Career Development

Join us April 24 for our Chicago Local virtual Conservatory - Surviving the Actor's Journey: Finding Mental Health in an Uncertain Business, as we gather together to identify the tools you need to ditch the anxiety and reclaim the joy in your acting pursuits. We will be joined by a host of experts, both peer and clinical professionals alike, including:

• Actor and educator Michael Kostroff, who will take us through some entertaining and enlightening concepts from his course/book Audition Psych 101.
• Elizabeth Clare (Chicago Local member and Ally Advocate at NoStigmas, a mental health non-profit) who will provide some resources on how to set boundaries and how to be an ally for your fellow actor's having a rough time.
• Fizzah Zaidi (licensed clinical therapist)
• Dr. Jason Washburn (Director of Clinical Psychology, Northwestern Hospital) who will help us navigate all the tough questions, and point us to where to get additional support when it's needed.

About:
Michael Kostroff
Kostroff is an established stage and television actor best known for his five seasons on HBO’s The Wire and a long list of appearances on shows including Billions, The Blacklist, NCIS and Law & Order: SVU. He toured with The Producers and Les Misérables and has starred at regional theaters all over the US. He’s a teacher, author, audition coach, former Backstage advice columnist, and the creator of Audition Psych 101, which is an online course on the psychological side of the audition process. Books by Kostroff include Letters from Backstage, Audition Psych 101, and the recently-published The Stage Actor’s Handbook: Traditions, Protocols, and Etiquette for the Working and Aspiring Professional (Rowman & Littlefield, 2022), which was listed as one of Playbill.com’s 12 must-read books.

Elizabeth Clare
Clare is an actor and musician based in Chicago and Los Angeles. Her background as a jazz musician lends itself to her work as an on-camera talent, scoring her multiple national commercial spots as well as her recent focus on TV/film roles.  She is also a mental health advocate, having created core programming with NoStigmas (a local non-profit) that includes general education as well as trauma-focused training. As a survivor of intimate partner violence, she understands how peer support from a lived experience perspective can support living in recovery. Claire connects this to the entertainment industry with her work as an intimacy coordinator to help tell stories responsibly. Claire loves baking, adores cats, and holds a 1st Degree Black Belt in Taekwondo.

Fizzah Zaidi
Fizzah Zaidi, LCPC, is a Chicago-based psychotherapist who is trained in EMDR and CCSP-ADHD certified. She specializes in working with adults with ADHD to identify and treat their comorbidities and trauma. Psychology is her second career after spending several years in traditional animation, where she worked on independent cartoons, Sesame Street games and commercials for General Mills and Hasbro. Fizzah uses behavioral and existential perspectives to advocate for breaking cultural and societal stigmas around mental health. She focuses on learning unique patterns in human development to collaborate with compassion and honor the authentic selves of her patients, as well as constantly working to improve her competencies in other modalities and theories. For more information, visit her website at www.fzpsychotherapy.com.

Dr. Jason Washburn
Dr. Washburn is Director of Clinical Psychology at Northwestern Hospital, whose overarching interests include science-based practice, practice-based clinical research, and education and training in Health Service Psychology. His clinical interests include psychodiagnostic, personality, and neurodevelopmental (ADHD, Learning Disorders) assessment. His research interests include nonsuicidal self-injury, suicide, and the implementation of psychological practices, including digital mental health.

RSVP: Reservations are required. Please complete the form below to RSVP; you must be logged in to RSVP. 

This event is only open to paid-up SAG-AFTRA Chicago Local members in good standing (paid thru April 30, 2023). No guests are allowed. Parents/guardians of performers under 18 years old are welcome.

ADA requests may be included on your RSVP form below. Please note that ADA requests must be received 48 business hours before the start of the event. 

“Can I work on this job?”

Yes, you can! It can be a union job with the right contract.

Join local leaders, staff, and fellow members, via Zoom, to learn tools for getting work covered under SAG-AFTRA contract. You’ll learn:

• How to get a local made in, played in commercial covered under the New England Regional Commercials Code
• That corporate training and educational video producers can work with professional actors by using the local Co/Ed Code
• Why the Micro Budget Agreement is a quick and easy tool for dramatic content with small budgets
• How to talk to casting and producers to get the job union so you can do the work. It’s a lot easier than you might think!

When: Both event dates will have the same content. Choose the one that best fits your schedule.

        Monday, March 13, 2 p.m.

        Monday, March 13, 6 p.m. RSVP BELOW. You must be logged in to see the RSVP form below. 

Where: Online via Zoom

Visit sagaftra.org/ne for more info on the New England Local!

This event is only open to paid-up SAG-AFTRA members in good standing (paid thru April 30, 2023). No guests are allowed. Parents/guardians of performers under 18 years old are welcome.

ADA requests may be included on your RSVP form below. Please note that ADA requests must be received 48 business hours before the start of the event. 

“Can I work on this job?”

Yes, you can! It can be a union job with the right contract.

Join local leaders, staff, and fellow members, via Zoom, to learn tools for getting work covered under SAG-AFTRA contract. You’ll learn:

• How to get a local made in, played in commercial covered under the New England Regional Commercials Code
• That corporate training and educational video producers can work with professional actors by using the local Co/Ed Code
• Why the Micro Budget Agreement is a quick and easy tool for dramatic content with small budgets
• How to talk to casting and producers to get the job union so you can do the work. It’s a lot easier than you might think!

When: Both event dates will have the same content. Choose the one that best fits your schedule.

        Monday, March 13, 2 p.m. RSVP below. You must be logged in to see the form below.

        Monday, March 13, 6 p.m.

Where: Online via Zoom

Visit sagaftra.org/ne for more info on the New England Local!

