This walks through SAG-AFTRA's published process as of September 2026. It isn't legal advice. Your assigned business representative is the authority on your project, and an entertainment attorney should review the agreement before you sign it.
Decide which agreement you're applying for
The application asks you to choose an agreement up front, and the budget mostly makes that choice for you. Micro-Budget covers projects up to $20,000, the Short Project Agreement up to $50,000, Ultra Low Budget up to $300,000, Moderate Low Budget under $700,000, and Low Budget Theatrical under $2,000,000. The low budget agreements guide compares their rates and release limits.
Two checks before you commit. First, SAG-AFTRA's low budget agreements require shooting entirely in US states and territories. Second, the budget you submit has to include post and every deferral, since deferred pay counts toward the caps on the feature tiers. A budget that leaves out the color grade and then lands $30,000 over the line is a problem you created yourself.
What the application asks for
SAG-AFTRA's current online signatory application (version 2.4) is long, so open it well before you plan to submit. Here is what it asks for, section by section:
| Section | What you'll need ready |
|---|---|
| Project information | Title, agreement type, synopsis, running time, intended initial exhibition, the script with cover page, lead performers, director, writers, financiers, other unions involved |
| Dates | Earliest travel date, earliest rehearsal date, principal photography start, wrap |
| Signatory information | Company structure, company name exactly as on formation documents, federal ID number, state of formation, formation documents, the signatory's photo ID, a Producer Portal admin |
| Project finances | Total budget, performer budget (including deferrals where applicable), background budget, payroll house for principals and background, line-item budget |
| Production details | Number of weekly and daily performers, background count, members already cast, stunts and stunt coordinator, locations and US shoot days, whether any shooting is in Los Angeles, animals, minors, nudity or simulated sex, weapons, intimacy coordinator, any use of AI |
| Insurance | Workers' compensation carrier, plus public liability and E&O if you have them |
| Ownership | Current and future owners, lien holders, chain of title documents and proof of US Copyright Office registration |
| Financing | Each financier and amount, loans against tax credits, bank loans, and pending or final financing agreements |
| Distribution | Pending or final distribution and sales agency agreements, presales, collection account arrangements |
| Pre-production cast list | Every known role, with performer names and "TBD" for roles not yet cast, regardless of union status |
The financing upload carries a warning worth taking seriously: leaving it out can lead SAG-AFTRA to refuse to clear the picture or to require a residuals reserve. If you have a financier who hasn't signed yet, upload the pending agreement.
The ownership section can take the longest to assemble. If the script is based on a short story, the option agreement and the writer's assignment both need to be in the file, along with the copyright registration. Start collecting those the day you decide to go union.
Pick the right entity
The form accepts an individual, corporation, LLC, partnership, or other. Student Film Agreement producers must sign as individuals. For everything else, the name you type has to match the formation documents exactly, and that company becomes the one that owes wages, pension and health, and residuals on the film.
Many producers set up a company for each film for that reason. The mistake to avoid is signing a parent company because the film's LLC isn't formed yet, which ties the parent to the film's union obligations. The signatory glossary entry covers this in more detail.
A working timeline
SAGindie recommends starting four to six weeks before performers travel, rehearse, or shoot, whichever comes first. The application itself says to submit at least three weeks before the earliest of those dates. The clock runs from the first travel or rehearsal date.
Here's how that looks for a feature with a table read and rehearsals on Monday, October 19, 2026, and principal photography on Monday, October 26:
| Date | Task |
|---|---|
| Aug 24 to Sep 4 | Lock the budget, including post and deferrals. Gather formation documents, chain of title, financing agreements. Choose a payroll company. Bind workers' comp. |
| Sep 7 (six weeks before rehearsal) | Submit the signatory application |
| About Sep 10 | SAGindie says a business representative should contact you in about three business days. If nobody does, call SAG-AFTRA's Entertainment Contracts Department at 323-549-6828. |
| Sep 14 to Oct 2 | Answer follow-up questions, upload documents to the Producer Portal, receive the agreement and security deposit amount |
| Sep 28 | The latest the form says you can submit (three weeks before Oct 19) |
| Oct 5 to Oct 16 | Sign the agreement, deliver the deposit, clear performers through Station 12, send deal memos |
| Oct 19 | Rehearsals start. You need to be cleared by now. |
If your application goes in on September 28, you're relying on nothing going wrong with a chain of title document. Go early.
The security deposit
SAGindie describes the deposit as anywhere from 40% to 100% of covered performer payroll, based on performer salaries and work time. Your representative calculates it. It's returned after principal photography, so plan for it in the cash flow schedule.
Here's what that can mean. On an Ultra Low Budget feature with 61 performer days at $257, covered payroll is $15,677 before overtime. A 40% deposit would be $6,270.80. A 100% deposit would be the full $15,677. Pension and health is 22% on top of wages for principal performers from September 6, 2026, and whether and how it's included in the deposit calculation is a question for your representative. Either way, that money has to be in the production account weeks before the cast starts, which is often before the last tranche of financing arrives.
What you agree to once you sign
Signing means following the agreement for everyone it covers. Under the Codified Basic Agreement that underlies the low budget contracts, that includes paying at least minimum, reporting non-member hires, keeping the Exhibit G time report each day, and paying pension and health.
In practice, the weeks around the shoot look like this:
- Clear every performer through Station 12 before they work, including day players added late.
- File a Taft-Hartley report within 15 days of a non-member's first day on agreements where Taft-Hartley applies. The Taft-Hartley guide covers this.
- Pay performers through the payroll house you named. SAGindie's FAQ is clear that union actors can't be paid as 1099 contractors.
- Send your representative the wrap paperwork they ask for, including the Exhibit G reports, and follow up on the deposit return.
- Keep your representative informed about distribution, because residuals are owed if the film is exhibited beyond what the agreement's base pay covers.
Performer contracts come under the agreement too. The Codified Basic Agreement lets a producer deliver an employment contract to a performer on set no later than the first day of work, but it says performers can't be required to sign on set. Send deal memos ahead of time. The cast deal memo template has fields for the agreement name, rate, and guaranteed days.
Mistakes that slow the process down
Applying under the wrong agreement. If your budget is $710,000 and you apply under Moderate Low without an incentive, expect a conversation and a delay.
Forgetting pre-shoot work dates. The form asks for earliest travel and rehearsal dates separately from principal photography. Flying a lead in from New York on October 16 moves your deadline earlier.
Listing only union actors on the cast list. The form asks for all performers regardless of union affiliation.
Sending incomplete chain of title. A missing assignment from a co-writer can hold up clearance more than any other document.
Assuming SAGindie processes paperwork. It doesn't. SAGindie is an educational program run by the nonprofit Film-Raderie, and it will answer questions, but SAG-AFTRA's contracts staff handle the application.
Keeping the paperwork organized in Storiara
In Storiara, the Cast & Crew module lets you record each performer's union and contract type, and the day out of days is generated from the schedule, which gives you the performer counts and dates the application asks for. You can also print the full project for your own records. The application itself is submitted to SAG-AFTRA directly.