I saw this on a resume and I am confused! HELP?

Question

Okay, so I may sound totally naive buts it better to ask than to never know. What does AEA, SAG, AFTRA mean/stand for? I'm a little bit confused.

Answer 1

Yup, these are acting unions. If you belong to the union, you can only do union productions, but you get paid better and benefits and all that. Each union has different regulations for what you need to do to join.  

Answer 2

If its related to acting would SAG be Screen Actors Guild..  I would imagine the others are similar

Answer 3

they are unions. Once you work on certain projects you can join unions and afterwards you can only participate in union jobs and you can only have a union agent. but union projects have beter pay and are usually the more well known projects. All in all, it's usually better to be a member of a union. It's really hard to become a member of one though. Good luck

Answer 4

Everybody's got it...AEA covers stage actors and stage managers, SAG more for film actors, and AFTRA covers radio, TV and some film.  They all have really neat web sites with a lot of resources.

Answer 5

sag is the screen actors guild, and aftra and aea are also acting federations that cost money and are for more experienced actors to join.

Answer 6

I think it may be in regards to

SAG - screen actors guild

AEA -   Actors' Equity Association

AFTRA - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists

Answer 7

AEA is Actors Equity

SAG is Screen ACtors Guild

AFTRA is American Federation of Television and Radio Artists

These are unions that help performers get better pay and working conditions than they otherwise might.

However the downside of these unions being in existence is that they negotiate contracts that require productions to only hire union help. That means that those starting out might get shut out of a production that they would otherwise get.

There ARE exceptions to most closed shop agreements  and if a director or producer REALLY wants you, your not belonging to a union will not stop him/her from hiring you. However if you already ARE a member of the union it makes certain things easier.

There is also a bit of a reassurance built into seeing the initials on a resume. It generally means that the person HAS worked before.