Dear George Clooney (and a Ryan)
Dear George Clooney (and a Ryan)
A Modest Proposal from an Unknown Background Actor
(Any opinions here are mine alone. Merely one of 160,000 members of SAG-AFTRA, I do not serve in any leadership capacity with, nor do I speak on behalf of SAG-AFTRA.)
Hi, my name is Mark
George, don’t believe we’ve met. My name is Mark. I’m an unknown SAG-AFTRA background actor. And a slightly-known improv comedy busker cleverly disguised as a costumed character. Sorry to reach out to you like this.
The original plan was barely one. I suppose I suspected that working background regularly on TV and film in Los Angeles, as I do, that one day, sooner or later, I’d look up, see you across a location or sound stage, and realize you’re in a show I’m working. I’d smile to myself for a moment, grateful I get to be a small part of storytelling in Hollywood. Then go back to work. I’d be satisfied.
After all, I am a bit like Charlie in a certain kind of factory. I’m just happy to be here. Part of an industry that in its best moments, helps us experience a little more empathy. Roger Ebert liked to think so.
But these are unprecedented times.
We share a labor union: SAG-AFTRA. Which, let’s be honest, is a bit of an odd thing for the two of us to have in common.
I suspect I’m not the only one to notice you may not need organized labor to look out for you. You are a name who easily commands multiples of SAG-AFTRA contract minimums, expertly negotiated by your top-shelf team. I’m an unknown background actor (with no representation or residuals) who struggles to pay rent in a Hollywood studio in a building that looks like an abandoned crime scene from a Raymond Chandler novel - a room that economics forces me to share with another dude.
Willing to Work - No Contract, No Work
Since I got my union card in 2012 I’ve been willing to work full-time as an actor, even if only as background. But studios cap how many union background they hire for films and shows. I can be on a shoot with 300 background and be part of the 10% union minority. Fortune 500 companies and household brands often just simply refuse to hire ANY union actors in their commercials (while finding room in the production budget for other union workers, such as IATSE stagehands - as at an IHOP location across the street from Hollywood High School earlier this summer).
As I refuse to undermine my own union by “working off the card”, I religiously observe Global Rule One (No Contract, No Work). Therefore, like many fellow SAG-AFTRA actors, I’m forced to be a mixed earner. Union solidarity often means volunteering to reduce one’s wages until one year we get the contracts we deserve. (Why we are on strike, right?) I have crafted a lifestyle and unusual basket of ever-evolving income options to best accommodate a path, not of success, but of almost basic survival. While a professional working performer.
But as I shared Sunday in “Where’s Our Strike Funds?”, my primary side gig (an improv comedy busking act) must now also be on strike. It effectively promotes a struck TV show as well as a film only everyone is talking about. So no busking income for me at upcoming football tailgates. Or TaylorGates. Until the strike ends.
Thank you in advance for hearing me out.
This is awkward for both of us.
First of all, let’s clear the table of the usual suspects. I am NOT asking that you make a casting choice OR read a script. (Strikes reasons aside.) And while I am suddenly reluctantly fundraising for my own personal strike fund (and wouldn’t necessarily turn down an offer), I am NOT asking you for money.
This is about 160,000 of my fellow SAG-AFTRA members. Many of whom do not qualify for health insurance. Because they fail to earn the $26,470 a year to qualify. Which is only 37% of the $70,000 the federal government considers “low income” in Los Angeles. (Did I mention how studios and Fortune 500s are addicted to hiring non-union?)
I’m not used to asking someone who doesn’t know me for a favor. Let alone someone who has trouble negotiating a farmer’s market, bowling alley or beach without creating a panic. I’m a seasoned background actor, accustomed to being like a Victorian child: not speaking unless spoken to. Only to learn that my rubber-soled shoes spoke on my behalf. And it needs to stop.
So what’s my ask?
We need an immediate paradigm shift. I’m asking you to look into a thing or two. Reach out to 10 people with whom you’ve already worked. And distinguish between well-intentioned charity organizations caught off guard during an unprecedented actor’s strike — and something more down-to-earth, fast-moving, and simple. As an example, consider myStrikeFunds.org.
When it comes to moving fast and breaking things, it’s hard not to notice our civilization prefers to forgive only wealthy tech bros. So forgive me if I inadvertently step out of bounds. Or on toes. What I suggest may have already crossed your mind. Clearly, I’m not up to speed on your latest thoughts and plans. But based on what I’m hearing from actors and writers on the picket lines and in Zoom calls, I suspect there may be conversations and circumstances unfamiliar to you. You simply may not know. Nor may Julia, Meryl, Matt, Oprah, Leo, Ryan, Hugh, Arnold and Nicole (to name a random few).
THANK YOU
I saw that Amal and you gave $1 million to the SAG-AFTRA Foundation. THANK YOU! I notice a few others joined you in the cause. I could just as easily be writing to them as well. But as this conversation is difficult for all involved, forgive me if I pretend for a moment this is merely a casual chat with Daniel Ocean (with notes of Baird Whitlock). Your grace is appreciated.
While the donations to and grants from such worthy organizations as the SAG-AFTRA Foundation and Entertainment Community Fund are much appreciated, I’m afraid the process, logistics, and amounts may fall far short of the need.
Like a Mortgage Application … but for $1,500?
