De-Nied:
From the ACTRA release:
CFTPA FAILS IN EFFORT TO STOP ACTRA'S STRIKE
January 30, 2007 - TORONTO - The trade association that speaks for Canadian producers lost its bid to stop ACTRA's strike in Ontario's Courts today. The CFTPA failed to stop ACTRA's strike and failed to get an injunction against the continuation letters that ACTRA is offering to producers as a way of ensuring stability in the industry.
The court sided with ACTRA and stated that there was no evidence the continuation letter strategy ACTRA adopted had caused ‘irreparable harm' to the industry or the CFTPA as the CFTPA had claimed.
The court also ruled that unspecified issues should continue to be litigated before an arbitrator. Arbitrations are often lengthy. Appeals are also possible.
ACTRA called on the association to stop wasting time and money and to settle the current strike instead.
The CFTPA got one thing going, though: the judge did tell both sides to get an arbitrator.
It's hard to see how the CFTPA can spin this as a win for them. ACTRA's continuation letters keep their actors working, and CFTPA has lost its bid to quash the strike spreading to other provinces.
But wait a second...then there's this:
Provincial mediator Vince Ready has scheduled three days of negotiations between bargainers for the actors union and producers led by the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers, which reps Hollywood studios and indie prodcos.See, apparently new media ISN'T a sticking point in the B.C. negotiations. If there's a quick settlement of their strike, that kind of leaves ACTRA twisting in the wind. With SAG and WGA strikes possibly on the horizon next year over the same issue, and U.S. producers looking to stockpile material before that in a place where they can shoot...Vancouver looks like it's gonna get really busy.
I'm reminded of the Prince's last lines in Romeo & Juliet:
"All are punish'd"
7 comments:
I don't know anything near all of the details. But it is my understanding that the IPA (the agreement between ACTRA and the CFTPA) requires that both sides work with a mediator before a strike can be called. I think this was the basis of the CFTPA's court case.
While I don't know if there would be a legal case to be made, I wish that the judge had ruled that everyone had to go back to work and then imposed binding arbitration.
Thing is, both sides are stubborn and they could kill or severely cripple our ailing little industry. Irreparable harm to all.
Oh, in terms of "both sides being punished..." If it were only the actors and CFTPA I would not care. Except that there are thousands of other people involved. I'm a member of the Directors Guild. Our union spent 18 months bargaining before we got an agreement. Now, we are being punish (along with the members of NABET, IATSE, and thousands of non-union crew members and thousands of people who own and work in businesses that serve the television and film industry.
I wish that both sides had been more patient.
Don, as the wife of a brand new NABET permittee in Ontario whose foreseeable job prospects have just dropped to zero, I would like to thank you for for your understanding of the wider implications of this strike.
If it was just about the actors, I would be completely supportive of their position. Unfortunately, this really could not have come at a worse possible time, particularly here in Toronto.
I'm wondering if it wouldn't have been preferable for ACTRA to have ACTUALLY gone on strike, thus putting some real pressure on current productions (which would cost the producers something) rather than simply dissuading all future productions from shooting here (which costs them nothing).
BTW, is it just me or does the role of Eric Peterson as ACTRA's strike spokesperson / promoter seem somewhat... what's the word... disingenuous? I mean, ok, maybe he's had a hard time slogging away in the trenches all these years, but right now he has one of the half dozen guaranteed gigs on Canadian television. Possibly for life.
Go talk to Donnelly Rhodes or Michael Riley or Shawn Doyle and go cry me a river, Corner Gas-boy!
Look, the basic issue ACTRA's on about is sound. When DVD came out, the EXACT SAME arguments were made in order to get creatives to accept lower royalties, "oh, it's a new technology, it's expensive, nobody is making money on it yet."
Once the precedent is set, you're pooched, and fighting to get anything more is a tooth and nail propositon. Why are actors so militant on this?
Because the last time something similar happened everyone got screwed...except the rights holders, who increased their margins with DVD and made a killing.
As for the NABET/IATSE issue, I have a lot of sympathy---with one caveat:
Where were you guys when the writers were the first to suffer in this slowdown, hmm?
All those American shows came to town, and you guys all worked, and the Actors worked, and you pooh poohed the writers working on "Canadian stuff." Don't say you didn't. My own eyes.
