Artist Basic Income March 2024

Hi, my stage and screen name is Mark Roman. I'm a proud SAG-AFTRA union actor, an improv comedy busker and a writer. I was active on the picket lines last year for both actors and writers. Like many, I'm still financially recovering. If Teamsters and/or IATSE go on strike this summer, I'll gladly return the favor and join them on their picket lines. According to the US Dept. of Housing & Urban Development, the 2024 Fair Market Rent for a 1 bedroom apartment in Los Angeles is $2,006. Landlords typically multiply rent by 3 to income qualify. That means I need $6,018 a month to live where I work. Job opportunities are fewer than before the pandemic. As a union actor, I'm willing to perform background acting work. But Fortune 500 companies often refuse to hire union background actors for their commercials. Even as they receive tax breaks and subsidies. Casting pay-play-schemes force me to pay increasing fees just for the chance to get work. Since the pandemic, auditions have become an opportunity mostly only for those who can afford to build a self-tape studio in their home and hire camera operators and readers (or get friends and family to do the work for free). Artificial Intelligence steals from artists without compensation. Inflation erodes the buying power of what money I do earn. Until corporations behave better or governments implement a universal basic income, citizens like me are forced to crowd-fund our own basic living wage. I started my Strike Funds, which raised over $1,000 in direct mutual aid donated directly to actors, writers and crew affected by the strikes. After the events of last year, it has become crystal clear to me that we Americans love art. But we do not value artists. So I recently created the education, collaboration and mutual aid organization Love The Artist. I lack the lobbying power of Boeing, so I'm here asking for donations to my monthly Artist Basic Income. I promise I won't drop an airplane wheel (or door "plug") on your car (or worse). You don't have to cancel a streaming service. But if I could ask for $5 or more from the Non-Celebrity Artist Patron line item in your monthly household budget, I'd be grateful. If you only financially support celebrity artists packaged and sold by Fortune 500 corporations, I totally understand. It's why I need an Artist Basic Income. So I can spend less time subsidizing such corporations (and AI). And more time in conversation with Americans about how we treat artists. And encouraging fellow artists that we all can do better. Thank you for your consideration.