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Equity

Q: How do I get an Equity card?

Can you tell me what criteria do I have to fill in order to get an Equity card? If I meet the requirements can I still be refused membership of the union?

A: Eligibility is one thing and membership another. In order to be eligible for membership it is only necessary for an applicant to establish that he has professional skill as an entertainer whether as artist, producer, stage manager, or in any similar capacity in the theatre, musical, films, radio, television and the like media.

However, in order to be elected you will need a majority vote of members of the executive committee present at a committee meeting. It is possible for temporary membership to be granted for specific periods at a fee, if the committee so decides, and this facility is frequently used for visiting artists from overseas.

Even if you are eligible, the committee will still want to be satisfied that you have a sufficient amount of work in hand or in prospect to justify more than mere temporary membership. If they are satisfied about this then the normal practice would be for you to be granted provisional membership in the first instance (which carries the same rights as full membership except the right to be elected an, officer of the council).

Provisional membership can be converted into full membership after 30 weeks if the executive committee is satisfied that you have had not fewer than 30 weeks professional experience. There are different criteria for determining what constitutes a week for this purpose, depending on which of the various entertainment media you are operating in.

In practice it is not that easy for newcomers to get an Equity card other than a temporary one unless you are a UK resident and there is an offer of professional work on the table for a substantial period of time. Obviously, it is easier if the offer of engagement is high profile, e.g. a leading part in a major West End production but that is by no means essential and there are many long-standing members of Equity who have never appeared or are likely to appear in any performance of that calibre.

Equity has more than 40,000 members and new members are being admitted all the time. On the other hand there is no legal obligation to admit anyone to membership or to give reasons for any refusal, although the council (of which the executive committee forms part) is charged by its constitution to act in the best interests of the members in accordance with the objects of the association.

The council is elected every two years by members’ ballot so that if a membership application is refused by one executive committee, a renewed application, if not to the same then to a subsequent and possibly differently constituted executive committee might succeed. It is in any event extremely unlikely that membership would be refused for capricious or discriminatory reasons if the executive committee’s working criteria are satisfied.

First Published May 1996