Frequently Asked Questions
SHORTCUTS
GENERAL
DVD & DIGITAL SCREENERS
IN-PERSON EVENTS & SCREENINGS
NOMINATING COMMITTEE
GENERAL
Q: When will the 31st Screen Actors Guild Awards® take place?
The 31st Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will take place on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. This ceremony will stream live on Netflix Sunday, February 23 at 8pm ET / 5pm PT.
Q: How are the winners of the SAG Awards® determined?
Voting for the SAG Awards is done in two stages. The first, nominations balloting, is voted on by two nominating committees – one for Motion Pictures and one for Television – each comprised of 2,500 randomly selected members. These nominating committees are newly selected each year from our database of paid-up and active SAG-AFTRA members who have not served previously in the past 8 years.
The second stage of voting, final balloting, begins after nominations are announced and is open to all paid-up and active SAG-AFTRA members.
Q: Who is eligible to vote and receive For Your Consideration materials in the final balloting phase of the SAG Awards?
All SAG-AFTRA members in good standing who have paid their November 2024 dues by Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024 will be eligible to vote on the 31st Annual SAG Awards.
Q: Who is eligible to receive a SAG Award?
With the actor’s permission, producers, studios/networks, agents, managers, or publicists may submit performances for consideration in the category designated by the actor. Actors may, of course, submit their own performances.
Motion pictures, television, cable, and new media productions made within SAG-AFTRA’s jurisdiction must be signatory to SAG-AFTRA or a SAG-AFTRA collective bargaining agreement. Titles need not be in English. Productions made outside of SAG-AFTRA’s jurisdiction with entirely foreign casts may be eligible for SAG Awards submission.
For a full breakdown of eligibility in each category, please see our Rules and Regulations.
Q: How are Life Achievement recipients selected?
The SAG-AFTRA National Honors and Tributes Committee nominates and votes for the recipient of this award. The HAT Committee’s selection must be approved by the President and the National Executive Director of SAG- AFTRA.
Q: Are my SAG-AFTRA membership dues used to pay for the Screen Actors Guild Awards?
No. Members’ dues are not used to produce the SAG Awards.
Q: Can I volunteer to work on the SAG Awards?
Unfortunately, no. We are unable to accept volunteers due to liability reasons.
Q: Will there be a SAG-AFTRA member ticket lottery to attend the show?
Each year, a limited number of SAG Awards tickets are available for purchase beyond those designated for nominees and their guests. Due to the limited availability and the desire to be fair to all SAG-AFTRA members interested in attending, a random lottery drawing will be held of SAG-AFTRA members who request to purchase tickets.
Ticket purchase requests will open in December 2024 here, please check back on this page for updates. SAG-AFTRA members can request a maximum of two tickets. The member price per ticket is $1,200 and includes admission to the SAG Awards ceremony and Post-Awards Gala. Tickets do not include red carpet access, which is reserved for nominees and presenters only.
Tickets are non-refundable, non-transferable, and not for resale.
DVD & DIGITAL SCREENERS
Q: When and how will eligible voting members receive SAG Awards For Your Consideration (FYC) materials for review?
Final voting opens Wednesday, January 15, 2025. On that date, all eligible members will receive access to their Awards PIN to unlock digital screeners made available by the studios and networks.
DVDs will not automatically be sent to eligible members. If you would like to receive DVDs by mail in addition to digital screeners, you must opt-in. To complete your DVD opt-in visit sagaftra.org/dvds. After logging into your SAG-AFTRA account, you will click the "SAG Awards FYC" section in the menu, uncheck the box that says you are ok only receiving digital screeners, and select "Save Go Green Preferences” to confirm your choice. If you updated your preferences last year, you are already all set.
If you have not set up an online SAG-AFTRA account and wish to complete this process over the phone, please contact the SAG-AFTRA Membership Department at 323-549-6789.
For those opted-in, DVDs will be sent out in late January/early February 2024. Not all nominated titles will be made available on DVD.
As no membership dues are used to provide screeners of titles for consideration, the cost of doing so is left to the studios. While we encourage every studio to make their nominated projects available to the membership, we cannot require them to do so.
Q: Can the final voting window be longer?
Unfortunately, due to the fast-paced awards season schedule, we set the voting window for as long as possible. Studios try to provide FYC materials to eligible members as quickly as they can.
Q: Can I still access digital screeners after the show airs?
Since FYC materials are made available to members for voting purposes, the studio only allows access until voting closes.
Q: How do I change my mailing address for where I get screeners?
During the final voting phase, the SAG Awards sends FYC materials to the primary addresses on file with SAG-AFTRA at the time of the November dues payment deadline. If you need to contact SAG-AFTRA, please call 323-549-6778.
Q: May I share my DVDs or digital screeners with friends and family?
You may certainly watch your DVDs or digital screeners with friends and family; however, you are prohibited from loaning, renting, selling, or otherwise distributing the DVDs or streaming information that you have been provided.
Q: How do I stop receiving physical FYC materials?
All members are now automatically opted out of receiving physical SAG Awards mailings and DVDs. If you need to update your Go Green Preferences, visit sagaftra.org/dvds.
Q: How can I recycle my DVD screeners?
Per studio guidelines, you may recycle your DVDs only after cutting the DVDs in half or scratching the bottom of the discs to render them unusable. You may not loan, rent, sell, or give away your screeners to anyone. Please check with your local recycling municipal system to see whether DVDs are recyclable in your area. This may vary city to city. You can also look into recycling companies such as Green Disc and the CD Recycling Center.
