Questions about non-American actors, the SAG, and the SAG-AFTRA Strike

Cafe Society
1

The SAG-AFTRA Strike has me wondering.

  1. Can actors from Canada, the UK, and other countries join SAG if they do TV and movie work in the US along with their home countries? I’m fairly sure they have actors’ unions in other countries but I don’t know the details of their relationship with SAG. For example, are they affiliated with another so, for example, if you joined a British actors’ union, your membership there would entitle you to membership with SAG if you did work in the US or are they separate and distinct?
  2. If you were a non-American actor who is a member of SAG and an actors’ union in your home country, would it be strike-breaking if you did TV or movie work in your home country for non-American producers?
  3. Would it be strike-breaking if an American SAG member did TV or movie work outside the US for non-American producers?
2

I believe that in order to work in the US that they have to obtain a work visa. If someone were to hire them to work during the strike they would be viewed as scabs by the union members and likely be shunned once the strike was over. Actors unions don’t want this and the studios don’t want to be accused of union busting behavior.

Most likley they would not get a visa to work here, but IANAEL (entertainment lawyer).

3

My understanding is that while Equity UK actors are not themselves on strike, Equity officially supports the SAG-AFTRA strike and would probably look very askance at its members strikebusting in the US.