Four Paths To Automatic SAG Eligibility

      As an aspiring actor, I needed to join the Screen Actor’s Guild (SAG) in order to get legitimate acting jobs in television, film, or commercials you must be a member of SAG. Here are four ways to eligibility I discovered on my way to getting SAG membership.

• Get a Speaking Role in a film or television show

If you are hired to perform a speaking role (principle role) in a SAG-contracted television show or film production, you are automatically eligible to join SAG. Most prime-time television shows and major studio films are under a SAG contract.

• Get a Principle Role in a commercial

If you are hired to perform a principle role in a SAG-contracted television commercial you are automatically eligible to join SAG. A principle role in a television commercial consists either a speaking role or a non-speaking role in which your face appears recognizable in the foreground of the shot. Mostly all national commercials are under a SAG contract.

• Book a Principle Role in an industrial film

If you are hired to perform a speaking role in an industrial or interactive video you are automatically eligible or join SAG. Many industrial videos are under a SAG contract.

• Work as a background performer

This way can be tricky. If you work for three non-consecutive days as a SAG background performer (an extra), you are eligible to join SAG. In order to work as a SAG background performer you must be hired as one or given a SAG background voucher on the day of your employment.

Under the SAG contract with films and television shows, there are a certain amount of SAG extras that must work each day (53 extras for feature films and 20 for television shows). If the production is under the amount of required SAG extras you can obtain a SAG background voucher for that day. Three SAG background vouchers means that your SAG eligible!