Now the U.S. work's gone poof, and there is no indigenous industry.
Wish you guys had been paying attention when we (the WGC) were talking about this years ago...
But no, I guess the fight between NABET and IATSE was WAY more important, right?
The reason why new media isn't a sticking point out west is that the UBCP agreement allows for the exact type of new media Use of conventional production that the CFTPA is trying to get in ACTRA negotiations, and is a major reason why very few US series will shoot in Toronto (as US networks realize streaming episodes for promotional purposes is a major way of retaining viewers who may have missed an ep or gaining new viewers and sending eyeballs back to the TV; rights they can't reasonably attain under the IPA)
Where were you guys when the writers were the first to suffer in this slowdown, hmm?
Please, don't mistake my support of the technical union members for an endorsement of the unions themselves. My husband wasn't involved in the industry back then so I have no idea what they were up to, but if they were busy looking after their own interests and to hell with everyone else... well, I wouldn't find that terribly surprising.
One more factor to consider: Actors are portable. Writers can write from anywhere, in theory (yes, I know there exceptions). Even post production work can be done almost anywhere.
Crew, on the other hand, are almost exclusively local. No one is going to fly a bunch of carpenters or grips or wardrobe people in from Toronto when they can just hire them in Vancouver. Besides, it's hard to fit an industrial sewing machine in the overhead baggage compartment.
This is why when production dries up in one region, it's frequently the NABET and IATSE people who get screwed the worst.
As for ACTRA, I really do agree that the issues being discussed are important and worth fighting for. I just don't see how this strike/non-strike is supposed to resolve them.
The whole point of a strike is to put pressure on the people on the other side of the table. If current productions are allowed to go ahead unimpeded and the producers can just move future productions elsewhere without missing a beat, in what way are they being pressured?
Now, if ACTRA had just held off a few months until the B.C. and U.S. unions could join them in a strike, THEN they might have had some leverage. Or am I missing some reason why that wouldn't work?
Soon, none of this will matter.
It is most likely that there will be no production in Toronto this spring. If this goes much longer we will lose the summer. I don't know how many people can hang on for six months after a few slim years. I don't know how many crew members, writers, directors, or how many support businesses can hang on.
Some people will move to Vancouver where it is busy. Some will leave the business. Some, I'm sorry to say, will land on the street.
If you have children to support, if you want to save for their university eduction, if you want to save for your retirement, you will have burned through your reserves.
The producers have no excuse, though I wonder how many Canadian producers still make drama. 8? 11? The strike means little or nothing to someone who makes reality based programming or documentaries. I would guess that this would describe most of the members of the CFTPA. There is almost no Canadian drama left.
The actors are in a very different situation. Only a small percentage of ACTRA members make their living from their craft. It is easy to raise your fist in support of a cause if you step in front of the cameras only once or twice a year. I'm not sure how the tiny number (less than 10%, I"m sure) who rely on their ACTRA work to pay the bills might feel about all of this.
It is my understanding that the Government of Ontario could force matters and legislate an end to the strike. We, the film production industry, are highly labour intensive. Domestic film and television adds to our country's culture, though I'm not sure if it generates more tax money than it uses - but that's okay, in fact, it is essential if Canada is to be a country in fact as opposed to a few lines on a map - just look at how important film and television are to Quebec.
The real money spinner is production for export. The foreign production that shoots here creates lots of jobs, lots of tax dollars - much more than the money spent on tax incentives. If only our local politicians viewed film production as an essential part of the economy, like a car plant. They would not stand for this.
I wonder, whose responsibility is it to inform them? Why is information on the strike buried in the entertainment section? Why isn't it front and centre in the business section?
Tens of thousands of people are out of work. Isn't that a major business issue? Maybe even main stream news?
Perhaps when the strike is over all of the unions and major businesses will fund Film Ontario (our lobby organization) and push our issues so hard and spin them so well that every single politician will understand how much a healthy film and television industry can add to our economy and even our culture?
In B.C. they seem to get it. They do get it.
Here, in Toronto, we don't get it.
For example, did you know that the tax incentives are structured so that filming receives a bonus for NOT shooting in Toronto? (I worked almost exclusively in Hamilton this summer for only this reason.)
We'll see. I'm scanning the want ads and trying to figure out if I can move to a career in Supply Chain Management.
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