Joining a film union: the complete guide

SAG-AFTRA

sagaftra.org, steps to join

Covers: Actors, background performers, stunt performers, puppeteers, voice artists

• One day of employment in a principal/speaking role (or as a recording artist) under a SAG-AFTRA contract: non-members hired this way are “Taft-Hartleyed” in, or
• Three days of work as a covered background performer on signatory productions, or
• One year's paid-up membership in an affiliated performers' union (AEA, AGMA, AGVA, ACTRA) plus principal work under its jurisdiction
• National initiation fee, currently $3,121 (typically lower in some states), paid once, plus your first semiannual dues at joining
• Base dues of $246.14/year plus work dues of 1.575% of covered earnings (assessed up to $1,000,000)

Stunt drivers who double behind the wheel of picture cars are SAG-AFTRA, not Teamsters.

IATSE

iatse.net, how to join

Covers: Below-the-line crafts: grip, electric, special effects, art, props, costume, hair & makeup, sound, script supervisors

• Identify the craft local for your department and market: you join a local, not IATSE at large
• Qualify with documented workdays (locals set the number; LA rosters commonly want 30 union days)
• Apply with call sheets and pay stubs that prove your history
• Initiation is set by the local: e.g. Georgia's Local 479 typically charges about a $100 application fee and about $1,400 initiation, plus quarterly dues
• References usually matter: 479 asks for four, two of them from active members, your set reputation is the application

The locals you'll actually join, by craft: 600 (camera, national) · 700 (editorial & post, national) · 839 (animation, Burbank) · 800 (art directors) · 892 (costume designers) · 705 (costumers) · 706 (hair & makeup) · 44 (props & special effects) · 80 (grip) · 728 (set lighting) · 695 (production sound) · 871 (script supervisors) · 479 (most crafts in Georgia & Alabama).

You join a specific local, not “IATSE” at large, the number, the day count, and the fees differ local to local.

Directors Guild of America

dga.org, joining the guild

Covers: Directors, unit production managers, assistant directors, stage managers

• Directors: be hired by a signatory company to direct, or make your own feature project signatory
• ADs / UPMs: the Qualification Lists ask for several hundred documented production days and vary by category and region. The Southern California 2nd AD list, for example, is around 400 days (at least 300 with the shooting company). You can also come up through the DGA Training Programs (NY & LA)
• Membership is approved by your category's Council after application + fee
• Initiation typically scales with category: low-budget feature directors pay about $5,000 (roughly 40% up front), standard feature/TV directors about $15,320, updated each July 1; other categories fall in between
• Quarterly dues plus a percentage of covered earnings after joining

Directors typically join when a signatory company hires them to direct, sell the project first, the card follows.

Writers Guild of America

wga.org, join the guild

Covers: Screenwriters, TV writers, streaming & new-media writers

• Accumulate 24 units in the three years before applying: units come from selling literary material to, or being employed by, WGA-signatory companies
• Short of 24 units? Associate membership is available while you build ($100/year, up to three years)
• No day-playing route: selling or being hired to write is the only way in
• Initiation fee of about $2,500 (WGA West) once you fully qualify
• Dues of about 1.5% of gross writing income plus $25 per quarter

There's no day-playing route here, the only way in is selling or being hired to write for signatories.

Teamsters (Motion Picture Division)

teamster.org, Motion Picture Division

Covers: Transportation: drivers, picture-car wranglers, coordinators & captains; many locals also cover location managers and casting

• Carry the license the work needs: most equipment and crew-transport driving wants a Class A CDL with air-brake & passenger endorsements, plus a DOT medical card and a clean MVR
• Get set experience any way in: day-playing, PA work, wrangling picture cars
• Work union production days: in LA your days register with Contract Services (CSATF) toward the Industry Experience Roster; elsewhere, apply to the local covering your market
• Initiation fee (hundreds, set by the local) plus monthly dues
• Coordinators and captains hire from their lists: reputation books the work

Picture-car drivers and wranglers on union shows are Teamsters, the most direct union connection to Revolution's world.

American Federation of Musicians

afm.org, join

Covers: Session musicians, orchestrators, copyists, and composer-conductors on scoring stages

• AFM membership is open: you apply directly to the local covering your area, no day counts required
• Film & TV scoring work happens under AFM contracts on union scoring stages (LA's Local 47, New York's Local 802)
• Being on contractors' call lists is what books the sessions: the card gets you in the room
• Initiation fee and annual dues set by the local (LA's Local 47, for example: about $140 to join, then $220 a year)
• Union scale for sessions, plus new-use and residual payments when scores are reused

Composers, orchestrators, and the players on a scoring stage are AFM, the one music union on a film crew.