I’ve been to Missouri once. I was flown out to be a part of the American Academy of Arts’ Indie Filmmaker’s Bootcamp in the summer of 2005. I remember it being very hot, but also a total blast of an experience. I covered the “how to” of casting for these aspiring filmmakers involved in a long weekend of camp, basically. By the end of the experience, they had a short film, which they hadn’t even conceived when they arrived and met one another. Well, Kim Swanson works in Missouri fulltime, and handles casting for all sorts of projects, union and nonunion! When should Midwest actors join the unions? Read on for Kim’s POV.
Union or Non?
I’m fortunate enough to cast union and nonunion projects alike. Because of this, one of the most often asked question by talent is, “should I join the union?” When you became an actor, you became the product you are marketing. Only you own and control your product. As the CEO of your own company, you need to make the big decisions by researching your market and knowing your product.
The production industry needs both union and nonunion talent. They must coexist and one cannot survive without the other. People tend to forget that in order for someone to join most performance unions, someone must Taft-Hartley them. If you aren’t familiar with this term, the simplistic explanation is when a nonunion person is hired to work on a union project, a Taft-Hartley Report is completed. This lets the appropriate union know the actor has been hired and why they were selected for the project. This is how the union is able to track which nonunion people are working under the union umbrella, and when they have reached their limit of continuing to work under that umbrella before being required to join. This is also how the union keeps tabs on which casting directors, producers, and directors are and are not honoring “preference of employment.” With the Taft-Hartley Report, I am required to provide a headshot and resume of that talent, showing they are experienced and deserving of the role they have been awarded. Since they can’t get a union job without a resume (also known as “experience”), they have to have had nonunion experience. The main selling points any union has when convincing clients to utilize union workers, is that their workers are supposedly more experienced or better trained. Without that experience or training, the union loses much of their ability to negotiate for the wages, working conditions, and benefits they exist to obtain and maintain for their members.
Additionally, when nonunion talent work hard to improve their craft so they can have those opportunities to join a union — and when they come to their auditions prepared, professional, and ready — union talent have no choice but to stay on their toes if they want to continue to work. The bar continues to be raised. It’s not necessarily a fair assumption that union talent are always the best. As we tend to have more nonunion opportunities than union opportunities in our market, many of the strongest talent make the conscious choice to remain nonunion. Please don’t misunderstand me: I’m not saying the union talent are weaker or less worthy options; the best choice depends on the needs of the project.
Producers often assume that nonunion shoots are less expensive than union shoots, and talent may assume that union pay will be higher than nonunion pay. Neither of those thoughts are true 100% of the time. Union rates tend to drive the going rates and standards on nonunion jobs (therefore, nonunion workers have consistently improved rates and benefits), and yes, those union rates and tables are often taken into consideration by producers, then knocked down a bit to come up with a nonunion rate. (And, don’t shoot the messenger! Casting directors are not in charge of budgets, and not only do we not get to decide how much nonunion talent are paid, we are often not even consulted. Budgets are usually figured before a casting director is brought onto a project.) Frankly, some producers simply dislike and refuse to work with unions, and are willing to pay higher rates for nonunion talent for that very reason.
So, back to the original question: To join or not to join. What are your goals? Where are you with your acting career? You may absolutely love your craft, but for various reasons, may not be in a position to pursue that passion fulltime. Perhaps you just want or need to continue to build your resume, or you just enjoy the creative outlet and have no intention of ever making it a fulltime career or focus. You may like having a hobby that pays you. If that’s the case, you probably aren’t ready to join the union. The joining fees can be pretty hefty, and ethically, once you join the union, you are expected to only audition for and accept union work. If you are in a smaller market, this could limit your opportunities. Yes, Honorable Withdrawal and Fi-Core happen, but that’s an entirely different (and big) discussion we’ll save for another time.
If you plan to pursue acting fulltime, feel ready, and your market has union opportunities, join a union. It’s been my experience that talent from smaller markets who head to a larger market without that union card end up regretting that decision more often than not. Most of their time and resources are spent chasing down the chance to get that voucher and get that Taft-Hartley. Quite often, agents in larger markets won’t have you on their radar without that union card in your pocket. They know it’s more difficult to market you to jobs that include residuals. (Residuals = more money for the agents, in addition to talent. And let’s be honest, agents aren’t in business because they like you. They are in business to make money and earn a living.) Since there are far fewer union talent in smaller markets, your chances of a casting director being able to let a nonunion person even audition is much higher. Because the union talent pool in smaller markets is smaller, your competition for jobs is much less, as well. Get that card before leaving the smaller market.
There are many advantages to hanging onto your nonunion status. It gives you the chance to build that resume and to build your reel, both of which are great tools for building your career. Casting directors need to see you can do the work, and seeing you have a resume that shows we are right helps us help you. In our Midwest market, nonunion rates are on the rise, as many producers would rather just pay a one-time flat rate and not have to deal with additional paperwork or residual payments down the road.
What are the advantages to joining the union? You get all the benefits of the union’s protection. With the union, there are far more regulations and rules in place that protect you. It is more difficult for an agent to take more than 10% of your pay without consequences. You won’t see a commercial you shot five years ago continue to run, making your face is synonymous with that product (and yet, your paycheck was spent many moons ago). Do you want acting to be your primary financial support? Then join the union.
There is no perfect nonunion or union world. Only one person can know if joining the union is right for you. It’s not a casting director. It’s not an agent. It’s you.
Thanks, Kim. Many of our POV contributors from minor markets — especially those in right-to-work states — encourage actors to be very, very sure before joining a union. I agree that it’s a personal decision and one that is often made prematurely. I’d also like to clarify, since Kim mentioned both Fi-Core and Honorable Withdrawal in the same sentence, that, that Honorable Withdrawal is the status you take when you have chosen to no longer pursue a career in acting. I went on Honorable Withdrawal when I left acting for writing and casting. It means I have no intention of auditioning for or performing professional acting work of union or nonunion status, anywhere. Fi-Core is a federally-mandated union-allowed status that — while it weakens the bargaining power of the union — allows union actors to become dues-paying nonmembers while they continue to pursue work as actors. Read more about that controversial issue here.
About Kim Swanson
As a performer, Kim Swanson began performing as a dancer at the age of four. She studied dance with the most respected master instructors in the field of dance and went on to dance with several dance companies including “Jazz Works,” “La Troupe de Jazz,” “The Company,” “The Toledo Ballet,” “L’ Jazz,” and “Giordano Dance Company.” She continued her stage career, appearing in George M! and A Chorus Line. She also appeared in several national television commercials, print ads, and on film. After working as a professional dancer and actress, she opened The Studio, Inc., one of the most respected dance training facilities in the St. Louis metropolitan area, which is currently in its 18th dance season. The first two projects Kim completed casting for won Emmy Awards. Since then, she became the first casting director in the state of Missouri to become a member of the CSA. She has completed casting for international feature film projects — the first of which earned best movie, best actor, and best actress awards in Beijing — music videos, national television commercials, and print advertisements, having completed casting for more than 200 projects. In addition, she has become an advocate of young talent, and assisted many in their pursuit for ethical representation within the film community. Hanson Entertainment Industries, Inc., currently maintains a database list of more than 4500 talent. For more information about Kim Swanson, please visit CastingByKim.com.
This contribution originally ran at Bonnie Gillespie’s online column on February 1, 2010.