been very good at converting my non-broadcast jobs to union jobs, but Im having NO LUCK in persuading commercial clients to becoming sigs. I feel terrible for doing this, and it has caused me many sleepless nights. I ultimately have to do what is best for me, even though it is with a heavy heart.
I turned down approximately 15k in non-union work last year, and thats too big a number to ignore. I know the dangers of working for sub par rates, and before going union, my non union clients always paid me well above scale, to compensate for taxes, H&R, etc.
My, Im rambling on to justify my decision, arent I?
I have scoured the internet for sample letters, but can only find letters that would be appropriate for plumbers...nothing for actors.
I have read on some sites I have to resign, then re-enter as core. Cant I just send a letter to my local stating I am declaring myself core? I dont even want the reduced dues, which I would be entitled to pay. I just want to be placed on core status....in case I need to utilize this option.
Any ideas or resources? (other than calling me a scab???)
Thank you.

[Deirdre]

No name-calling allowed here, and besides "Scab" doesn't fit.

There are ways to make non-union work into union work-- the paymasters have become a helpful lot.

There was a recent piece by Pat Fraley about making a non-union gig fit the union financial requirements on Voice 123 or Voice . com.

Can anybody find that link?
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DBCooperVO.com
IMDB

[SoundsGreat-Elaine Singer]

Here's the URL from voices.com

http://tinyurl.com/y6a6zb
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Elaine
The Youthful Mature Voice (Emeritus)
Senectitude is not for the faint of heart.

[asnively]

Another option is to use a signatory and talent payment company, They handle it all for you so that anybody can hire union talent:

Dave & Dave
www.everythingvo.com (click on recording studio icon)

Spotpay
www.spotpay.net

Entertainment Partners
www.entertainmentpartners.com

Talent Partners
www.talentpartners.com

CrewStar
www.crewstar.com
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gremlin marijuana

[oldvoicehag]

Yes, I am aware of the sig/paymaster option, but there are a few who want no part of that option. Thanks, though!

[ConnieTerwilliger]

From my experience - simply send a registered letter to the union stating that as a member in good standing you are changing your status to that of Financial Core Non-Member.

They will make the change - you do not have to do anything else. Your invoice will look identical. It will still says "dues" - not 'fee" - and it will be insignificantly less than what you were paying before.

Regarding the Paymaster Sig route...there are very few who tackle broadcast projects due to the residual issues. But I'm going to look at those links Amy - but someone has to sign the paperwork agreeing to pay residuals!

This is a great form from the "spotpay" site for estimating what you "should" be getting.

http://www.spotpay.net/download/tal_advice07.pdf

But has anyone ever had any success at getting someone to actually sign this next form?

http://www.spotpay.net/download/I-AftTVAssum03.pdf

Another option is to be a Signatory yourself and run all the work through your company. Piles of paperwork and lots of phone calls...in my personal experience, not worth it for the independent. But then, I wasn't in a market that had national spot work. I get more opportunties for national jobs today due to the Internet - and in fact most of my AFTRA work in recent years has come from out of my market.

If every member who has made this decision, or will be making this decision, would include a letter of explanation as a separate page to the basic statement, I think the union might become more informed as to the reasons so many former members have gone FC.

In my case - after many years in AFTRA as a leader, the work dried up to nothing - there are no station sigs, and a tiny handful of ad agency and production company sigs doing spots. There are still SAG jobs in town, but as voice talent, SAG work is limited. The last SAG job I did was an Ultra Low Budget Film Narration - can't live on those rates! The SAG rate is far lower than my usual rate. The producer was nice enough to go triple overscale to make the trip to the studio worth the time.

I am doing full time voice work today BECAUSE I had to join AFTRA way back in the 70's - I did nothing but AFTRA jobs when I was working as talent (I was also producing and writing). But it is a different time and the realities of working in the global marketplace have not made it into the current union structure.

If everyone goes FC, then the union would have to evolve into something else - perhaps an association of professionals - not a traditional union. We are not carpenters - we cannot go down to the union hall and stand in line for the next available job.

And like you "oldvoicehag" (please join the group - don't just pop in with this question and disappear - sounds like you would be a great addition to the depth of experience this group has to offer) - I agonized over the decision for a very long time. If I lived in LA or New York or Chicago, I very likely would not have made the decision I did.

But we do what we have to do to work in our chosen field and pay the mortgage. While I do understand the importance of sticking together and the original concept of Rule 1, times have changed. Signatories have disappeared. And I have never understood the union argument that says if you can't do union work you should wait tables or sell real estate. Sorry, I want to work in my field thank you very much.
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Playing for a living...
www.voiceover-talent.com
YouTube Channel: http://youtube.com/connieterwilliger

[bobsouer]

[oldvoicehag]

Thank you all. Connie- that is exactly the issue-residuals. Funny thing is, my n/u clients would always pay me the session fee if they ran the spot outside of the standard 13 week period.
I guess I should have mentioned this earlier....I am was a board member. I sent in my letter of resignation last week. As soon as this gets out, it will be ugly. I have my union made Kevlar vest ready to go.
Our local did away wih "self-sigs" a few years ago, alowing no new self sigs, but allowed the thers to remain. National was really cracking down on it, and it was a huge pain in the butt.
Living in a "fly-over" market is a completely different beast. The coasts have no issues with getting sigs. I have had my national accounts for 4 years now, and as we all know, that is a long time for a retail gig.
I would love to convert work, for my benefits alone, but the handwriting is on the wall. Non broadcast is easy to convert, but broadcast? Well, we know all the reasons.
Our local has been trying to undo the damages caused by a strong armed Executive Director from the 90's. This person caused 80% of our union work to go bye-bye. We have had a wonderful director for the past 3 years, who has been successful in instituting new local/regional codes, etc. She is resigning, and we have a big wig coming in.
I had the opportunity to go to the AFTRA convention in 2005, and wow....it was disappointing, to say the least. National really doesnt give 2 craps about the fly over regions. Look at the locals that have had to close, or consolidate.
I was on the non broadcast steering committee. My main beef with National was that if there are different rates/units for broadcast work, shouldnt that apply for non-broadcast? They fought us tooth and nail. We didnt want a ridiculously lowered rate, but location should be a consideration.
Our local even adopted a "screw National" , let's do it until we get caught attitude. Our non-broadcast work is GONE. We have no choice. We have also been able to gather our n/u talent to guide them with rates. Sort of a non-union-union.
Its like beating your head with a mic stand.