It's a bit different down south.. but, I agree with most of it considering I travel out west.
If you are in the southern Texas markets... you avoid SAG because majority of productions are non-union films.. which means... you are not allowed to work on, according to SAG guidelines.
However.. you may submit to Fi-COR which allows you to claim basic SAG benefits such as health and also work on non union films... but you can't get the other great benefits and are urged not to go that route.. but that's an even darker issue to explore later on...
sorry... just had to throw that in there for my Southern aspiring peeps.
Good read..
Good info to add :)