A MORE PERFECT UNION MEMBER

"Over here! Hire me!"

 At my age, so the experts say, it's good, even necessary, to take a few chances,
have a new challenge or two, to keep your mental and physical skills intact.

Yesterday, I took a chance that would be considered financial to any right-thinking person. After a decade of doing background work as a non-union extra, I finally joined SAG-AFTRA. 

If you've been paying attention to the news or even this blog (hah!), you might think that such a move is like joining an anti-war movement the day after Pearl Harbor. But seeing that there have been fewer non-union gigs available, I couldn't possibly work less than I have been for the last year without giving up entirely.

1933: George Raft, Warner Oland, Fredric March,
Adolphe Menjou, Groucho Marx, and James
Cagney join SAG. Now they have great looks.

Union extras have been urging me to join, with everyone telling me that I have a "great look". Well yes, that's true. So why wasn't I being hired? These people were all in my age range, so maybe, as SAG members, they were getting the jobs I could do. 

I'd put off joining for years, despite qualifying early on. Back then, one had to jump through hoops to become SAG, or so I was told. Too, I'd heard horror stories about extras who joined, only to barely work again, if at all. Not being the gambling type, I decided to stay in my non-union lane, believing that more work at lower pay was better than less work at higher. 

That actually worked out for a long time. My spreadsheet shows close to 300 gigs from 2016-2024 -- fewer than many of my colleagues, but still enough to keep me working fairly regularly. As I've mentioned before, the 2024 strike, along with health issues that kept me sidelined for a few months, changed that. In the last year, I've worked three, count 'em, three times.

At least I won't have to go through this for a few
more years.

So why join? It boils down to, Well, what the hell, why not? There are certainly a few reasons why I probably shouldn't, like wondering if I'll make back the entry fee (that's the financial challenge mentioned near the beginning of this piece), along with the biannual dues. I mean, I can afford it at this stage of my life. But is it worth it?

It worked for Chaplin.

Maybe. A while ago, I grew a goatee, which got me a gig. When I showed up on the first of my three-day shoot, they decided I'd look better with just the moustache. Bzzzz went the beard. Thinking it was an interesting change-up, I kept my new look. Last week I was hired for a three-day gig on another production because of the mustache. 

It would be nice if the one-two punch of moustache and SAG membership proves to be the key to a resurgence in employment. If not... well, at least my obituary will describe me as a proud member of SAG-AFTRA. I might not become part of the 2% to 5% of the 160,000 members who make a living at it, but I'm officially retired anyway. 

On the other hand...

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