Dear AFTRA Member,

This is a patriotic time of year and our celebration of America’s birthday always makes me think of the wisdom and foresight of our founders – both the founders of our nation and of AFTRA.

The nation’s founders created an experiment in government that provides the equality of opportunity, the rule of law and the enumerated rights we now treasure. AFTRA’s founders bound us together to provide bargaining strength, strategic leverage and a piece of the revenue we help generate. Each institution has grown and changed as the times have changed. Just as Jefferson could not have imagined Fourth Amendment protection for telephone conversations, neither could our AFRA founders have imagined our members working on interactive games, audiobooks or programming for the Internet. Click here to view the summer issue of AFTRA Magazine online and be sure to read the feature cover story on how AFTRA members are organizing in audiobooks.

We have been given two strong foundations to stand on, one civic and one economic, but each requires maintenance from time to time to keep it strong. Our country requires brave men and women to defend it and proud citizens to elect its leaders. Our union needs far-sighted people to respond to a changing media world and working members to direct our leadership now and for future performers. The latter you can do by ringing in on the current Joint AFTRA Exhibit A and SAG TV/Theatrical Wages and Working Conditions meetings
happening right now around the country. Those who went before left us with provisions that we take for granted too often: residuals for reuse of our material, a health plan that protects our families and a pension that allows us to take our ease after a long career.

When these concepts came along, they were new and daring. Now it is our turn to be daring. We need to look at our work, how it is changing and how we need to change with it to stay germane to the entertainment and information world. We have to listen to our friends and co-workers as they describe the new kinds of work we are doing. We need to come together to plan how we will be compensated for our performances, and how we’ll continue to share in the revenue stream that all these new distribution streams will generate. Just as TiVo has allowed time-shifted viewing from late night to late morning, and the iPod and iPad have allowed place-shifted viewing from the living room couch to the seat on the bus, we need to get our arms around the cash shifting from one delivery system to another before it runs away from us.

Cleck here to visit the AFTRA website to find out about W&W meetings in your area, or email your Local or the W&W committee with your suggestions at wandw2010@aftra.com. Attend the meetings if you can. Listen, contribute, challenge and support. In the end, all AFTRA members, those current and those who come after us, will benefit from this small contribution we can make to better our careers – and you can be proud of your part in the campaign.

Have a great Fourth of July, and God Bless America!

In solidarity,

Denny Delk
National Vice President
AFTRA

AFTRA Delegation Tours BP Learning Center in Louisiana

LOS ANGELES AND NEW ORLEANS (July 1, 2010)—The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), a national union of more than 70,000 professional performers, recording artists and broadcast journalists, today announced that the union has launched an initiative to monitor reports of denial of access and censorship of the story of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and its aftermath.

“We are concerned about continuing reports that journalists are being denied access to sources and public places necessary for them to fully cover this important story,” said AFTRA National President Roberta Reardon. “The causes and effects of the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon must be uncovered and analyzed, and our only hope of getting to the truth is through investigative journalism by professionals with unfettered and unfiltered access to the sources.”

AFTRA has launched a new website, www.aftra.com/access4media.htm, as a clearinghouse of published accounts of access denied as well as firsthand accounts by newspersons submitted through a confidential on-line form. The website also features links to safety resources and related information to assist journalists in safely covering the story. AFTRA is encouraging any newsperson who has been denied access by a government or corporate entity to share their story via the new website, www.aftra.com/access4media.htm, or by emailing their story to access4media@aftra.com.

In order to get a firsthand look at what and how information is being provided to the media, Diana Boylston, Local President of AFTRA in New Orleans, and Herta Suarez, Executive Director of AFTRA’s southeast regional office in Miami, toured the BP Learning Center near Houma, Louisiana, on Thursday, July 1. According to Boylston, “AFTRA is watching this situation closely and communicating directly with newspersons on the ground to make sure that government and corporations are being transparent.”

AFTRA will keep all of its members, including broadcast journalists, recording artists and other performers, informed so that they can work with allies in the labor movement and the community to advocate for complete transparency from both the government and private corporations.

About AFTRA
The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, AFL-CIO, are the people who entertain and inform America. In 32 Locals across the country, AFTRA members work as actors, journalists, singers, dancers, announcers, hosts, comedians, disc jockeys, and other performers across the media industries including television, radio, cable, sound recordings, music videos, commercials, audio books, non-broadcast industrials, interactive games, the Internet and other digital media. The 70,000 professional performers, broadcasters, and recording artists of AFTRA are working together to protect and improve their jobs, lives, and communities in the 21st century. From new art forms to new technology, AFTRA members embrace change in their work and craft to enhance American culture and society. Visit AFTRA online at www.aftra.com.

The people who entertain and inform America proudly congratulate the AFTRA-member cast of “Bold and the Beautiful” for winning Outstanding Drama Series at the 37th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards. We applaud all of the other nominees and winners who were acknowledged with honors during the evening’s live telecast on CBS on Sunday, June 27. Click here for a full list of winners.

We join with the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in offering special recognition to “All My Children” on its 40th anniversary, and to “As the World Turns,” which wrapped production last week in New York after 54 years on the air.

Congratulations to AFTRA member Dick Clark – who has entertained generations of viewers around the world through his iconic AFTRA-covered television program “American Bandstand” – and to Agnes Nixon, creator of the AFTRA-covered daytime dramas “One Life to Live” and “All My Children,” for her Lifetime Achievement Award.

The 37th annual Daytime Emmys were produced by AFTRA-signatory employer
Associated Television International. AFTRA members employed in the live telecast of the Daytime Emmys include award winners and nominees, royalty artists, hosts, background vocalists, dancers, and stand-in professionals.

About AFTRA
The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, AFL-CIO, are the people who entertain and inform America. In 32 Locals across the country, AFTRA members work as actors, journalists, singers, dancers, announcers, hosts, comedians, disc jockeys, and other performers across the media industries including television, radio, cable, sound recordings, music videos, commercials, audiobooks, non-broadcast industrials, interactive games, the Internet and other digital media. The 70,000 professional performers, broadcasters, and recording artists of AFTRA are working together to protect and improve their jobs, lives, and communities in the 21st century. From new art forms to new technology, AFTRA members embrace change in their work and craft to enhance American culture and society. Visit AFTRA online at www.aftra.com.

The producers and cast of "The Bold and the Beautiful" accept their award at the 37th Annual Daytime Emmys.
Photo courtesy of CBS

In this issue:

• Audiobooks: AFTRA Organizes a Growing Market
• Roger Ebert Q&A
• Animal Actors
• How to Find Your Royalties