Our D had exactly this opportunity, and in the particular market where she has chosen to launch her career she had several very tangible reasons (i.e. offers in hand for future great non-Equity contracts at Equity theatres) to Taft-Hartley instead of taking her card, including the recommendation of virtually every working actor in her current market. She is, of course, EMC and later had to become AGMA (took a great AGMA contract), and looks forward to taking her AEA card as soon as the time is right, and almost certainly will if she decides to move to NYC.
In some markets this decision isn’t so clear cut for young actors. Our D has been fortunate to have a solid year of well paid contracts (knock on wood) and feels in her case the decision to wait to take her card was appropriate.
You have a point, but as a person who has spent a LOT of time explaining to well meaning friends/family over the last two years that my D is a theater major (cue the “oh, but she’s so smart, shouldn’t you encourage her to choose a ‘real’ major” refrain) I certainly don’t think I’m going to throw the phrase “pretending onstage” into my repertoire when we once again defend the decision to my mother in law this coming weekend. Though to be fair, the pretending doesn’t bother her, her real issue with the BFA is that she is of a time and place where actresses are women of “loose moral virtue”…
Fascinating. “Pay for play” or “pay for points” or “pay for internships”, “pay for training” is not a one size fits all decision that should be judged with a broad brush stroke.
My daughter attends an obscenely expensive university and the well is dry for those extras in our house. The answer is “no” and things were turned down this summer because of it. But if she were at one of the great BFA programs which have bargain tuitions (Montclair, TSU and many others), I might feel differently. Or I might feel differently if she were in a BA program (with a great merit scholarship) whose curriculum is heavy on theatre studies and light on practical training if her goal was to perform. Or if this was maybe after just freshman year vs. the summer before senior year when you are a year away from work life not being just about summer and the opportunities that will possibly afford. One should never say never. It depends.
There are good internships that pay you a stipend as well as award EMC points. My daughter has one this summer but she is on day 70 and hasn’t had a day off in 57 days so if you calculate the pay per hour, it’s no equity contract believe me. But she lives/studies in NYC and did the two restaurant survival jobs, cheap living, working two shows for no pay plus auditioning for more work, booking, not booking things last summer so she knows what that looks like too. Experience taught her that getting up to an open call really early to line up just to put your name on an open call list vs. doing the same but as an EMC can make the difference (for a female especially ) in getting seen vs. not.
S is in final week of doing ensemble work for a summer musical theater in a “smaller” town. He felt fortunate to get such a position from auditioning as a college freshman. The pay was “decent” for that level of work and other than H and I buying a refrigerator and some food, and getting him to and from that town, he has paid for all of his own expenses. He will come home with a VERY small nest egg. He is in the enviable position of not “needing” to earn a large amount over the summer due to going to a “cheap” school and having a hefty merit scholarship. He is TIRED, but managed to get sick only once (a nasty stomach bug that mostly manifested on one of his 10 days off throughout the 10-week run).
Aside from all the wonderful things he learned by being an ensemble member in a cast that mounts four different shows in 10 weeks, he got a very good glimpse of what it is going to take to “make it” in this profession. He had to budget for food - both in money and in how/when it made its way into his body - and also budget his time and energy. He got a very good sense of what it takes to maintain health and energy, how much it costs in a monetary sense, and also what he had to give up in “socializing” and “free” pursuits to make it happen. He knows that going forward in the next few summers during college he will have to work equally as hard, but if at all possible he would like to A. earn equity points, B. earn lots of money, or C. “spend” money/time on a very worthwhile skill/experience that he cannot get in his program. He knows there is no way he can do all three - or even two - of these things together. He also knows he will have to have a LARGE nest egg to go to NYC/Chicago/LA after graduation AND he needs more experience AND he needs connections AND he needs more/greater skills. Compared to many others his age - especially young males - he’s well on his way to figuring out what path may be best for HIM - and being ready for any serendipity/luck/mishaps/surprises that pop up along the way. Really all that ANY of us can hope for in this crazy life.
Can I just say that this is a very interesting and helpful thread, especially for those of us with kids a year or two into the process? I just got back last week from a trip to see my S’s two shows in repertory. Last year, he did an internship in Chicago that was all but unpaid ($100 stipend) and involved really a LOT of tech work, but did get him on stage every night and net him nine equity points as well as the beginnings of a network among Chicago theater professionals. This year, he had a slightly more lucrative job (both were Shakespeare-related), better casting and no tech responsibilities. (There was also some extra earning potential through educational workshops, but no points.) But the main thing is that he knows a lot of people who work in Chicago all the time now, as actors and directors and casting associates and so on, which cannot help but be useful later on. I know it’s slightly different for straight (non-musical actors) but it seems like he’s working now and there’s no reason he can’t continue to work. He needs to get an agent eventually. He needs to make more money. But it doesn’t seem like such a stretch that all this might happen for him in time. By the way, costs of living in Chicago are significantly lower than in big cities on the East Coast (NYC obviously but also Boston and Philly), so it is possible to survive on a survival job.
This is also something that all our kids are going to have to decide for themselves. It’s interesting, as a spectator, but I don’t think parents have much of a role in this kind of choice.
I agree @Jkellynh17! I had a spirited discussion about the issue this weekend with my S. A classmate of his (rising sophomore) received his equity card this summer (the part apparently required equity). It made for interesting discussion about what type of work he will be able to take over the next few years to build his resume. I assume being equity can be rather limiting in smaller/regional markets but alas, it is only mine to comment on from the nickel bleachers.
Yes, I’ve heard stories like that, too. My son has been sort of eye-ing the Alabama Shakespeare intern program (for after graduation, it’s during the school year) but you do get instantaneous equity status and he’s not sure that being equity and non-MFA in classical theater would be a very compelling proposition. But I do think that, in most cases, if you’re good enough to have it offered, you should at least think about taking it. (With the caveat that I know less than nothing about these things.)
Here’s a question…do the directors care what is on your resume if you kill the audition and are what they are looking for? I can’t imagine they would pass someone up because they got their equity card too soon and have a sparse resume.
^^^ @lojosmo, I think you meant a card gets you to the front at an EPA. Having an equity card at an open call is meaningless, right? Open call means there is no difference between equity, EMC and non-eq…it’s first come, first serve. Having your card helps at the EPA calls, however, b/c you will get put in front of EMCs and non-eq.