Q: Are closed captioning and/or audio descriptions required for DVD and digital screeners?
Any DVD or digital screener provided for consideration in both pre-nom and final voting phases must include a closed captioning or subtitling option.
Audio descriptions are required as an option on all titles streaming digitally in the final voting phase.
Q: Can eligible voting members be sent free streaming memberships or other gifts for voting purposes?
No, FYC materials may only allow free access to eligible SAG Awards titles and must expire by the voting deadline. Promotional materials and extras (provided with or without screeners) may not contain any gift items or access to a studio, network, or platform’s entire catalog.
Q: Who pays for the DVD and digital screening mailings?
Studios, networks, and those campaigning on behalf of a title are solely responsible for paying for FYC materials. No SAG-AFTRA dues money is used to create or provide these materials to voters.
IN-PERSON EVENTS & SCREENINGS
Q: Will there be any events or screenings I can attend?
Throughout the awards season, studios will invite members to attend FYC events, Q&As, and screenings. These events will all be in-person.
Q: Will I be notified if a screening is available?
General SAG-AFTRA members can opt to join the SAG Awards RSVP Program here. Once signed up, we will send in-person event invites via our RSVP email system based on your region throughout the awards season. These invites are for studio or network run screenings and are based on availability. Some screenings will occasionally occur during the off-season as well.
Most event invitations are sent via email and you can RSVP directly to the studio hosting the event. When an RSVP is required, please make sure to indicate SAG-AFTRA as your affiliation.
You may also receive limited invitations or screening calendars listing screenings without Q&As in the mail.
IMPORTANT: Upon opting into the SAG Awards RSVP Program, you may want to check your spam filter and security settings on your email account to allow screening notices to be emailed to you. These notices may be blocked if your settings are too high. Add the following email address to your address book in order to ensure the email is recognized: DoNotReply@mg.ivsballot.com.
Q: Will I receive a confirmation email when I RSVP to an event?
RSVPs are handled directly by the studios or networks hosting the events. Confirmation emails will be sent to you directly from the studios typically within a three-day period prior to the event. In some cases, confirmations may not be emailed until even closer to the event date.
Q: What if I have not received a screening confirmation?
As some studios and networks will not send confirmation emails until the day before an event, we suggest waiting to reach out to the Awards Office until that time. If it’s 24 hours prior to an event and you have not received confirmation or an immediate notification that a screening is full, please contact us at awardsinfo@sagawards.org and we will reach out to the studio on your behalf.
Q: How early should I arrive at a screening?
For in-person events, we recommend arriving at least 45 minutes early in order to secure a seat, as seating is not guaranteed. Screenings are often overbooked and priority entrance is given to Nominating Committee members. We will know more about studio-run in-person events as we progress into the season.
Q: Why did a screening fill to maximum capacity, even though I RSVPed immediately? Is there prioritization for certain attendees?
Some events for titles that have not yet premiered or have high-profile panelists can fill very quickly due to high demand. Studios and networks manage RSVPs for their events directly and unfortunately, the SAG Awards Office cannot assist in adding you to the list for an event that is full. Studios do prioritize attendance for Nom Comm members.
Q: Do I get reimbursement for traveling to a screening?
No. As attendance at FYC events is voluntary, no travel expenses will be reimbursed.
Q: Will Q&As be recorded?
It is up to the studio’s discretion whether or not they record Q&As. They have the option to record them and send them out (as well as others) as FYC Extras to the SAG Awards RSVP group.
Q: If I RSVP to a screening and then realize I can’t make it do I need to cancel?
Yes. Please cancel using the cancellation email address provided on the invitation, as this will allow others to attend. Again, these events are first come, first serve. If your plans change after you RSVP and you cannot make it, you must cancel.
Q: What are my options if I can’t attend events?
Many studios will also make their titles available digitally for viewing at home. If you have specific questions about which titles may be sent, please contact the Awards Office after nominations have been announced.
Q: How are requests for ADA accommodations for events handled?
Please reach out to the Awards Office and we will relay any requests for accommodations to the studio holding the event. Studios will try to make every ADA accommodation that they can when possible.
Q: Do you have a complaint about an event?
While we hope everyone has a good experience at studio-hosted events, occasionally problems arise. Please contact the Awards Office with any issues at awardsinfo@sagawards.org.
NOMINATING COMMITTEE
Q: How is the Nominating Committee selected?
The SAG Awards Motion Picture and Television Nominating Committees are drawn each year in the spring/summer. Each Committee is made up of 2,500 members. The committees are selected from a random computer-generated lottery drawing of active, paid-up members.
Q: How do I know if I’ve been selected for the Nominating Committee?
Members selected for the Nominating Committee are notified via email and US Post in the late spring/early summer. Once a member has been selected, they must complete our online opt-in process in order to be confirmed as a committee member for that season. Members may choose not to serve and will be placed in the lottery again for future seasons.
Q: Can I serve on the Nominating Committee every year?
Members selected to serve on the Motion Picture and Television Nominating Committees are not eligible to serve on their respective committees again for eight years. This allows more members the opportunity to serve on these important committees.
If you are currently on the Nominating Committee and have further questions about serving, please visit the Nominating Committee FAQ page on your private Nom Comm website.
