Acting Agreement Lets Nonmembers Do LDS Projects
Salt Lake Tribune 7Jan99
By Sean P. Means: Salt Lake Tribune

Deseret Media Productions, an audio-visual affiliate of the LDS Church, has reached an agreement with a union that represents many professional actors around the world. The Screen Actors Guild has agreed to let the Church give preference to LDS actors, or actors who agree to live Church standards while working on productions, in exchange for union approval on projects.

The deal allows the Church to use LDS actors who belong to the union. Without the deal, they would be breaking their union rules to work on a non-sanctioned project.

Deseret Media produces a lot of the instructional videos used in church classes, as well as at visitor centers. Now, LDS actors who belong to the union will be able to participate.

One SLC actress, Susan Dolan, who is not a member of the Church, is pleased with the news. She's worked in the Utah market for 15 years, but has never been involved in the many LDS video projects that are produced. Dolan says since she doesn't smoke or drink, living the standards should not be difficult for her.