![\"Out-of-work](\"http:\/\/vaticanenquirer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/out-of-work-actresses.jpg\")
<\/a>LOS ANGELES\u2014In an effort to help open new doors for the many women struggling to readjust to life after performing, officials from the Screen Actors Guild\u2010American Federation of Television and Radio Artists spoke to reporters Thursday about the union\u2019s new job-training program for 30-year-old actresses who have aged out of the workforce.<\/p>\n
SAG-AFTRA officials, who said the vast majority of female performers are not prepared for the hardships of losing acting work at the end of their 20s, described the wide variety of tools the new program utilizes\u2014ranging from instructional seminars, to networking events, to hands-on workshops\u2014to help transition women into positions in film production, distribution, and financing.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs actresses enter their 30s, they suddenly find themselves without a job and nowhere to turn; we want to ensure that they have the skills to find meaningful employment elsewhere in the industry,\u201d said SAG-AFTRA president Ken Howard, who added that through the retraining program, nearly 85 percent of unemployed actresses are able to secure jobs in behind-the-scenes fields within 18 months. \u201cToo often, these performers are cast aside after their on-screen usefulness has run its course, and they fall through the cracks. We\u2019re here to help them get back on their feet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMany of these women have dedicated themselves to their craft for up to a decade, and it\u2019s our turn to pay them back,\u201d Howard continued.<\/p>\n
According to the program\u2019s website, women who enroll are entitled to free instructional classes\u2014which meet in the basement of the union\u2019s headquarters\u2014geared toward teaching the basics of production jobs such as sound mixing, organizing receipts for on-set expenses, wardrobe supervision, and properly handling pyrotechnics. Former actresses can also attend r\u00e9sum\u00e9 workshops where career coaches will assist them in showcasing any relevant job experience they may have had prior to their careers in acting, such as highlighting previous restaurant work to help them land a position in craft services.<\/p>\n
The placement program reportedly also provides the women with experiential training, including apprenticeships that pair former A-list stars with professionals in a field of interest such as prop masters or the actresses\u2019 own former personal assistants. Highlighting the success of the program, administrators noted that Oscar winner Michelle Williams, who spent four months shadowing a line producer at Universal Studios, is now working there full-time as a location scout.<\/p>\n
SAG-AFTRA officials told reporters they are currently developing a web portal that will include job listings from production companies looking to hire female performers who are now beyond on-camera working age.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt can certainly come as a shock to many of these women when they realize they are losing jobs to a younger generation of workers,\u201d said Howard, noting that many struggling older actresses often overestimate their ability to secure the extremely limited number of Hollywood\u2019s divorcee, witch, and unstable or overbearing mother roles. \u201cWe try to explain to them that if they want to stay in the industry, they\u2019ll need to show employers that they have something to offer beyond compelling performances.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe sooner they accept that and take action, the sooner they\u2019ll be back in show business,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n
Howard added that the union also offers services intended to preempt women from becoming unemployed in the first place, citing counseling sessions for performers in their mid-20s designed to help them map out a path to careers in marketing or accounting in order to make the jump as seamless as possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter I stopped getting roles, I felt very lost and afraid; this was the job I\u2019d spent my whole life training for, and it was all I\u2019d ever really known,\u201d said former actress Maggie Gyllenhaal, 37, who explained that, with the help of the program, she has found steady work as a best boy electric on Hollywood films and was recently hired as the gaffer on the upcoming movie Jack Reacher 2<\/i>. \u201cThe workshops and coaching sessions gave me the confidence and skills to begin a new chapter in my career, and I\u2019m extremely thankful for that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m glad my daughter can see that even though her mother is no longer able to get work on the screen, she can still contribute in her own small way,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Source: Theonion.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" LOS ANGELES\u2014In an effort to help open new doors for the many women struggling to readjust to life after performing, officials from the Screen Actors Guild\u2010American Federation of Television and Radio Artists spoke to reporters Thursday about the union\u2019s new job-training program for 30-year-old actresses who have aged out of the workforce. SAG-AFTRA officials, who […] More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1722,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[203],"adace-sponsor":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/vaticanenquirer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/out-of-work-actresses.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/vaticanenquirer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1720"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/vaticanenquirer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/vaticanenquirer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/vaticanenquirer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/vaticanenquirer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1720"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/vaticanenquirer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1720\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1724,"href":"http:\/\/vaticanenquirer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1720\/revisions\/1724"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/vaticanenquirer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/vaticanenquirer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/vaticanenquirer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/vaticanenquirer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1720"},{"taxonomy":"adace-sponsor","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/vaticanenquirer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/adace-sponsor?post=1720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}