How Do I Get Into SAG?
Getting into SAG is an important thing in an actor’s career. The pay jump alone is substantially better and along with the pay hike, one also gets medical insurance and other benefits.
The most likely way for an extra that has been doing non-union work to get into the union is to get hired as a SAG extra for three days. At this point, SAG is obligated to take you into the union.
So how does one get hired as a SAG extra when one is not a member? The easiest way is to accumulate 3 SAG vouchers. How do you do this you ask?
Every production is required to hire a certain number of SAG members for each day of filming. On a feature, the first 30 extras hired must be SAG members. If this rule wasn’t in place, productions would only have non-union members on the set because they are so much cheaper for the studio or whoever is financing the film.
Anyway, on occasion, a SAG member won’t show up on the set or is so late that the crew has decided to go on without them. At that point, the production has to give that person’s SAG voucher to a non-union extra. Along with the lucky person getting a bump in pay for that day, the voucher that will count towards 1 of the 3 he needs to get into the union.
The person who hands out the voucher is the AD or Assistant Director and it’s totally up to his discretion as to whom he gives it to. As you can already guess, it’s good to be tight with that person as it could benefit you greatly when this time comes.
Once you get your 3 SAG vouchers, you’re eligible to become a member. The current cost to join is just over $1000 but the benefits will outweigh the cost to become a member.
