One of the best perks of being a member of SAG-AFTRA union (besides protecting you when working on the set) is getting all the For Your Consideration (FYC) Screeners and voting for the 29th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards® – or by their more common name the 2023 SAG Awards.
To get the FYC screeners, you must be current (paid up) on your SAG-AFTRA dues by Monday, Dec 12, 2022
Deadline to Pay Dues
To get the For Your Consideration (FYC) screeners, you must be current (paid up) on your SAG-AFTRA dues my Monday, December 12, 2022.
To help you remember the other important SAG Awards dates, I have written this short article. I also posted a countdown timer on the sidebar of this website.
Log into your SAG-AFTRA Account
Now would be an excellent time to log into your account on the SAG-AFTRA website. Click on the Residuals Portal and make sure you have paid your dues. If you haven’t, you can pay your dues online. Remember you must be paid up/current by December 12, 2022 or you won’t get access to any of the FYC screeners.
Then click on the My Info tab and make sure your current physical mailing address is accurate. This is where they will snail mail your physical DVDs to.
Every year the industry is going more and more to STREAMING where you log onto a website and watch the movie ONLINE vs snail mailing a physical DVD. This is much cheaper for the Producers AND better for the environment – and we ALL care about the environment, yes?!? The SAG Awards are often praised for their Green/Environmental efforts.
Nominees Announced
The nominees will be announced on January 11, 2023. Later that day, I will post a Grid with names of all the nominees.
2023 SAG Awards Grid
Once the nominees are announced, I will create and post a Grid to help you make sure you see all the nominated movies/TV shows before voting ends on February 24,2023. I find it incredibly hard to see them all in such a short amount of time and to balance with work, holidays/parties, life, etc. These are 1 pg each and meant to be printed out and written on.
The first version of the 2023 SAG Awards Grid will be just the title of the nominee because the Producers won’t have had time to line up how they are going to give us access. I will update it periodically when the Producers decide if/how they are going to give us access (physical DVD, online/digital, ticket, etc) – usually once or twice.
As an example, below is the first version of a recent Grid.
Download (2019-SAG-Awards-Scorecard.pdf)
Be sure to come back and read my reviews of all the 2023 SAG Awards nominees. As a sample, you can view my reviews from 2019, 2018, 2017.
These reviews take a lot of time to write. This is on top of working, holidays parties, sleeping – in all my spare time. 😉
Typical Timeline for FYC Screeners
The Distributors and Producers of each nominee then decide if/how they will grant access and tell SAG Awards office what they decide. SAG Awards posts on the FYC portion of website how that nominee is coming (Streaming, DVD, etc.). It takes a while for the Distributor to make that happen, so be patient.
Streaming Access is MUCH Faster
Streaming access happens much faster, usually 7 days after the Nominees are announced. This means you can start watching them via the Internet as soon as the Producers give us access.
Physical DVDs Arrive Much Later
The first physical DVDs are pumped out ASAP after the nominees are announced., with the first usually comes 1-2 weeks after. Best advice is to keep checking the FYC portion of the SAG Awards website. See details below.
FYC section of the SAG Awards website
A few days after the Nominees are announced, SAG-AFTRA will email you a PIN to get access to the For Your Consideration (FYC) section of the website. I will post a quick walk-thru of how to register/sign up thru the SAG Awards website (totally separate organization from SAG-AFTRA union website). It is VERY confusing – and I even have a degree in MultiMedia!
Keep going back to the FYC page on the SAG Awards website. They update it frequently. Mr SAG Awards has no control over what nominees are shown and how. All of that is up to the Producers and Distributors.
Why the SAG Awards are Different
The SAG Awards are rising in popularity and prestige every year. What distinguishes them chiefly from all the other Awards shows is the SAG Awards are voted on by ALL actors in the Actor union (SAG-AFTRA) on only Acting-related categories. Compare that to the Oscars, where everyone in the Academy votes on every category. This means eg: Costume Designers vote on Sound Design. Not really sure how Costume Designers can intelligently discuss/vote on Sound Design, but you get the idea.
When writing about Awards shows, I find it awkward how to refer to movies made during the previous year. Eg, if I said this post is about 2018 SAG Awards, does that mean for movies made during 2017 and honored in 2018? Or for movies made during 2018? Whatever – semantics. Ultimately, I decided to follow the lead of the Oscars.
Calendars
Here is a good article on ALL (Oscars, Emmys, SAG Awards, etc.) the various Awards calendars.
SAG Awards Calendar
Whenever you have a question about dates/times for SAG Awards, check out the official SAG Awards Calendar.
Start Watching Likely Contenders NOW
I find it incredibly hard to watch the movies in the short amount of time we are given access and before the Voting Deadline. I suggest start watching the likely ones to get nominated now.
Those Likely Contenders Are
Below are 3 articles that suggest who are likely to be nominated.
Where Can I Watch the SAG Awards Show 2023?
Oh boy, that is still up in the air. For the past several years, they have been on TNT and TBS. However, numbers for ALL Awards shows have been steadily declining. As of yet, no deal has been signed for this year. Hopefully, that will change by the time they announced the nominees in January. It would not surprise me if they don’t stream it online themselves…
SAG Awards 2022 Full Show (last year)
Social Media
Be sure to follow the SAG Awards on social media sites.
In your posts, they also like you to use the hashtag #SAGAWARDS. I usually add #awards #union #actor.
Be patient and kind to the SAG Awards Office
The SAG-AFTRA Awards people do a TREMENDOUS amount of work coordinating the process of giving you access to the nominees. This is during December when most people are taking time off for the holidays, so be patient and kind to them!
