Details -- as they become available - at Playback.
I look forward to the dueling press releases.
You may all now return to work.
Oh...you were working already?
Um. Then...uh...never mind.
UPDATE: several people forwarded me this email from ACTRA to its members about the agreement. Thanks to all who did so.
A tentative agreement was reached today on a new IPA.
ACTRA won its points on every issue being fought in the strike.
We achieved our full pay demand.
The agreement provides members with a 10 per cent pay increase over the next
three years -- the largest pay increase achieved by a Canadian film and
television union in at least seven years.
The internet won't be free.
Residuals will be due to performers on internet use from first dollar - the
first time ACTRA has achieved SAG-style residuals in a major use category
(with one exception: dramatic productions like webisodes, made specifically
for the internet, will have a six-month basic declared use period prior to
residuals. All other productions -- ie conventional productions sold through
the internet -- will pay residuals from first dollar).
A "reopener" provision will allow the parties to revisit these terms after
the Screen Actors' Guild has negotiated its next agreement. ACTRA will use
this clause to seek further improved internet terms should SAG achieve them.
Other key deal points:
* ACTRA adjusted its low-budget terms to promote independent Canadian
production.
* New terms are set out to make the agreement work better for "reality"
shows.
* Rules governing background performance have been better harmonized between
Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto. Cash background rates will rise by 13 per
cent over the term of the agreement.
The full terms of the tentative agreement will be posted and distributed as
soon possible.
PLEASE NOTE THAT ACTRA'S STRIKE WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT UNTIL THE TENTATIVE
DEAL IS SIGNED OFF BY THE PARTIES.
7 comments:
Well, here's hoping it's a decent deal for all concerned...
So, am I reading the internet thing right? The actors will get paid on first dollar. So x% of nothing, which is what the producers are getting for internet rights now, is nothing. And they fought about this for two months? Expensive moral high ground.
This fight was never strictly about "now." Though, right now, when internet rights for commercials are bought, the actors receive a piece. And believe me, it's definitely not nothing. So, why shouldn't it be fought for in the IPA?
Both sides were and are concerned about establishing terms for the future. Nobody's making money on internet rights now, but when/if they do, the actors want a percentage.
As Ken Levine put it (http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/2007/02/how-to-avoid-strike.html):
"The point is the Producers will claim these issues are too complicated. How can they negotiate untested marketplaces, new formats, new delivery systems, and video straws that may seem stupid today but are the future of entertainment tomorrow? They need years of careful study and market analysis.
Well the truth is there IS an easy solution. Easy and simple and fair.
For every dollar the Producers make from a film or TV product, no matter what the means, just give the writers an equitable percentage. Same with directors. Same with actors."
Hey unknown, I understand it was never strictly about now but this is only a three year agreement, and from the onset of the negotiations, the producers were offering a percentage of revenues. I guess I'm not understanding how the deal ACTRA finally settled on was so much better. Commercials are a different beast and I don't pretend to speak to those because I don't work in that media, but I can speak to tv and trust me, nobody is making incremental extra $$ on things like mobisodes.
Caroline, I believe the deal that was offered initially was never a first dollar deal. It was a buyout for cheap, then later on revenue...
for example, that's what we have now with WGC -- prod fee and cheap buyout in lieu of residuals, which only kick in when the prods make X back.
Problem with that is that it didn't anticipate the cable revolution. There are guys out there under the old agreement apparently making HUGE money off U.S. style resids from Fraggle Rock, because it was under the old contract.
Now, we may get more guaranteed money upfront, but we never, ever see a backend, which is what American writers live on.
Yes, I have never understood why Canadian writers must have royalties, based on something the producer reports, and not residuals. Why is that? It is most painful to see stuff you wrote rolling constantly by and not seeing a nickel
So what's this I'm reading about the US companies wanting monkey-wrench-throwing rights on the deal?
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