Author Topic: Who makes sure the rules are followed?  (Read 4008 times)

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Tempest

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Who makes sure the rules are followed?
« on: Oct 03, 2009, 06:24 pm »
Just a caveat: I'm not AEA, but I'm currently working under an Equity contract in a Right-To-Work state, and do plan on getting my card in the next year or two.

So, who's responsibilty is it to make sure the producers are following all the AEA rules?  Is that another duty of the SM?  The Deputy?  Each Actor taking care of themselves?
It's easy enough to make sure the rules concerning breaks, days off, etc. are followed, and I don't have a problem keeping track of overtime, because, hey, I want my extra pay, too!  But what about rules concerning, say, rental of costume pieces owned by the actor?  Or scene changes out of character and not during entrances or exits?  Ultimately, whose responsibility is it to step up and say, "Hey, there's this rule that requires extra compensation (or whatever the rule is) and a rider on the contract; we need to take care of that."
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loebtmc

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Re: Who makes sure the rules are followed?
« Reply #1 on: Oct 03, 2009, 06:51 pm »
Interesting qq, cuz as the AEA SM I am the one who makes sure the rules are followed, but since you are a nonAEA SM there is some grey area (much as I hate to think of you being abused, they can impose things on a nonAEA SM above and beyond with impunity)

Two thoughts that may help:

1) if you have AEA members you have a deputy. Discussing a course of action with that person is a great way to start. Does the deputy want to take the initiative, want you to intercede, etc

2) I usually find a nice way to ask these concerns through questions in the course of a side conversation with the appropriate person - a discussion with the director prior to OT/set shift bumps being incurred/assigned can be a great way to go ("this will bring the AEA actors into OT", or "perhaps if so-and-so does this, the producers can avoid the set-shift bump for AEA actor X"), or if the producers are likely to be problematic there are creative work-arounds (ie using personal costume, I have found that dropping rental info into a conversation w the costumer sometimes yields results that a discussion with the producer would not)




Rebbe

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Re: Who makes sure the rules are followed?
« Reply #2 on: Oct 04, 2009, 01:19 pm »
Everyone who signs an AEA contract is responsible for making sure they themselves, and the producers, and their fellow actors, are following AEA rules.  The whole point of signing a contract is that it means we’re agreeing to play together by a standard set of rules as laid out in the rulebook, and we get specific protections/benefits through that.  The SM is usually the most familiar with the rules.    The deputy is appointed to keep a paritcuarlly sharp eye on rules for their production. 

Now, I don’t know anything about right-to-work laws.  If you actually signed something saying you’ll follow AEA rules, than it seems to me you should do so.  If you just signed a contract involving dates and times and pay, and it happens to be a production where others are under an AEA contract, I guess you’re off the hook.  But if you know an AEA person is being asked to do something against the rules, it still seems to me that pointing that out to them would be the right thing to do.   

In the examples you mentioned, I do think they SM should tell the producer, director, and actors what the rules say if it looks like they’re about to be violated.   I don’t think you have to be the police, and insist on seeing the contract riders.  But you should make sure the actors in particular understand their rights and responsibilities.  Sometimes the actor may make a conscious choice to lend a costume piece for free, as a personal favor to the designer or PM or something.  I think that makes it harder for the next actor to get fair compensation, because whoever they struck the deal with may insist most actors don’t really get paid according to the book, and there's the slippery slope to how rules become meaningless.  Letting actors make set moves without compensation would make me, personally, very uncomfortable, so I would call Equity on that one if discussions didn't work, even if the actors weren’t concerned about the violation.  Where you draw the line between informing people of rules and reporting them in some way for not following them is the tricky part where your own judgment comes in.  It’s like thinking driving over the speedlimit isn’t a big deal, but having a small child ride without a car seat is wrong.  Sure, we should follow all rules/laws, but in practice it doesn’t always happen. 
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stancial

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Re: Who makes sure the rules are followed?
« Reply #3 on: Oct 05, 2009, 04:10 pm »
For me, the SM, union or not, is the final on-site enforcer of the rulebook.  Obviously, that should be in concert with the deputy, the producers, and if need be, Equity staff.  As an Equity SM, it was my responsiblity to not only enforce the rules and safety for the AEA members of the cast, but be an advocate for the safety of the non-Equity cast as well.  As a non-Equity SM, shouldn't the same (or opposite) be true for you?  In my experience, it is rare for cast members to be treated differently based on their union membership (although I'm sure it happens, just not on my watch!).

If you plan to join Equity in the next couple of years, then it would be to your advantage to familiarize yourself with the appropriate Equity agreement and ensure that the rules are being followed properly.

My bigger problem with this (and this is in no way meant to be a reflection or comment on your abilities) is that a theatre would hire a non-Equity SM for a position that clearly should be Equity.  Many Equity agreements have a provision stating that the SM is not to be considered an entry level position, meaning we want a member in that job.  While that cannot legally be enforced in a right-to-work state, it bothers me that an Equity producer would disregard the intent of that statement.

realitycheck

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Re: Who makes sure the rules are followed?
« Reply #4 on: Oct 31, 2009, 09:32 pm »
the deputy on an equity show is...but lets get real. they dont ....rarely. it almost always is the SM who has to calm the waters, pet the producers ego and suck it up

 

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