But wait! Why should studios and networks have to pay actors just to audition? Isn't that asking too much?
This is where the actors' union can take a page from other labor movements:
**Creative work is still work. It takes up time you could otherwise spend earning money.**
#TaviGevison lays out the economic argument for paying actors so beautifully and without vitriol toward those who have profited the most from our #labor.
The 'Gossip Girl' actor and Rookie magazine founder writes that too many in Hollywood — including herself until recently — undervalue a huge part of the profession: "I realized how little I knew about auditions’ value as not simply 'opportunities' for us, but commodities that studios need."
What is #AuditionPay, you ask? Aren't auditions just opportunities or job interviews?
Here's what our current union contract says:
"If the performer is given employment in the picture, he shall not be entitled to compensation for auditions or tests... if the performer is not given employment in the picture, the performer shall receive 1/2 day of pay."
If we were paid to audition as we should be, there would be middle-class actors.
𝓖𝓲𝓪 𝓜𝓸𝓻𝓪 (she/her)