Durban — Aspiring actors were enlightened on survival tips and encouraged to push through in the industry by the South Africa Guild of Actors (SAGA) at the KwaZulu-Natal Film Commission in Musgrave on Saturday.
The industry talk included actor and SAGA chairperson, Jack Devnarain; safety contact officer from SWIFT Minenhle Gumbi; Hungani Ndlovu who is an actor and SAGA exco member; Zinzi Zungu, an agent from Star Quality; Carlynn de Waal-Smit national secretary for SAGA; and Londiwe Shange actor and SAGA vice-secretary for KZN.
Devnarain spoke about industry regulations and what it means for actors. He touched on issues on what SAGA is doing to assist with the Department of Labour and how performers can work without unions, as freelancers.
There was a question-and-answer session for the aspiring actors and they were given a platform to voice their thoughts, mainly on regulations and that South African unlike countries such as Nigeria is not regulated.
Londiwe Shange said that the Durban industry talk included issues that affect actors in KZN specially and tips on how to navigate issues of harassment and how they can work towards success in the industry.
Touching on the issues of sexual harassment that may happen on set, Minenhle Gumbi, who is a safety contact officer, highlighted the types of harassment and what it looks like.
Gumbi said that they played a video from the “That’s not okay” campaign that showed the types of harassment such as verbal, physical, and sexual harassment. She also said that it is important to know what might be offensive to someone and other actors might be victims without even knowing it.
Hungani Ndlovu spoke about the issue of actors not voicing their issues on set. He said that sometimes actors are too afraid to speak out because they do not want to be blacklisted in getting future projects.
Ndlovu said actors should know that not speaking out on issues does not make your life easier on set, it can only make it worse and that realistically many actors are not working and they are being exploited. He said speaking out proves that you know your value and could make a change in the industry.
He encouraged actors to become members of SAGA and that would assist them when they have issues because of the community structure, such as a legal team, funeral and will benefits. Ndlovu said that the guild is important for freelancers who do not have agents not to be vulnerable on set.
Zinzi Zungu, an agent from Star Quality, also encouraged actors to read and that would help them grow in their craft. She encouraged them to go on the Personal Managers Association (PMA) website to find ethical agents.
Shange also said that actors are not alone, and that changes won’t happen overnight.
“One needs to place themselves with the right people and organisations that will assist them accordingly.” She said SAGA is also affiliated with unions for performers worldwide that actors could use to their advantage and not feel alone when they get work overseas. Being an actress or actor requires research and a deep dive in it to understand…”
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