IS A SAG FRANCHISED AGENCY REALLY IMPORTANT?

IS A SAG FRANCHISED AGENCY REALLY IMPORTANT?

Not signing with an agency because they are not a so-called “SAG Franchised agency is a colossal mistake. SAG continues to lie year after year (since 2002) and tells actors that they must be signed by a SAG Franchised agent if they are members of SAG. If that were the case SAG would lose half of it’s membership and the whole industry would collapse. The fact is that most of the valuable commercial and theatrical talent agents are NOT SAG franchised. Agents such as Acme, Abrams, AKA, Commercial Talent, Commercial Unlimited, CESD, Coast To Coast, Sutton, Barth and Vennari, Pantheon etc… are not SAG Franchised and have not been since the new contract agreement was not ratified in April of 2002.

Most of the reputable Non-Franchised agents still abide by the standard SAG contract rules (rule’s 16 a, and 16 g, see SAG website for details).

Other Non SAG Franchised agents offer General Service Agreements or GSA’s. Most General Service agreements require that the actor pay the agent from 10 to 20 percent commissions all jobs booked and a probationary period of 4 months (the actor can terminate the contract if the actor has not booked a job in 4 months) or a 1 year term contract agreement if at least one job has been booked.

As long as the agent you are considering agrees with the above terms, the relationship has a good chance of being productive and you should sign after you’ve considered all of your options.

In summary,

IT DOES NOT MATTER IF THE AGENT IS NOT SAG FRANCHISED. DO NOT FALL FOR THIS DIRTY LIE THAT SAG STILL PERPETUATES BECAUSE SAG IS ANGRY WITH NON-SAG FRANCHISED AGENTS FOR NOT SIGNING THE NEW AGREEMENT IN 2002.

Ken Jones,

www.info4actor.com