Hi guys,

I am working on a question for my column in Backstage about child actors and Ficor. It seems like parents of child actors have strong opinions on this--whether child actors should be supported in Ficor status since they are so young to commit to the union, etc. I would love your input on this issue--whatever your views. I can keep your name totally out of the piece I am writing, I am just looking for anecdotes, stories, and opinions. If you can help, please private message me here or email me at theworkingactor@gmail.com

Thanks a lot!!
Jackie

I do think kids should be fi-core since Producers never care if the kid they are hiring for a major film is Union or not. It would also be nice to have access to more work and resume building opportunities. lastly, the Union really never consideres the kids and hasent done a whole lot for them to begin with and most kids are already covered by health insurance and/or will never make enough ( as kids)to get it in the first place.
If the Union showed any strength at all and was capable of getting us decent residulas it might be another story. But kids notoriously get the short end of the stick in this business, especially with the uptown agreements. Nick & Disney are the biggest kid employers and they dont give residuals. It's pathetic. But I assume you are talking primarily about SAG?

Absolutely not, I disagree, my kid has gotten great residuals and still does. She had to make all the sacrifices to become SAG/AFTRA/AEA and Fi-Core kids /actors just make it less likely that productions will file for Union contracts..

They will not be kids forever and they will have spent years undermining the Union, it's residuals and protections to become adults and wish they had a strong union that had a robust number of projects that paid decently. All that Fi Core does is allow them to work lousy paying non union jobs that acts as an encoragement to other productions to not bother going Union. As long as Producers feel they can get Union level talent and professionalism from non Union /Fi Core (it's the same thing) people.. they will do so.

I think the trick is to not join any of the unions until you have a fairly significant resume built up as a kid...CD's still don't expect as much from Child actors as adults.

And why should Fi core people get any residuals..., residuals are a gain by the Union for the actors, Fi core underming that very same union deserves nothing.

Nick and disney give residuals to principals

and part of the reason is they are Aftra contracts and Aftra pay is significantly less than SAG and AEA...and the residuals are nowhere near as good...

Hopefully after this last election they will join finally.

Interesting. I'll have to check into the rules. My D has done Principal Nick work and has never gotten a residual check.

She's also done SAG commercials etc. and HAS gotten great residual pay for that.
Fi-Core is certainly a touchy subject and people have strong opinions on where they stand.

I don't feel Aftra has done a whole lot for my child actor and therefore I dont feel they deserve any dues from her.
With the NY SAG office undermining the entire negotiation process last year, i'm not too keen on paying them dues either.

Aftra honestly is not as good or strong a Union...and the residuals are poorer and you have to look at each contract line by line because AFTRA allows each production company a lot of lee way on each contract, you should probably refer back to the contracts and make sure they allowed for residuals.

And actually this all would be moot except that HOLLYWOOD SAG screwed up and wouldn't let the Unions join a few years ago. It is obviously Aftras lower paying contracts and higher thresholds for benifits that undercut negotiations across the board, but that being said, and jurisdictions in place, it means the joining of the Unions is the solution across the board.

And actually it was Hollywood SAG that messed up last year too, first by unilaterally instituting block voting in an attempt to nullify the clout of the regional, NY branches and by doing that nullify Aftras voting positions on joint negotiations...

second by demanding California be the center of the Acting Universe and instead of joining with Aftra to fight Canadian runaway production etc and use that clout to get more tax credits in all states to increase work for everyone...looked to keep the keep everything in CA...and overlook the rest of thier memberships desire to work as well.

We in NY want to work as well...and the regions as well...and every state in the country wants production jobs as well...Hollywood SAG IMO should not be holding a gun to every other locations head in the country thst wants to give acting, production and crew opportunities to people as well..

So no..lastyear would never have happened if SAG and Aftra had joined a few years ago...

