Ohio Unions & Guilds

Ohio unions and guilds — who covers what, and what signing one means

A guide for any filmmaker working in Ohio who hires, books or budgets a person. It answers one question in several directions: if I engage this person for this job in this state, whose agreement am I standing under?

It is written for MOFA members making shorts, features and commercials here — the people who turn up at the mixer and ask whether they can cast a union actor. The short answer is usually yes, and more cheaply than you think; the long answer is this page.

This page states no rate. Union minimums move — SAG-AFTRA's basic minimums rose 3% on 1 July 2026 and rise 3% a year until 30 June 2030 — and a figure copied into a guide is a figure that will be wrong on the day somebody budgets against it. Rates come from the executed agreement, the local's own rate sheet, or the rate model. Anywhere else, the honest answer is NOT CHECKED.

Every fact below was read on the organisation's own site on 2026-09-15 unless the line says otherwise. Where a site refuses automated readers, the line says that too.

The one rule that catches people

You cannot engage a union performer on a non-union basis. Becoming a signatory means the production employs at least one SAG-AFTRA member and therefore follows SAG-AFTRA's rules for the whole production — not for that one person. SAGindie puts the consequence in distribution terms: "In addition to bad karma, you could be screwing up your chances of distribution."

The decision is made at budget time, not at casting. It is not reversible on the day.

The map

The work Who covers it in Ohio Where they are
Performers — screen, voice, broadcast SAG-AFTRA Ohio-Pittsburgh Local Ohio, western Pennsylvania, the northern panhandle of West Virginia, broadcast units in western New York and Louisville
Crew behind the camera — grip, electric, construction, props, set dressing, wardrobe, hair and makeup, sound, special effects IATSE Local 209, the studio mechanics local the whole state of Ohio plus northern Kentucky
Stagehands, event and tradeshow crew IATSE 12 (central Ohio), 27 (Cleveland), 5 (Cincinnati), 24 (north-west Ohio) by city — these are stage locals, not the film local
Musicians and composers AFM, thirteen locals across the state by city — see the table below
Writers WGA East — its jurisdiction is everything east of the Mississippi, so Ohio is East, never West New York
Directors DGA — no Ohio office found; NOT CHECKED national
Drivers, location professionals, casting Teamsters Motion Picture and Theatrical Trade Division; which Ohio local carries it is NOT CHECKED ask the division

The one that matters most on a set

IATSE Local 209 is the film and television crew local for Ohio, and it is the entry most often missed — people find the stage local in their own city and stop. In its own words it "represents the crews of the entertainment industry throughout Ohio and Northern Kentucky" and "the people who work behind the camera to create worlds and visually tell stories", across twenty craft classifications.

  • 19609 Puritas Ave., Suite 109, Cleveland, OH 44135 · (216) 331-0299
  • Business Agent James Butler — businessagent@iatse209.com
  • President Dan Jarrell · Secretary-Treasurer Leyna Haller

A stage local (12, 27, 5, 24) is the right call for a venue, a load-in, a tradeshow or a live event. It is not the local that crews a picture.

SAG-AFTRA Ohio-Pittsburgh

  • 307 Fourth Avenue, Suite 920, Pittsburgh, PA 15222 · (412) 281-6767 · (412) 281-2444 · ohp@sagaftra.org
  • On-set emergency line for members: (844) 723-3773

How this was read. sagaftra.org returns 403 Forbidden to every automated client, the same posture as the Ohio Secretary of State's business search. These details come from SAG-AFTRA's own local pages through a search index rather than a live fetch, and the local address is in Pittsburgh, not Ohio. Confirm by phone before putting any of it on paperwork.

AFM locals in Ohio

From the AFM's own state listing:

Local City Local City
1 Cincinnati 142 Wheeling
4 Cleveland 159 Mansfield
24 Akron 160 Springfield
15-286 Toledo 179 Marietta
86-242 Youngstown 362-691 Huntington
101-473 Dayton 111 Canton
103 Columbus
  • Local 103, Central Ohio Federation of Musicians — 1585 Bethel Road, Suite 100, Columbus, OH 43220-2010; chartered 1 January 1900
  • Local 4, Cleveland Federation of Musicians — 3631 Perkins Avenue, Suite 4C North, Cleveland, OH 44114-4705; chartered 15 November 1896
  • Local 1, Cincinnati Musicians' Association — its territory is stated by county: Hamilton, Clermont, Scioto, Adams, Highland, Pike, Ross, Jackson, Brown, Warren, Clinton, Butler

Watch the number. AFM Local 24 is Akron. IATSE Local 24 is Toledo. Same number, different union, different end of the state. Write the union's name every time; a call sheet that says "Local 24" says nothing.

Two of the thirteen — Huntington (362-691) and Wheeling (142) — are seated in West Virginia while covering Ohio territory. The state line is not the jurisdiction line for any of these bodies, which is the general lesson: the union's map is not the map of Ohio.

If the picture engages SAG-AFTRA performers

The ceilings that decide which agreement a picture falls under, read from SAGindie on 2026-09-15:

Agreement Maximum budget
Micro-Budget $20,000
Student Film $35,000
Short Project $50,000
Ultra Low Budget $300,000
Moderate Low Budget $700,000
Low Budget Theatrical $2,000,000

The Short Project Agreement also caps running time at 40 minutes and requires the picture to be shot in the United States and its territories.

The timeline is the part that bites. Start the signatory process 4–6 weeks before cast travel, rehearsal or photography — not before the shoot day, before the first date anyone is called. A Business Representative responds in about three business days and may open the SAG-AFTRA Producer Portal for the paperwork.

Budget for the bond. A security deposit against performer payroll is commonly required and is "typically ranging from 40-100%" of it — returned at the completion of principal photography. On a short, that deposit is often the largest single number in the budget, and it is cash you cannot spend while it is posted. Plan it as cash flow, not as a cost.

Deferred pay can be negotiated under the low-budget contracts, but nothing in them lowers local, state or federal labour law, which on a small picture usually binds harder than the guild does.

What this does not settle

  • Rates, in every union, everywhere on this page: NOT CHECKED.
  • DGA coverage and contact for Ohio: NOT CHECKED.
  • Teamsters: the Motion Picture and Theatrical Trade Division covers drivers, location professionals, casting directors and associates, animal handlers, dispatchers and mechanics. Which local carries Ohio is NOT CHECKED.
  • IATSE Locals 600 (camera) and 700 (editors) are national craft locals whose members work in Ohio; how they interact with a 209 crew here is NOT CHECKED.
  • Actors' Equity governs live stage, not screen. A performer may hold both cards; the engagement decides which agreement applies.

The Ohio side of the desk

The Ohio Film Office sits in the Department of Development — 77 S High St, 29th Floor, Columbus, OH 43215, 614.644.5156 — and is where the motion picture tax credit is administered. A credit application and a union agreement are separate instruments with separate deadlines, and neither waits for the other.

Where to check

  • IATSE Local 209 — iatse209.com
  • SAG-AFTRA Ohio-Pittsburgh — sagaftra.org (refuses automated readers; phone it)
  • SAGindie — sagindie.org, the signatory route for independent producers
  • AFM local directory — members.afm.org/locals
  • WGA East jurisdiction — wgaeast.org/eligibility/jurisdiction
  • IATSE locals 12, 27, 5, 24 — iatse12.org, iatse27.com, iatse5.com, ia24.org

Before anything on this page reaches a contract, a call sheet or a budget, confirm it with the body itself. A guide is where you learn who to call; it is never the citation.

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