Unions - New Plays Festival

Effective Winter of 2019, Actors’ Equity Association (AEA) has ceased approval of all Showcase Codes for educational institutions. Because of this, there are only two ways that AEA members may participate in productions at Columbia:

  1. The play is produced under the AEA 29-Hour Staged Reading Code. If you would like to consider this, please let Production Management know as soon as possible that you would like to apply. Please note that this option is only available for productions as part of the New Plays Festival.
     
  2. The AEA member in question is a current MFA Theatre student at Columbia. They can then appear as the play is considered a part of their curriculum at Columbia.

SAG-AFTRA membership is not relevant to live theatre performance.

Members of United Scenic Artists must be paid via contracts through URTA, since Columbia does not have an existing CBA with the union. There are significant additional costs associated with this. Please consult this URTA Union Fee Calculator for an estimate of the total cost. Note that these contracts must be entirely paid for from the Columbia budget.

Members of SDC must be paid via contracts through URTA, since Columbia does not have an existing CBA with the union. There are significant additional costs associated with this. Please consult this URTA Union Fee Calculator for an estimate of the total cost. Note that these contracts must be entirely paid for from the Columbia budget.

If an artist is a member of another relevant union, please reach out to Production Management before they begin work on the show.