Interview by Fátima L. Ortiz published in ‘Revista Actores y Actrices’ in March 2026
For those unfamiliar with FIA, how would you simply explain what it is and what it does?
FIA is the global union voice for performers in film, television, theater, and recorded media. We are a sectoral federation that brings together unions and guilds worldwide. Our mission is to protect the professional, economic, and moral rights of performers: fighting for fair pay, dignified conditions, collective bargaining, and addressing challenges like digitization and artificial intelligence. We also defend cultural diversity and freedom of expression, and we stand in international solidarity when our affiliates need it. FIA does not enroll individual artists; our members are national unions and guilds. This ensures that the voices of performers are heard and taken seriously globally.
From your experience, what can a national union gain by joining an international network like FIA?
Affiliation is a voluntary decision, based on a shared goal: the commitment to actively strengthen and amplify the collective voice of performers beyond national borders. Active involvement from affiliates keeps our work sharp, relevant, and connected to the daily realities performers face.
We advocate for our members in forums like WIPO, the ILO, and UNESCO, and we regularly bring affiliates together to share information, experiences, and practical tools. We also support regions where performers are struggling to organize collectively. In short: shared strength, mutual support, and collective responsibility. A union connected internationally is better prepared to achieve progress and support its members abroad.
In a globalized context, why is it important for performers to have representation beyond their borders?
Because work and the decisions shaping it do not stop at borders. Performers are mobile workers in an integrated market, and many standards are decided at the European or global level.
FIA acts in international bodies like WIPO, where we secured the Beijing Treaty, establishing a global minimum standard for the economic and moral rights of audiovisual performers. This protects performers beyond Europe and is crucial against multinational companies seeking to exploit legal loopholes between countries. International solidarity is not a luxury: it’s a necessity.
What are FIA’s current priorities to foster collaboration among unions in different countries?
Collaboration doesn’t happen on its own; it must be driven, nurtured, and sometimes pushed. We bring affiliates together in meetings, working groups, and congresses, addressing issues like diversity, racial equality, disability, artificial intelligence, and training for young performers.
A clear example is AI and dubbing. Right now, we are actively facilitating cross-border conversations to ensure that the concerns of dubbing performers outside the U.S. are clearly heard and addressed by our U.S. affiliate in the next round of AI-driven negotiations. This is international cooperation in its most concrete form: sometimes messy, often technical, and always absolutely necessary. It hasn’t always been smooth sailing, but there are enough battles waiting for us outside, no need to invent them inside.
The priority is to build trust and spaces for joint action: when performers face global challenges, collective strength is not just an option, it’s the only one that works.
What recent advances has FIA achieved in labor rights for actors in different regions of the world?
Performers are often not taken seriously precisely because they are artists. Many proudly identify as such, and rightly so, but policymakers have a bad habit of hearing “artist” and mentally translating it as “hobbyist.” When basic social protections or labor rights are requested, they are overlooked, as if performers don’t have rent to pay, families to support, or the minor inconvenience of aging.
A significant part of FIA’s work is to point this out and change the narrative, not only in the institutions where we advocate, but also within our own ranks. We have achieved artist status legislation in Colombia, Argentina, and Morocco, and in Europe, freelance performers are allowed to negotiate minimum fees without being treated as a cartel. In South Africa, we supported the extension of minimum benefits without recognized employment ties. Progress is slow and rarely glamorous, but region by region, the message is finally getting through: acting is work, performers are workers, and labor rights do not magically disappear just because the job involves a script, a spotlight, or a camera.
Downoad and read the full interview in English here
