Its certainly a confusing situation because generally these orgs are there to make sure they and their members get a fair slice of the pie, and if there is no pie, I dont know what will happen.
I guess there must be pre-internet examples of some of their members, eg actors, working on projects for free or far belo the going rate, due to the production being a startup or not for profit or whatever. I do not know whether, for example, they might try to discourage members from working for free. Or whether if they come to see you, they will be encouraging your entire cast to join their union. Maybe indie film producers and actors have a presence somewhere on the web where you'l be able to get more responses. Please do let the group know how this turns out, as I dont know if you are the first to run into these issues but I bet you certainly wont be the last. Cheers Steve Elbows --- In [email protected], "Justin Kownacki" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Thanks for the responses. From the wording I'd received, I was under > the impression that I was one of the stragglers who hadn't worked out > a deal with AFTRA yet. If no one else has much experience here, then > it does sound more like a matter of us being seen as a test case in > that regard. > > I'm not a traditional "employer" of actors -- I'd have to be making > money from Something to Be Desired to do that -- but I do have a cast > of dozens. I can see where we're very much a target for AFTRA. > > I'm certainly not opposed to paying the cast -- I'm well aware that I > don't create the show alone -- but I do wish folks from traditional > media backgrounds were working a bit harder to ensure that there was > actually an audience and a market in the web video medium BEFORE > ensuring that the participants are protected from "if / then" > eventualities. > > Nothing drives away potential explorers like red tape... > > Cheers. > > Justin Kownacki > Producer, Something to Be Desired > http://www.somethingtobedesired.com >
