We are excited to welcome Local 481 member Cynthia Salazar as the new the Local 481 Field Representative.

Cynthia joined Local 481 in 2019 and works in the Costume Department. She began her career in the entertainment industry seventeen years ago in California working in Los Angeles and becoming a member of IATSE Local 705. After moving to Massachusetts, when the opportunity finally presented itself, she enthusiastically joined Local 481 and immediately felt an appreciation for the unique sense of community that Local 481 promotes. Cynthia worked as an effective Job Steward on season one of the HBO series Julia during a challenging period due to COVID. She is known for being energetic, dependable, open-minded, and a problem solver. As Local 481's Field Representative she looks forward to putting her skills towards working with and representing the membership and having a positive impact on the future of Local 481. Cynthia will start on Monday, November 6th. Please welcome her when you see or talk to her!

THE PROCESS

The interview team created to fill the Field Representative position consisted of Business Manager Chris O'Donnell, President Kimmie Johnson, and former Field Representative Kevin Sciotto. Local 481 engaged a human resources consultant, Kristina Nies, to work with the interview team throughout the hiring process which included a 90 minute anti-bias interview training. The job was shared with IATSE members first and was then posted on 19 websites/distribution lists and the IATSE 481 blog.

There were 106 individuals who applied for the position, 63 of whom were thoroughly reviewed by the interview team, from which a short list of 9 candidates was created. Over many weeks of discussions and interviews, both via Zoom and in-person, 3 final candidates were chosen, from whom Cynthia was finally selected.