This event is only open to paid-up SAG-AFTRA members in good standing (paid thru April 30, 2023). No guests are allowed. Parents/guardians of performers under 18 years old are welcome.

ADA requests may be included on your RSVP form below. Please note that ADA requests must be received 48 business hours before the start of the event. 

Join acting teacher, coach, director and writer Deryn Warren for an informative and engaging online workshop. In Warren’s workshop you will receive scenes and have an opportunity to hone your skills. 

• Learn how to use vitality, energy and silence filled with subtext to book jobs
• Learn the importance of humor in every performance
• Learn how to use a strong voice and express passion
• Learn how to make first and last lines exciting that get you noticed

RSVP: Reservations are required. SAG-AFTRA members, please log in and complete the form below to RSVP. 

Non-members can attend for a fee of $20. Please click on this link to purchase a ticket and secure your spot.

About Deryn Warren

Deryn Warren is a leading acting teacher and coach in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Times wrote, “No wonder students clamor to take Deryn’s class. Her comments are dead-eye accurate.” Warren attended the American Film Institute as a Directing Fellow. Her book, How to Make Your Audience Fall in Love with You, was recommended by Harvard University and UCLA. Warren has directed three feature films including Black Magic Woman starring Mark Hamill. She also directed theater in Los Angeles, including A Garden of Snow, starring Angelica Huston. 

This event is free to paid-up SAG-AFTRA members in good standing (paid thru April 30, 2023, or in compliance with the November 2022 Dues Relief Extension). Parents/guardians of performers under 18 years old are welcome. Non-members can reserve their spot for $20.

This event is not intended to imply an endorsement of any individual or company by SAG-AFTRA. The information provided is given for informational purposes and may not be a suitable substitute for the advice of other industry professionals. You should always use good judgment in these matters and should not act or refrain from acting based solely on information provided through these events.

ADA requests may be included on your RSVP form below. Please note that ADA requests must be received 48 business hours before the start of the event. 

Local film and episodic productions are hiring more and more of New England's great talent!

Led by local staff, this conservatory will focus on what you need to know once you book that principal job. Topics include engagement, cancellation, fittings, consecutive employment, turnaround and travel. 

 RSVP: Reservations are required. Please complete form below to RSVP. Please note that you must be logged in to RSVP. 

This event is only open to paid-up SAG-AFTRA New England Local members in good standing (paid thru Oct. 31, 2022, or April 30, 2023 or in compliance with the November 2022 Dues Relief Extension). No guests are allowed. Parents/guardians of performers under 18 years old are welcome.

You may have heard that there are a lot of television and theatrical productions currently filming in Wilmington, NC and always more on the horizon. Keith Flippen will moderate a panel about "Working in Wilmington" featuring fellow SAG-AFTRA members and North Carolina natives, Jerry Winsett, Lee Armstrong and Allie McCulloch. These great panelists will discuss what it is like to work in the Wilmington, NC market and what you need to know to help you break in there. They’ll also provide insight into their favorite Wilmington actor resources, what the market's production community is like, how to spend your down time while you’re there shooting, how to avoid local traffic pitfalls and they’ll answer all of your questions.

When: Saturday, Sept. 24, 1-2:30 p.m. ET

Where: Meeting will be held by Zoom. You must have a registered Zoom account to participate.

Click the registration button above to RSVP by the deadline of Friday, Sept 23, 2022 at 1 pm ET.

Questions about the meeting? Please contact colin.bouchard@sagaftra.org or (301) 634-4869.

This meeting is only open to paid-up SAG-AFTRA Washington-Mid Atlantic members in good standing paid thru Oct. 31, 2022, or in compliance with the May 2022 Dues Relief Extension. No guests are allowed. Parents/guardians of performers under 18 years old are welcome. If more than one SAG-AFTRA member per household will be attending, each member will need to RSVP individually. RSVP is required prior to the above mentioned deadline for admittance.

Members must have a registered Zoom account in order to participate and will receive a unique Zoom link that is not transferable. We recommend participating from a location that has the necessary internet access for optimal viewing. Members will be expected to engage with professionalism and courtesy.

Join the San Diego Local and acting coach Kimberly Jentzen for a conservatory workshop, Acting with Impact. Learn how to deepen your work, make stronger choices and make the most of each industry opportunity.

When: Wednesday, Sept. 7, 5 p.m. PT

Where: Online via Zoom

RSVP: Reservations are required. Please complete form below to RSVP. Please note that you must be logged in to RSVP.

Gain skills that deliver results. If you want more callbacks, chemistry reads and bookings, Jentzen's online course will elevate your skill and deliver what you’ve been yearning for as an actor.

Kimberly Jentzen is an award-winning director/writer/coach and a multi-winner of Back Stage Reader’s Choice Awards: “Favorite Acting Coach,” “Favorite Acting Teacher” and “Best of: Acting Coach”. Jentzen is the founder of The Jentzen Technique and author of Acting with Impact and Life Emotions App. As a producer/director, her films have won film festival “Audience Choice” and “Best of” awards garnering critical acclaim as “powerful and emotionally stirring”. With an MA in Spiritual Psychology, she is fascinated with the human condition and impassioned by the love of the work. Her actors hone their talents to star in major motion pictures, as series regulars on television, and on Broadway.

This event is only open to paid-up SAG-AFTRA members in good standing (paid thru Oct. 31, 2022, or in compliance with the May 2022 Dues Relief Extension). No guests are allowed. Parents/guardians of performers under 18 years old are welcome.

These events are not intended to imply an endorsement of any individual or company by SAG-AFTRA. The information provided is given for informational purposes and may not be a suitable substitute for the advice of other industry professionals. You should always use good judgment in these matters and should not act or refrain from acting based solely on information provided through these events.