I’m one of the featured actors promoting pro-merger in this SAG.AFTRA video. Check it out, and if you’re a member of SAG, AFTRA or both, please VOTE YES and mail your ballot back ASAP! Thank you!
To SAG and AFTRA members:
GREAT NEWS!
I’m working with SAG and AFTRA in New York as part of both unions’ organizing efforts to inform everyone about the SAG-AFTRA merger, and to urge all to vote YES. As a union member, you will be receiving your ballot(s) after February 24. We will be conducting a phone bank to members asking if they have any questions or concerns prior to making their vote. In the meantime, you can also get answers and read the merger documents at the website www.SAGAFTRA.org.
This is an incredibly exciting time for all union performers because this merger will ensure stronger bargaining power, more work and better benefits for all members. A YES vote is the best decision you can take toward your career! Why?
This is an incredibly exciting time for all union performers because this merger will ensure stronger bargaining power, more work and better benefits for all members. A YES vote is the best decision you can take toward your career! Why?
- More and more work is going digital. Both unions have jurisdiction in the digital field which pits the unions against each other, rather than uniting them.
- Producers are able to play one union against the other because of shared turf - to the detriment of performers.
- Our earnings are increasingly split between both unions, making it more difficult to quality for insurance and pensions.
- More and more work is going non-union.
- The last time we attempted to merge nine years ago, we sat across the table from 23 major producers for contract negotiations. Today we sit across from seven - all huge multi-national corporations. The producers themselves have merged and grown exponentially in strength. We must do the same.
A single united union will help address all these problems. Two unions splitting our strength is a recipe for disaster. Please vote YES for the new union!
If you are a member of both SAG and AFTRA, you will get two ballots at the end of February. You are entitled to both ballots. Be sure to vote YES on both. Our last attempt to merge failed by just over 1% of the vote. Every vote is critical.
In solidarity,
Veronica Alsina
If you are a member of both SAG and AFTRA, you will get two ballots at the end of February. You are entitled to both ballots. Be sure to vote YES on both. Our last attempt to merge failed by just over 1% of the vote. Every vote is critical.
In solidarity,
Veronica Alsina
***Thank you to James Lurie for helping me with this post.***
My name is Veronica Alsina. I’m a working actor, member of both SAG and AFTRA, and I’m voting YES! I’m so grateful to the G1 and all the work that has gone into creating SAG-AFTRA. I can’t wait to be a part of it! Visit www.sagaftra.org to learn more.
Be kind to your actin’ self!
I read a great article today on fitnessmagazine.com about things we tell ourselves that sabotage our diets. What I liked best about this piece was its title: Make Over your Inner Eating Monologue - Stop the Self-Sabotage Talk. This is wonderful advice, especially if you remove the word “eating” from that phrase (or in many cases, leave it in).
We all have inner monologues and often self-sabotage ourselves with them. As actors, we are constantly saying things to ourselves like “I should have done better, I blew that audition, I’m too old/too fat/too short/too tall for this part, etc.” Yet somehow we opted to be in a profession that has rejection as one of its main components. No other job is like ours. We interview (audition) several times a week -if we’re lucky- and know our chances are slim at best. Why then play casting director with ourselves and kick us out of the audition before even walking in?
I’d imagine very few are forced into this line of work. Most actors say they do this because they can’t see themselves doing anything else, they’re passionate about it. True passion for this life fuels them. When I watch the SAG Awards I’m moved to tears when the words “I AM AN ACTOR” are proudly said at the beginning of the show. It gets me every time. I identify and know that someday that will be me. Sure, my chances are small, but there are enough people thinking I won’t make it to add myself to that list. Don’t do that to yourself.
I had a job once doing door-to-door sales. It was for a line of pots and pans and I couldn’t even cook. But I did my best and, although I made a few nice sales along the way, the lessons learned were worth infinitely more:
1. The more doors you knock on, the greater the chance that one will open.
2. You already have the “NO” by not trying; try going for the “YES.”
Changing your inner monologue can help you stay on track. But first, stop everything and breathe.
Your body tells you what it needs. We don’t need a reminder to tell us when we need to eat, drink or rest; we feel hungry, thirsty, tired. Did you know a yawn is your body telling you it needs oxygen? It forces you to take a deep breath! Done properly, breathing can help you go to sleep just as easily as it can wake you up. Research it.
A chiropractor friend once told me that when people crave a cigarette, which usually happens under stressful situations, it is actually your body telling you to stop what you’re doing for a few minutes and take some deep breaths. Of course, imagine how odd it would be if instead of the typical “I need a cigarettte” break, people just told each other “wanna go outside and do some deep breathing with me for a few minutes?” But it’s the best thing you can do at that moment. Try it next time you’re craving something that you know is harmful. Try it when you need to focus. Try it without a reason. Try it now. Stop and breathe.
Breathe again….
Inhale deeply….
exhale slowly….
It’s nice, isn’t it?
Now let’s take it a step further and for a few moments change our inner monologue to something positive, something that will encourage us and not sabotage our goals. Feel free to write your own mantras but for now, say this: I AM AWESOME. I MATTER. I AM ALIVE. TODAY I WILL DO SOMETHING WONDERFUL. I WILL BE KIND TO MY BODY. I WILL BE KIND TO THOSE AROUND ME. I WILL DO MY BEST. I AM AN ACTOR.
In solidarity,
Veronica Alsina
