Performers appearing in live stage productions without a book or through-storyline (vaudeville, cabarets, circuses) may be represented by the American Guild of Variety Artists (AGVA).

The AEA works to negotiate quality living conditions, livable wages, and benefits for performers and stage managers.

[2] Leading up to the Actors' and Producers' strike of 1929, Hollywood and California in general had a series of workers' equality battles that directly influenced the film industry.

[4][5] Leading up to the association's establishment, a handful of influential actors—known as The Players—held secret organizational meetings at Edwin Booth's The Players at its Gramercy Park mansion.

The Actors Equality Strike was a series of walkouts that started in 1927 in local theaters in Los Angeles and quickly grew to the motion picture stage.

On July 20, 1929, the AEA gained its first victory, which gave producers and actors a leg to stand on in their battle for equality.

Over 30 days (up to August 20, 1929), Gillmore fought to give the AEA the ability to represent all actors, producers, radio personality, vaudeville performers, and agents in the country.

[11] Due to the negotiations and the suspension of contracts through the AEA, studios were desperate for actors to speed up production, which had dropped significantly.

"[11] Any actor who entered into a contract not approved by the AEA would be banished from the union and have to reapply for admission after negotiations were finished.

In late December, groups of theater owners and non-represented producers filed lawsuits to claim damages from the AEA's contract holdout.

[18] The Equity Waiver Plan, originally implemented in 1972, was designed to support small theaters in Los Angeles by allowing non-union actors to perform in venues with 99 seats or fewer, offering lower pay scales and flexible production terms.

However, by 2000, AEA shifted the focus from box office earnings to theater size to determine payments for the first 12 weeks of a production.