I’ve been a NY SAG board member for almost a year now. The learning curve is
steep and the workload significant. Mike Hodge always answered my questions
and I appreciate it. I consider him a friend. I hope he feels the same way and
that everyone knows my reasons for running with One.Strong.Union. are about
principles, not personalities. No grudges or axes to grind here; it’s all about how
best to serve membership effectively and transparently.
To me, that kind of leadership starts at the top.
I must say, my jaw dropped when I read Mike’s quote in Backstage: ”I had not
been given a heads up by anyone in the boardroom that there was any kind of
discontent, let alone discontent of that level.” I thought, If he couldn't see and
hear the discontent from the 5 of us in the room who split from USAN - Sam
Robards, Matt Servitto, Justin Barrett, Joe Narciso and I - then he’s even more
disengaged than I thought.
The five of us disagreed regularly with the locked down positions of the USAN
leadership, on many important subjects - the appointment of a NY Pension &
Health Trustee; the standards that should be upheld when appointing members
to a contract negotiating committee; constitutional amendments - so many
things. We also spoke up about our procedural concerns - from the disturbing
trend away from meritocracy and toward a "social club" system of appointments,
to the frequent attempts to limit intelligent, informed debate in the boardroom.
To no avail.
How could Mike claim to be surprised? I’m simply dumbfounded.
It’s just further proof that New York deserves a leader like Sam Robards.
Eyes awake. Ears open. On the ball. That’s Sam. That’s O.S.U.
Another point:
With regards to Mike Hodge’s reference to there being no background actors in
O.S.U., I’d like him to know that I worked background on a Red Lobster
commercial in May. I was honored to work alongside a team of smart, talented
actors full of
energy and good humor. I look forward to working with them, and other
background actors in our community, in the future.
Indeed, when an issue arose about our call time/meal break, as the resident
board member I took the reins and checked in with SAG (turns out there was no
violation and I informed the actors).
It’s also important to note that while not all of the O.S.U. candidates work
background now, most, if not all, have. We see the fact that so many of
us have worked all the parts (background, principal, on camera, voice over) of so
many contracts as a positive thing. It reflects the diversity of
our experience. We bring a breadth of work knowledge to our service.
Coda: the Red Lobster day was long, we went into Golden Time. In a timely
fashion, we background actors got a sweet check. Thank you SAG!
Andrew Dolan
