3 Quick Tips on Special Skills!

Welcome to another #QuickTipTuesday! Your resume is a major part of the way you present yourself as an actor, so it’s important that you keep it updated and accurate. Today, we’re talking about what key skills to include on your resumé… and what not to include when filling out the special skills section.

  • Valid Driver’s License/Passport
    Do you have a valid driver’s license? Write that down! Do you have a current passport, or multi-national citizenship? Write that down! Commercials shoot all over the world, and you could be asked to drive at any time, so always keep your licenses and passports up to date.
  • Language/Sports Proficiency
    If you cannot do something in your skills section fluently/perfectly, then do not put it down. Have you been playing soccer consistently since you were 7, and you still play with great form? Write that down! Have you forgotten all of the high school Spanish you once knew? Leave that off.
  • Quirk/Life Experience
    Everyone has their own life experiences and unique traits. Are you a dog trainer? Do you speak an uncommon world language? Have you served in the military or in public service (are you a police officer, firefighter, etc.)? These specialized traits help make your resumé stand out.

Remember one last thing: never fake the skills on your resumé. It’s OK to leave yoga off your special skills if you don’t know your vinyasa from your bikram. These key skills will help your headshot and resumé stand out to casting directors and agents! Stay tuned for next week’s #QuickTipTuesday! And remember…#AlwaysThinkGreen!

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FLASHback Friday!

fbf kodak reflex

It’s our 1st #FLASHbackFriday of August! This week’s featured camera is a 1946 Kodak Reflex. Check out the view outside our offices through the viewfinder on the left! Happy Friday! #FBF #AlwaysThinkGreen

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Wordy Wednesdays #4: Unions!

Welcome to our first #WordyWednesday of August! Today, we’re talking about unions (AEA, SAG, FICORE, ASDFGHJKL) and clarifying all of the different acronyms that come up whenever someone says “dues”…

  • SAG-AFTRA (aka “SAG” or “the union” in LA)
    SAG-AFTRA is the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. Why the long name? It’s because the two unions, both founded in the 1930s, merged in 2012 to create the current union. It represents about 160,000 actors and other professionals in the film and television industries. Because it is a union meant to protect its members, SAG has pre-set agreements with productions on actor’s payments, working conditions and hours.
  • SAG-ELIG
    The “ELIG” in SAG-ELIG is short for eligible, as in eligible for membership in the union. There are a few ways to join SAG: the first is to land a principal role in a SAG production and receive a Taft-Hartley voucher noting your eligibility for the union. Another way to join is by getting 3 background roles and the corresponding 3 background Taft-Hartley vouchers. After you receive 3 background vouchers, or 1 principal voucher, you become a “Must-Join” or “Must-Pay” (your dues!) and you cannot work another union job until you join. When to join the union can be a tricky topic for some actors; it’s best to do some self-reflection and research before deciding to join.
  • AEA (aka “Actors’ Equity” or just “Equity”)
    AEA is the Actors’ Equity Association, representing actors and personnel in the world of theatre (though not vaudeville, cabaret, etc.: that’s the American Guild of Variety Artists, AGVA). Equity has over 40,000 members across the United States (no, not just on Broadway!). The joining process in AEA is a points system (an actor must accrue points over a span of time to qualify) or obtaining a role under an AEA contract.
    Fun fact: AEA is a sister union of SAG-AFTRA, so a full-fledged Equity member who has been part of AEA for more than a year can join SAG-AFTRA based on their AEA experience.
  • FICORE
    FICORE     is short for “financial core“. It is not a union– it is a status that allows an actor to pay some union dues and work as a union actor on union projects, but because they do not pay full union dues and are not full members, they can also work on non-union projects with no penalty from the union.
  • NONUNION (or NON)
    Being NON-UNION simply means that you are not part of SAG-AFTRA or AEA.

That’s it for this week’s Wordy Wednesday! See you next week!

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