Frequently Asked Questions

The 32nd Annual Actor Awards will take place on Sunday, March 1, 2026. This ceremony will stream live on Netflix on Sunday, March 1 at 8pm ET / 5pm PT.

Voting for the SAG Awards is done in two stages:

1. 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 in the past 8 years.
2. Final balloting begins after nominations are announced and is open to all paid-up and active SAG-AFTRA members.

All SAG-AFTRA members in good standing who have paid their November 2025 dues by Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025 will be eligible to vote on the 32nd Annual SAG Awards.

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 also 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 Actor Awards submission.

For a full breakdown of eligibility in each category, please see our Rules and Regulations.

The SAG-AFTRA National Honors and Tributes (HAT) 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.

No. Members’ dues are not used to produce the Actor Awards.

Unfortunately, no. We are unable to accept volunteers due to liability reasons.

Unfortunately, we will not be able to hold a ticket lottery for members this year due to limited seating capacity. We appreciate your understanding and continued support of the Actor Awards.

You can still join the celebration by tuning in to the live broadcast on Netflix on March 1, 2026, or attending a watch party at select SAG-AFTRA local offices across the country.

Final voting opens Wednesday, January 14, 2026. 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. 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:

1. Click the “Actor Awards FYC” section in the menu,
2. Uncheck the box that says you are OK only receiving digital screeners,
3. Select “Save Go Green Preferences” to confirm your choice.

If you updated your preferences last year, you are already 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 2026. Not all nominated titles will be made available on DVD.

Because no membership dues are used to provide screeners, the cost is determined by the studios. We encourage all studios to make titles available, but we cannot require them to do so.

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.

No. Since FYC materials are made available to members for voting purposes, the studio only allows access until voting closes.

During the final voting phase, the Actor 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.

You may 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 you have been provided.

All members are now automatically opted out of receiving physical Actor Awards mailings and DVDs. If you need to update your Go Green Preferences, visit sagaftra.org/dvds.

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 municipal recycling system to see whether DVDs are recyclable in your area, as it may vary. You can also look into companies such as Green Disc and the CD Recycling Center.

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.

No. FYC materials may only allow free access to eligible Actor 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.

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.

Throughout the awards season, studios and networks will invite members to attend FYC events, Q&As, and screenings for film and television programs. 

General SAG-AFTRA members can opt to join the Actor Awards RSVP Program. 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.

RSVPs are first-come, first-served. Nominating Committee members may receive priority access. Admittance to events is not guaranteed.

Important: Add DoNotReply@mg.ivsballot.com to your address book and check spam filters to ensure you receive screening notices.

No. There is no master calendar of upcoming events, as invitations are often released on short notice.

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 three days prior to the event, sometimes closer.

If it’s 24 hours before an event and you have not received confirmation or a notification that a screening is full, please contact us at awardsinfo@actorawards.org and we will reach out to the studio on your behalf.

We recommend arriving at least 45 minutes early to secure a seat, as screenings are often overbooked and seating is not guaranteed. Priority entrance is given to Nominating Committee members.

Some events for titles that have not yet premiered or have high-profile panelists can fill very quickly. Studios and networks manage RSVPs directly and may prioritize Nominating Committee members. The Actor Awards Office cannot add members to events that are full.

No. As attendance at FYC events is voluntary, no travel expenses will be reimbursed.

It is up to the studio’s discretion whether or not they record Q&As. They may send them out later as FYC extras to the Actor Awards RSVP group.

Yes. Please cancel using the cancellation email address provided on the invitation so that another member may attend. These events are first-come, first-served.

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.

Please reach out to the Awards Office and we will relay any requests for accommodations to the studio holding the event.

Please contact the Awards Office with any issues at awardsinfo@actorawards.org.

The Motion Picture and Television Nominating Committees are drawn each year in the spring/summer. Each committee is made up of 2,500 members selected from a random, computer-generated lottery of active, paid-up members.

Members selected for the Nominating Committee are notified via email and U.S. mail in the late spring/early summer. Once selected, members must complete the online opt-in process to be confirmed. Members may choose not to serve and will be placed in the lottery again for future seasons.

No. Members selected to serve on the Motion Picture and Television Nominating Committees are not eligible to serve again for eight years. This allows more members the opportunity to serve.

If you are currently on the Nominating Committee and have further questions, please visit the Nominating Committee FAQ page on your private Nom Comm website.