The application process feels like one is applying for a mortgage. Not a $1,500 one-time grant. Should actors grappling with housing insecurity in Los Angeles be qualified as if they were attempting to purchase a condo? And how far does $1,500 go, exactly? In LA? Our President Fran Drescher is planning for a strike of at least six months. If $70k is low-income in Los Angeles, my math suggests a $35k need. Subtract the $1,500, the need is still $33,500. See the problem?
Sweating
Yesterday on the picket line at Netflix, a writer was sharing with me her experience applying for similar strike relief from the WGA. I think she mentioned her mortgage payment. (Wow! A mortgage. What’s that like? George, you may feel the same, but I suspect for entirely different reasons.) She clearly had IMDb credits and industry income more impressive than mine. Yet she wasn’t sure whether she’d be approved. She wasn’t just sweating from walking a picket line on Sunset Boulevard in July.
I contrast that with my credit union’s Work Stoppage Loan. I sat across from another human being for part of an afternoon, wrote a letter that barely said “writer’s strike, so no more TV & film background acting income” and suddenly I have a loan (with a “no credit score required” option). A few weeks of basic living expenses paid. But with more debt.
Unemployment & Universal Basic Income Cancelled
I contrast both with the Universal Basic Income via unemployment that clearly worked during the pandemic. Then America stopped doing that. And in California, unemployment is not available to those on strike.
What I’m hearing in the trenches and have personally experienced is this: we need less strike relief applications that feel like buying a condo, processed by too few volunteers and staff, overwhelmed by ever-escalating requests for help. We need more instant payment app donations of $5, $20 or more. That go viral.
My Modest Proposal
If I may be so bold, I have a modest proposal, George. In a few parts:
Examine how and who the SAG-AFTRA Foundation and Entertainment Community Fund leave behind. Gently. They are clearly doing the best they can with the staff they have. But needs are not being met. And it is early days. Those organizations must not be the final word of our strike relief efforts.
Reach out to 10 union background actors and check in on them. Not stand-ins (I felt more like crew - in a good way - when I worked as a stand-in for that guy for a month on that film.) Background. I don’t have to be one of them. People you know. People you’ve worked with. Your team could reach out. You may find the experience better informs any future decisions made to help during the strikes.
Start championing Personal Strike Funds. With the same vigor as the existing relief organizations. This is not Either Or. This is Yes And.
Personal Strike Funds
Personal Strike Funds are what the kids might call mutual aid. Like Mutual Aid LA. As a tiny, early example, I’ve raised $150 for my own personal strike fund. I’m donating 10% to other strike funds. I’ve donated $15 so far. As I raise more funds and have more financial bandwidth, I’d like to increase the percentage I donate. If this gathers steam, it would be nice one day to turn this survival project into a charitable foundation. Based on personal relationships. Where basic human needs are recognized. Not processed and verified. And direct payments are immediately sent.
Labor Solidarity. Beyond Hollywood.
A few weeks ago I was at a UPS Teamsters rally in downtown LA. I was one of maybe a dozen SAG-AFTRA actors. Amid a glorious enormous ocean of blue Writers Guild shirts. (We actors certainly owe a huge debt of gratitude to the writers!) A few days later the UPS Teamsters suddenly had a contract on which they could vote. The expected strike was averted. Don’t know if actors and writers deserve any credit. But I’m sure our support didn’t hurt. It would be nice to see the union with the celebrities do a little more of that sort of thing for the unions that lack such easy media attention. And as I worry less about food, clothing and shelter, one day I’d like to do more to help. For union solidarity. Across all industries.
Amazing Union & Organization Efforts, But . . .
We find ourselves in a historic strike - with the union and relief organizations we happened to have at the time. (Huge shout out to Sean Astin for recently forming a committee to better prepare our union for future strikes!) All the generosity from you and others to those organizations is much appreciated. At the same time, we need to rally the troops to raise awareness and focus additional efforts to support the Personal Strike Funds of individual SAG-AFTRA members (and WGA writers!).
If only we knew a soccer-obsessed Ryan with experience making clever viral short videos to get the word out . . .
Final Thought
That’s it! In the event my open letter to you actually is seen by your eyes, thank you for your time and attention. My apologies in advance if I inadvertently step on a few toes while I gently nudge your team or others a bit to get this in front of you. It’s for the cause. I don’t expect you to respond directly. Or through your team. Although I’m certainly open to it. My focus is doing what little I can to help my fellow 160,000 SAG-AFTRA union members stay financially strong through this strike, for as long as it lasts. Shining the spotlight on Personal Strike Funds I believe is crucial in this moment. I’m happy to partner with anyone who shares that mission. And if this is my last chance to share a word with you, George, let me thank you for your service. You bring joy and wry grins to so many. Don’t tell Amal, but I hear the pulse of some quicken at the mere mention of your name. That’s not nothing. I’m delighted I get to be a tiny part of a Hollywood that’s known for a George Clooney. Thanks again for everything you’ve already done to give back. Best wishes to you and yours!
© Mark Roman Empire. Like what you’re reading? Want more? Share this with a friend! And if you have the means, a one-time donation to my Cash App or Venmo or PayPal helps me deliver you new creative grooviness sooner. I am a SAG-AFTRA union actor ON STRIKE, so consider my Personal Strike Funds GoFundMe, a myStrikeFunds.org listed mutual aid cause. No amount too small! You can also subscribe to my Substack. Thanks!