SAG-AFTRA Foundation Provided $800,000 in Assistance and $300,000 in Scholarships This Year
The SAG-AFTRA Foundation granted more than $800,000 in emergency financial assistance, Covid assistance, senior financial crisis aid, health assistance and disaster relief this year to members of the union, the foundation’s president, Courtney B. VanceIn his year-end fireside talk, he said. He reported that $300,000 more was awarded by the Foundation to 106 SAGAFTRA members and their families as higher education scholarships.
“We couldn’t have done any of this without the generosity of our donors,” he said, “so on behalf of the Foundation I thank you for continued support of our community in times of need. Please ask for help if you have any questions. And if you can help, please give.”
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“As the industry is back up and running and productions are in full swing, the SAG-AFTRA Foundation continues to be hard at work serving as the vital safety net and free educational resource for our community of 160,000 SAG-AFTRA artists nationwide,” Vance said.
Sharing some of the Foundation’s “big wins” this year, he said:
“Our dedicated programming staff produced a grand total of more than 5,500 free educational programs that were attended by over 31,000 SAG-AFTRA participants.
“A mental health series was produced by The Business program, designed to be a resource of health, hope, and healing. This video can be found on our YouTube channel. We also have several other panels featuring industry experts and agents that will help you personal and professional.
“As self-tape auditions have become the new norm, our virtual on-camera lab recorded nearly 4,000 auditions, helping many to secure jobs. We will offer the same free service online as well as reopen our labs in person in the next year. Our voiceover labs hosted more than 170 free VO workshops online. Additionally, our engineers helped set up hundreds home recording studios for voiceover artist, allowing them the freedom to record auditions and jobs at home.
“And in 2022, we received over 830,000 views for all our recorded Conversations and The Business programs. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel to get this wealth of professional advice, tips, and tech tricks for actors and performers.
“Our global children’s literacy initiative, Storyline Online, introduced eight new read-alouds featuring SAG-AFTRA artists Sutton Foster, Rosario Dawson, Joel McHale, Isabella Gomez, Lea Michele, Seth Meyers, Terry Crews and Connie Britton. We thank all of these great storytellers for volunteering their time and talent to help us advance children’s literacy worldwide.”
Storyline Online has seen more than 900 million visits since its inception over twenty years ago. “And 2023 looks to be the year we may just hit 1 billion views,” he said.
In closing, Vance said: “I want to remind you that our Foundation relies on the generosity of SAG-AFTRA members to keep our work strong and vital. Make a donation to our Foundation during this time of giving. We appreciate your consideration and wish you the best holiday season. May you and your loved ones be met with peace and good will.”
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