Expert: Phil Nemy - 1/6/2008

Question
I work for a non-profit organization in Chicago that is interested in hiring an actor to narrate one of their promotional videos. (several spots running a variety of 30 seconds-10 minutes) This actor is actually a good friend of our president here and this actor (a somewhat well known celebrity) is willing to do the job for free.

However this actor is also a card carrying member of SAG and from what little I know, either SAG members cannot work for free or if they do, the union needs to be informed of this and certain paperwork needs to be completed.  Of course my organization knows very little about how SAG works since they specialize in a different industry altogether, but they are still keen on utilizing their good friend for their cause.

What are some of the steps we should take in order to use our SAG member friend without his violating union rules?  I appreciate your help

Answer
Augusto,

Thanks for your email. I don't think it's appropriate for me to speak on behalf of SAG (even though I, too, am a SAG member). My suggestion would be to call the national office of SAG in Los Angeles and pose them a "Hypothetical Situation" without using your actor friend's name. Tell them that you wish to use a SAG actor for a promotion video for your organization. Explain how the promos will be used and in what exhibition format (i.e., local television spots, national television spots, website, online ads, etc.) Explain that the organization does not intend to pay an actor but hope that an actor will be willing to donate his/her time. Then ask the SAG officer if it would be okay for you to pursue using SAG actors in this way. If they say yes, make sure you get them to mail you a letter granting this permission so you have proof should anything happen in the future. Don't use the actor's name so that if SAG says no, and your actor intends to do it anyway, he won't get in trouble. I would also not mention the name of the organization. Try and give SAG a very generic description of the organization so they won't go snooping around.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

Phil