4 ms·
Unions have no value for 'actors making millions'. The union is basically irrelevant to them. The various unions and guilds in film/tv production are there to
by jariel 6y ago
Unions have no value for 'actors making millions'.
The union is basically irrelevant to them.
The various unions and guilds in film/tv production are there to protect the regular workers who operate in often very irregular and ad-hoc circumstances.
Also - acting is a hugely oversubscribed job, most actors don't do acting full time. There are 10 actors for every role. Even good one's.
Even just 'working actor' - let alone 'millions' - is a very lucky position.
'Famous' actors are not helped by the union, they have agents who manage their deals, much like athletes and their comp. is a function of totally different things.
'Athlete's Unions' are actually advantageous to them, because they can leverage power against owners, but in that case it's 'rich' vs. 'rich' entities fighting over surpluses, and nothing is gained or lost for the rest of us, it's not a helpful basis of comparison for working-class unions.
- Retric 6y ago‘Famous’ actors making millions like Donald Trump joined the SAG because they thought it was a net benefit to them. One of the major benefits is protection from those vary same managers which have historically often acted in their own interest rather than their clients. Another benefit that seems minor to multi millionaires but occasion really makes a huge difference in these people’s lives is a significant pension. It’s unfortunately common for very rich actors to end up broke at some point making the security of knowing you’re never going to be poor even if they don’t stay rich a huge deal. That’s something managers can’t negotiate on a film by film basis and it’s an example where minimizing downsides becomes more valuable than maximizing total compensation.