SAG-AFTRA Panelists Share Struggles Of Actors Of Middle Eastern & North African Descent

SAG-AFTRA president Gabrielle Carteris has been elected president of the International Federation of Actors – the first American to ever hold the position. She was elected by delegates attending FIA’s 22nd World Congress.

Some 50,000 session musicians and background singers will be sharing more than $70 million in royalties collected by the AFM & SAG-AFTRA Intellectual Property Rights Distribution Fund – the largest distribution in the fund’s history. The average payment is about $1,500, but some performers are receiving well above that amount. Checks started going out April 30.

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SAG-AFTRA has told its members not to work on an indie movie called The Curse of the Clown Motel. The union says the producer, Kalon Entertainment, “has failed to demonstrate its compliance with SAG-AFTRA’s required Covid-19 safety standards and protocols for a safe set.”

SAG-AFTRA announced Thursday the launch ofanew sexual harassment reporting platform as well as the first industry-wide accreditation for intimacy coordinator training programs and registry. SAG-AFTRA's Intimacy Coordinator training accreditation and registry programs aim to expand the number of experienced professionals to serve in this role nationwide.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterSAG-AFTRA unveiled an accreditation program and a registry for intimacy coordinators on Thursday, as part of the union’s broader efforts to combat sexual harassment on set.The union has been involved in standardizing the intimacy coordinator profession since 2019.

SAG-AFTRA has launched a new digital platform that will allow members and third-party witnesses to report incidents of sexual harassment in the workplace, which will also allow the union to track repeat offenders. During a press conference today, the union also unveiled new standards for the training, registration and continuing education of intimacy coordinators who oversee sex scenes in films and TV shows.

Alicia Keys is clearly passing down her incredible musical skills to her youngsters! The Grammy-winning artist, 40, took to her Instagram on April 27 and posted a video with an old fashioned filter over the footage of her 10-year-old-son, Egypt, playing the piano and singing with his mom! In the clip, which you can see below, Alicia Keys’ eldest son sat poised at the family piano, where he began playing the iconic riff to the song “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” by Eurythmics.

Ensuring that hair and makeup departments are inclusive in their ability to work effectively with actors of color will be explored during a virtual panel discussion next month hosted by the Producers Guild of America in collaboration with the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, the Gersh talent agency and Management 360. The panel, “Hair and Makeup Equity – Changing the Industry Standard,” is set for May 11.

Premier League’s newly-created Hall of Fame has been revealed. On Monday, the Premier League’s all-time leading goalscorer Alan Shearer and Arsenal legend and four-time Golden Boot winner Thierry Henry became the first inductees into the Premier League Hall of Fame, which celebrates the best players to have graced the division since its inception in 1992.

Nomadland’s award for Best Picture. McDormand served as a producer on Chloe Zhao’s independent drama, in which she also stars as a woman struggling to stay afloat on the fringes of society.

Stacey Solomon has never been one to shy away from the awkward issues and has for the first time shared her secret mental health struggle in a recent interview.

Lebanese actresses and real-life sisters, Manal and Nathalie Issa have been cast to play real-life sisters Yusra and Sarah Mardini in Netflix and Working Title's new drama The Swimmer. The film, which Welsh/Egyptian filmmaker Sally El Hosaini (My Brother the Devil) is directing, traces the incredible journey of the Mardini sisters who escaped war-torn Syria, dragging a dinghy of refugees to safety across the Aegean Sea, and made it all the way to the 2016 Rio Olympics.