Professional Resources

Actors’ Equity is the national union of over 48,000 stage actors and stage managers working in the professional theatre (it does not have locals, as do many other unions). Equity seeks to advance, promote and foster the art of live theater as an essential component of our society. Equity negotiates minimum wages and working conditions, providing a wide range of benefits including health and pension plans. Through its affiliation with the Associated Actors and Artistes of America (4As), AEA is a member of the AFL-CIO and is also affiliated with Federation Internationale Artistes (FIA), an international organization of performing arts unions.

American Federation of Musicians

Local 148-462

Everyday the American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada helps thousands of musicians just like you. We are the largest organization in the world representing the interests of professional musicians. Whether negotiating fair agreements, protecting ownership of recorded music, securing benefits such as health care and pension, or lobbying our legislators, the AFM is committed to raising industry standards and placing the professional musician in the foreground of the cultural landscape.

American Federation of Television and Radio Artists

The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) is a national labor union representing over 70,000 performers, journalists and other artists working in the entertainment and news media.

AFTRA's scope of representation covers broadcast, public and cable television (news, sports and weather; drama and comedy, soaps, talk and variety shows, documentaries, children's programming, reality and game shows); radio (news, commercials, hosted programs); sound recordings (CDs, singles, Broadway cast albums, audio books); "non-broadcast" and industrial material as well as Internet and digital programming.

AFTRA's membership includes an array of talent - sound recording membership includes artists who bring pop, rock, country, classical, folk, jazz, comedy, Latin, hip hop, rap and R&B to the world. AFTRA members perform in television and radio advertising, non-broadcast video, audio books and messaging, and provide their skills for developing technologies such as interactive games and Internet material.

American Guild of Variety Artists

The American Guild of Variety Artists (AGVA) is an AFL-CIO-affiliated labor union founded in 1939 to represent performing artists and stage managers for live performances in the variety field. The variety area of performance includes singers & dancers in touring shows and in theatrical revues (non-book shows...book revues may be under Actors’ Equity jurisdiction), theme park performers, skaters, circus performers, comedians & stand-up comics, cabaret & club artists,lecturers/poets/monologists/spokespersons, and variety performers working at private parties & special events.

AGVA is a branch of The Associated Actors and Artistes of America (commonly referred to as “The 4 A’s”), which is the parent union to AGVA, as well as to other performer unions such as Actors’ Equity Association (AEA), Screen Actors Guild (SAG), American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA), and Guild of Italian American Actors (GIAA, formerly Italian Actors Union, IAU).

AGVA, in accordance with industry standards and Federal labor regulations, negotiates, sets and enforces salary minimums, as well as conditions of employment such as, rehearsal & performance hours, overtime provisions, safe & sanitary work conditions, travel stipulations, vacation & sick pay, publicity & promotion, audition procedures, and general work rules.

Atlanta Coalition of Performing Arts

Atlanta Coalition of Performing Arts (ACPA) celebrates over two decades as an umbrella service organization that supports and promotes greater Atlanta's vibrant, culturally diverse theatre, dance, music and film arts community.

ACPA grew from an organization called “OOPS,” the Off Off Peachtree Syndicate. In 1984, OOPS was incorporated as the Atlanta Coalition of Theatres, which began conducting business as Atlanta Coalition of Performing Arts in 2000. Over the years, ACPA has grown from 32 founding members to more than 170 Partner and Associate organizations from 16 greater Atlanta counties, plus over 400 individual member performing arts professionals.

Annually, over 500,000 people are served in-person and online by ACPA through a wide variety of programs and services. Those include AtlantaPerforms.com and industry-focused AtlantaPerforms.biz, the AtlanTIX half-price ticket booth, the bimonthly Atlanta ShowGuide magazine, weekly Stage Stories podcast, annual Unified Auditions, GeorgiaPerforms.com, and the annual Georgia Arts & Entertainment Legacy Awards. ACPA’s ticket services are the largest single resource of earned income for the nonprofit performing arts industry of Georgia.

A strong arts & cultural community is a hallmark of a true world-class city. By providing a nurturing environment for theatre, dance, music and film arts, the Atlanta Coalition of Performing Arts plays a vital role in greater Atlanta’s cultural and community development. You can too. The performing arts enrich our lives, nourishing our minds and spirits with the splendid diversity of humanity. See a show and celebrate life. Come with us on a theatrical journey of the mind, the heart, the soul… and some toe-tappin’ song & dance.

The Dramatists Guild

The Dramatists Guild of America was established over eighty years ago, and is the only professional association which advances the interests of playwrights, composers, lyricists and librettists writing for the living stage. The Guild has over 6,000 members nationwide, from beginning writers to the most prominent authors represented on Broadway, Off-Broadway and in regional theaters.

League of Resident Theatres

LORT is the largest professional theatre association of its kind in the United States, with 76 member Theatres located in every major market in the U.S., including 29 states and the District of Columbia. LORT Theatres collectively issue more Equity contracts to actors than Broadway and commercial tours combined.

LORT administers the primary national not-for-profit collective bargaining agreements with Actors' Equity Association (AEA), the Society of Stage Directors & Choreographers (SSDC), and United Scenic Artists (USA). We also deal directly with personnel and management issues involving Theatre staff, artists, and craftspeople. LORT members communicate collectively via LORT Counsel's office in New York.

Screen Actors Guild

Screen Actors Guild is the nation’s largest labor union representing working actors. Established in 1933, SAG has a rich history in the American labor movement, from standing up to studios to break long-term engagement contracts in the 1940s to fighting for artists’ rights amid the digital revolution sweeping the entertainment industry in the 21st century. With 20 branches nationwide, SAG represents over 120,000 actors who work in film and digital motion pictures and television programs, commercials, video games, industrials, Internet and all new media formats. The Guild exists to enhance actors’ working conditions, compensation and benefits and to be a powerful, unified voice on behalf of artists’ rights. SAG is a proud affiliate of the AFL-CIO.

Society of Directors and Choreographers

SDC is the theatrical union that unites, empowers and protects professional stage Directors and Choreographers throughout the United States.

Our mission is to foster a national community of professional stage Directors and Choreographers by protecting the rights, health and livelihoods of all our Members. To facilitate the exchange of ideas, information and opportunities, while educating the current and future generations about the role of Directors and Choreographers and providing effective administration, negotiations and contractual support.