Joining a Film Union · SAG-AFTRA
Actor: how to join SAG-AFTRA
Actors carry the story on camera, from principal leads with pages of dialogue to day players with a single line. Once you're past the first few non-union jobs the work is almost entirely SAG-AFTRA, and the path in runs through background work, student films, and self-tapes that build a reel and, eventually, a Taft-Hartley principal booking.
Good to know
The surprising part: you work your way in, you don't apply your way in. A signatory can hire you for SAG-AFTRA principal work before you're a member (they 'Taft-Hartley' you), and only after a covered principal booking, or three covered background days, are you eligible to join. For most people the cheaper route to eligibility is background vouchers, not holding out for a speaking role.
Roles in this craft
The jobs that make up this craft, each with its own page on pay, the day-to-day, and how to break in.
How to join, step by step
Know your union
- Principal and day-player acting on signatory productions is SAG-AFTRA.
- You can work covered jobs before you join: a company Taft-Hartleys you into your first principal role.
Build the reel and the resume
- Student films, indie shorts, and self-tapes are how you build footage and get seen.
- On-camera training is what agents and casting look for behind the reel.
Earn eligibility
- A SAG-AFTRA-covered principal booking, or three covered background days, makes you eligible to join.
- In right-to-work states like Georgia you can keep taking covered work as a non-member while you build toward joining.
Join, then it is must-join
- Once eligible you can join; after your first covered principal job you are must-join for the next.
- Budget for the initiation fee and dues, and keep every contract and voucher as proof.
What you’ll need
- Proof of a principal day OR three covered background days (vouchers, contracts, pay stubs)
- Government ID and work eligibility documents
- Initiation funds: currently $3,121 national (payment plans exist)
- First semiannual dues, due at joining
Find your local
SAG-AFTRA membership runs through a local for your market. Look up the one that covers where you work on the union’s site.