Editing Screen Actors Guild (section)

==Background==
According to SAG's Mission Statement, the Guild sought to: negotiate and enforce collective bargaining agreements that establish equitable levels of compensation, benefits, and working conditions for its performers; collect compensation for exploitation of recorded performances by its members, and provide protection against unauthorized use of those performances; and preserve and expand work opportunities for its members.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sag.org/about-us/mission-statement| title=Mission Statement|work=SAG Official Website}}</ref>

The Guild was founded in 1933 in an effort to eliminate the [[Exploitation of labour|exploitation]] of [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood]] actors, who were being forced into oppressive multi-year [[contract]]s with the major [[movie studio]]s. Opposition to these contracts included that they did not include restrictions on work hours or minimum rest periods, and often had clauses that automatically renewed at the studios' discretion. These contracts were notorious for allowing the studios to dictate the public and private lives of the performers who signed them, and most did not have provisions to allow the performer to end the deal.<ref>London Academy of Media, Film & TV, [http://www.media-courses.com/blog/the-screen-actors-guild/ The Screen Actors Guild] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130726001121/http://www.media-courses.com/blog/the-screen-actors-guild/ |date=2013-07-26 }}</ref>

The Screen Actors Guild was associated with the [[Associated Actors and Artistes of America]] (AAAA), which is the primary association of performer's unions in the United States. AAAA is affiliated with the [[AFL-CIO]]. SAG claimed exclusive jurisdiction over motion picture performances, and shared jurisdiction of [[radio]], [[television]], [[Internet]], and other [[new media]] with its sister union AFTRA, with which it shared 44,000 dual members.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080701/ap_on_en_mo/hollywood_labor|title=Pause after Screen Actors Guild contract expires|access-date=2017-01-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080728221354/http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080701/ap_on_en_mo/hollywood_labor|archive-date=2008-07-28|url-status=live|work=[[Yahoo News]]}}</ref> Internationally, the SAG was affiliated with the [[International Federation of Actors]].

In addition to its main offices in [[Los Angeles]], SAG also maintained branches in several major US cities, including [[Atlanta]], [[Boston]], [[Chicago]], [[Dallas]], [[Denver]], [[Detroit]], [[Honolulu]], [[Houston]], [[Las Vegas, Nevada|Las Vegas]], [[Miami]], [[Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville]], [[New York City|New York]], [[New Orleans]], [[Philadelphia]], [[Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix]], [[Portland, Oregon|Portland]], [[Salt Lake City]], [[San Diego]], [[San Francisco]], [[Seattle]], and [[Washington, D.C.]]

Beginning in 1995, SAG began to award the [[Screen Actors Guild Awards]], which are considered an indicator of success at the [[Academy Awards]]. It continues through [[SAG-AFTRA]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}