Canadian Unions

There are two Canadian unions for performers:

Equity for theatre work, ACTRA for film, television & radio. ACTRA members average $10,700 a year for men. $7,500 for women. Equity members average $10,000 a year, but only half of their membership works in any given year.

Then there are all of those expenses. You have permit and initiation fees to become a union member, once you have obtained your membership you will have to pay your yearly dues whether you work or not. Your start-up photo's and reproductions will cost you on an average $200 to $350.00. Then you may have to get voice tapes made which will cost you pretty much the same. Your photos will need up-dating approximately every two years or sooner if you have radically changed your look, by cutting your hair or putting on 50lbs. Even if you have paid tuition fees and graduated from a theatre or film program, you must constantly be upgrading your skills and keeping them sharpened. Classes and workshops cost money. You need an extensive wardrobe; many low budget projects don't have the money to provide wardrobe so you provide your own. This certainly applies if you are working as a background performer, even if you are working on a big budget production. Unless it is a period piece you will be expected to provide your own costume.

You can invest time and money and still get no work. For every role, for every assignment that you may be suitable for there are literally dozens of other actors that are equally so. For all your experience and training there are those out there with more.
Glamour

So you're not in it for the money, just the excitement and the glamour.

Try going to dozens of auditions and constantly being rejected. Try going to an audition and being called back, time and time again only to find out someone else got it. Try studying your sides, learning your lines, preparing for that audition, and perhaps traveling approximately one hour to get there, only to find yourself in and out of the door having barely spent five minutes in front of the camera.

Try getting up at 5am to be on the set for 6am. Work a 10-hour day, come home learn your lines for tomorrow's shoot and be up again at 5am. Try being called for a 7am call to find you are hanging around most of the day to be finally on set at 2pm to say 3 lines. Try studying and rehearsing for a role only to find your bit ending up on the cutting room floor. Try doing a scene 10 - 15 times, ensuring that with each take your performance does not change. Try doing an emotional scene with an actor who is 10 inches away from your face and has bad breath. Try working with an arrogant director who screams at you.

Still think it is exciting and glamorous, if so then you just might make it. The truth is most beginner actors don't last in the business for more than five years. It takes talent, hard work, discipline, tenacity, self-confidence, drive, and ambition. You are more likely to survive, if you go into it for the right reasons. A love and respect for the art. A feeling so strong that you know your life would be meaningless without an opportunity to perform, however seldom that opportunity comes along.
Top
UNION MEMBERSHIP

There are two conflicting opinions regarding union membership.

Membership in a union is generally treated as a guarantee of talent, but this is not always the case. There are those that have received union status by sheer luck or perseverance and are not necessarily more talented than non-union actors.

There are those that will argue, to become "professional recognized" you must join the union as soon as possible. Some agencies will not even consider you if you are not union. Some agents will push you into union projects in order for you to become an apprentice member. However others will stress that as a beginner you should not be in a hurry to join ACTRA or Equity (read The Agents Book, published by Theatre Ontario) If you join too soon, you will exclude yourself from doing any non-union work. If you join before you have sufficient experience and are ready, you are less likely to be considered for principal or actor category roles. You are less likely to be taken seriously by directors for film and TV if your resume only shows training, theatre engagements, silent on screen (SOC) and background performance work.

Once you have your apprentice or full member's card you cannot do any non-union work. There are many independent movies, productions for specialty channels, corporate video work that because of a limited budget must hire non-union talent. Therefore if you rush into joining the union too soon, you lose out on the opportunity to build your resume and gain experience. Being a union member won't guarantee work - the fees are generally higher but you may find that you work less.