Basically I believe that a union is as strong as its members. Did everyone vote in the recent election? We have to keep the elected officials accountable to young performers as well as the adults within the union.

quote:

AFTRA allows each production company a lot of lee way on each contract, you should probably refer back to the contracts and make sure they allowed for residuals

That brings me back to my original statement and was my understanding all along...the Uptown agreement does not mandate residuals. Of course, anything can be negotiated but they arent throwing residual offers to new kids and in the end the kids are getting the short end of the stick with Disney & Nick. I wont speak any more on it until I read the actual wording of the contracts so as not to confuse anyone in case i'm wrong. But it was my understanding all along that yes, residuals can of course be negotiated but they arent a contractual right. Nick & Disney have proven there is no shortage of kids who would sign on to a new show without the benefit of residuals. On top of that, Nickelodeon & Disney want to own everything else you do in perpetuity and have offered contracts basically stating as much. Where is the Aftra protection for kids from this type of contractual abuse?

I agree 100% with you that the Unions should merge. If that can't be accomplished, then Aftra needs to stop poaching SAG shows and do a little more for its youngest members.

quote:

Originally posted by BZ' mom:
Basically I believe that a union is as strong as its members. Did everyone vote in the recent election? We have to keep the elected officials accountable to young performers as well as the adults within the union.

Compared to some of these adult actor forums and heated conversations/complaints about SAG you would believe that the numbers would have been higher, ESPECIALLY with all the issues that need to be addressed in the future and what we just went through with the negotiations...or so they were called negotiations, more like in-fighting like the Hatfield and McCoy feud. Perhaps if efforts were better spent working TOGETHER instead of spending member's money on selfish feuds, then we would see a stronger supportive effort.

I honestly think it's shameful what happened this past year.

http://www.sag.org/files/docum...Election_Results.pdf

Count Mailed:
22,972
Count Returned:
5,997
Percent Returned:
26.11%

http://www.sag.org/files/docum...Election_Results.pdf

Count Mailed: 54,334
Count Returned: 13,718
Percent Returned: 25.25%

As far as the kiddies go, quite honestly, we have not even had a YPC seminar in almost two years - no communication, child performer bills in Conn, Massachussets and regulations are being written in Albany as we speak for our Child Performer law..and there is no information provided for parents.

in NJ, there is a bill too now since 2008. It's not good, so I hope it doesn't move, major issues, including a section that would allow third party persons to be deemed the child's employer for kids working background (think fly-by-night Craigslist casting peeps, come and go background casting so-called agencies and having them handle trust fund accounts and personal info! Your educational benefits are taken away and you will only have a set teacher if your child works more than 2 consecutive days and one little bit of information that perhaps parents should have been updated about...the bill hasn't moved cos it was written/sponsored by a former assemblyman who is now indicted on 5 counts of child pornography, printing out pics of a minor on his work computer..hiding behind a child performer bill! Try googling Assemblyman Neil Cohen.

http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2...ls/A3500/3156_I1.HTM

the bill was withdrawn, parents never alerted. I think it was VERY important info.

http://www.nj.gov/oag/newsreleases09/pr20090709a.html

http://www.nj.com/news/index.s...an_neil_cohen_1.html

There is another Assemblywoman who picked up t his bill where it left off, sponsoring it BUT no changes made so it was still written and sponsored by someone who apparently had other things on his mind which did not include the welfare of a child.

Last report from SAG was just that there were legislative changes being made in NJ with regard to child performers which, I believe, was also incorporated into an article posted in the Backstage newspaper!

Producer's threatened to leave NY and opt for a state will less restrictions if they had to provide teachers for the kids in NY and our meeting with parents at SAG if anyone was at this seminar with parents two years ago, a very heated discussion happened and basically parents were told that SAG had to take these threats seriously and had to worry about keeping the adult actors working - that was pretty much quoting what was said.

A lot has occurred in the last few years a changing industry being taken over by reality TV as well where real people will work for just their face being on TV and 15 minutes of fame and kids being used in reality TV like the Gosselin children, deemed, we believe as "participants" and endorsing/selling products basically for one hour and besides them being exploited reality tv is taking mega jobs away from real actors! National commercials and real actors endorsements vs freebies by reality TV participants!

Our YPC committee in NY no longer has AFTRA and Equity reps and that was a wonderful thing cos we got to cover all types of media/performances at our seminars and most kids hold at least an AFTRA and SAG card..now it's just SAG and we haven't had a seminar in a very long time.

It's a confusing time, changes being made and it was the wrong time to do a disconnect if we wanted to keep this union strong. The kids pay the same dues and initiation fees but have and will be the last to receive the attention they deserve...

