A few days ago, I auditioned for a job that was put out as a union commercial. Two days later, I got contacted directly by the casting director, who, is a friend and client of mine, and who had already emailed my agents and not yet heard back. She said she wanted to put me on avail for the job, but told me that the clients had decided after casting was completed to pay more up front and make the job nonunion, and asked if I would still be willing to do it. She said the type of job it was might not preclude me from doing the job even though I am union.
I told her I’d get in touch with my agent to get back to her.
This job is for a high-profile brand; one of America’s biggest, in fact. It wasn’t an issue of money for them, so why change the project to nonunion? My agent and I discussed the situation. She asked me what I wanted to do. I told her that I’m a union actor for a reason. The union takes great care of me. I take pride in the work the union does on our behalf. So I told her to do her best to negotiate with the CD and clients to get them to go back to union. Otherwise, even though I’d love to do the job, I’d have to pass.
Three hours later, I got confirmation that the production decided
Leave a Reply