SAG-AFTRA to Members: ‘Your Union Has Your Back’ on Coronavirus Impact

Bonnie Tracy is ready to “kick” some a**.

Citing the coronavirus pandemic, SAG-AFTRA’s 80-member board of directors has delegated its authority to its 38-member executive committee.

SAG-AFTRA president Gabrielle Carteris didn’t use to spend a lot of time in the house. More often, she could be found at the union’s Los Angeles headquarters, or around town with friends and family, at meetings or visiting the organization’s offices in New York or across the country.

Broadway star Ruthie Ann Miles revealed she is pregnant almost two years after losing her unborn baby months after her 4-year-old daughter was killed in a car crash.

SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris has issued a video detailing the union’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.

By David Robb

The unions representing arts, media and entertainment are calling on Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Congress to pass emergency relief legislation that both enhances and expands state unemployment benefits, and sends direct cash to the impacted workers they represent.

SAG-AFTRA’s national headquarters in Los Angeles has been closed due to minimize the risk of exposure to the coronavirus.

The Casting Society of America and SAG-AFTRA Foundation have united to schedule an online panel Friday at 5:30 p.m. PT.  As productions shut down and producers continue to look for talent, the partnership between CSA and SAG-AFTRA is an unprecedented one, but necessary as a response to the coronavirus pandemic.

After 17 years helping to develop the AEG Presents New York office into a live music promotional powerhouse, senior vp Mark Shulman is leaving the company.

The Avatar sequels have halted production in New Zealand amid the global coronavirus pandemic.

Production of three “Avatar” sequels in New Zealand has been put on hold as a precaution against the coronavirus outbreak.

In today’s film news roundup, a disaster fund for SAG-AFTRA members is launched, the Doc10 festival is postponed and the Miami Film Festival plans to present awards, even though the event was called off in the middle of the festival with 27 films still to screen.

Justin Timberlake publicly apologized to wife Jessica Biel after he was photographed holding hands with his costar Alisha Wainwright in November. 

Trustees of the SAG-AFTRA Health Plans have announced that there will be no charge for coronavirus testing for participants in the plans.

SAG-AFTRA expanded its anti-harassment language in its corporate/educational and non-broadcast contract, explicitly banning auditions in hotel rooms, on Wednesday — the same day Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison on charges of sexual assault and third-degree rape.

The major studios have made their first big move in the 2020 cycle of labor negotiations with Hollywood unions. Now, the industry is waiting to see how that opening bid plays with the two unions that could be hot zones of volatility later this year: the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA.

SAG-AFTRA has suspended all in-person union meetings to help stop the spread of coronavirus.