Communication is imperative, newsletter, email to parents..a mention in the SAG Actor magazine with updates. AFTRA, Equity, the same - I see no connection. At least this would have made the kids feel more welcome and just as important as the adult actors, even if their issues are usually the last to be addressed as they ARE a very important part of all three theatrical unions.

And the reason why I never disconnected myself..cos the communication, at least in the east was void. This is all important to make people feel more connected and supportive of their union in any industry.

Actor's Mommy is so right!! We had two bills in CA --one to curb the JRP - ACT etc "schools." Its a bit watered down in my opinion, but a start. The other? Charging $50 per work permit - twice a year. the $$$ to go to enforcing child acting labor laws. I supported it at first, but after seeing how CA uses it's tax dollars, I am not so sure. As for involvement in YPC? Well, DD (who is 16) just applied for membership. We will see if she is selected. Kids are the voice in SAG that pay the same as everyone else, but have little or no voice. She has attended two board meetings, which are NOT child friendly, but she did learn quite a bit -- not all positive or negative, but reality of how things run. She plans on continuing her involvement -- she grew up in a union household with a parent who is a professional union organizer, so she gets it naturally! lol

NYS says that tutors are not required for students on location missing 3 days or less of school. That seems fine with me and eminently reasonable..otherwise you will chase productions with kids right out of the state..., demanding production companies hire onsite tutors for a single day out od school is nuts..

And yes, SAG etc have been far more concerned with other issues to worry about kids issues...

BZ Mom , My daughter voted and hopefully now there will be another attempt to join the unions as one.

quote:

Originally posted by kidsdad:
NYS says that tutors are not required for students on location missing 3 days or less of school. That seems fine with me and eminently reasonable..otherwise you will chase productions with kids right out of the state..., demanding production companies hire onsite tutors for a single day out od school is nuts..

And yes, SAG etc have been far more concerned with other issues to worry about kids issues...

BZ Mom , My daughter voted and hopefully now there will be another attempt to join the unions as one.

I think the point I was trying to make is that the NY Child Performer bill back in 2003 was back by SAG 100 percent. Press releases were abundant. It was a tri-union effort with all three theatrical unions bonding together to support it. There were photo-ops with press releases with legislative members stating how they were trying to bring the same protections the kids in California enjoyed to NY and even brought the DOL reps to NY to talk to parents and their main boast was day one education, protection of the child's money and protections with work hours, etc.

Then, there was a complete turn-around when the law was enforced as the employers rejected the education and the regulations were changed as well because we learned that the NYS Dept of Education had no involvement whatsoever to endorse the law and were not involved with the writing of the law. No one now supported it and the kids were left with a work permit that now had to be signed-off by the school, making them aware that the child was now working as a child performer and most likely, if absent, could be working and not really sick.

Solidarity, respect for your theatrical union and believing that they will stand behind what they say is very important..to be united, to stand together and I personally saw a lot of confusion and discouragement. It left parents saying..what just happened. There was no discussion of this bill beforehand with parents. If this had been legislation affecting adult actors, they would have been well informed throughout the process and if not, they would have very loudly voiced their issues.

I am not a supporter of Fi-core. I am a believer that if you make a committment you stand behind that committment, but it has to work both ways and that includes communication to keep ALL members aware of changes being made that will affect specific groups within the union, including the young performers, and this, in turn, results in trust and a better, stronger union which we need right now. My involvement for a decade has been all about keeping the lines of communication open.

There was mention in this thread about the advance fee talent bill in California this is also the result of industry reps wanting the best of both worlds - going to be quite honest here. They are taking in a second income with a moonlighting job of enticing children to auditions which are also connected to high pressured sales to sell acting classes and/or acting/modeling conventions which can cost families thousands of dollars and these events are NOT endorsed by the theatrical unions, not industry standard! SAG supports the advance free bill! Perhaps if these reps just worked with the clients on their roster that THEY made a committment to by signing them to their agency, to find them work instead of looking for new faces every weekend to add talent to their rosters for the very little amount of work out there, perhaps they would help to set an example of respecting industry and theatrical union standards.

Very mixed messages being sent around the acting community!