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News out of Canada is that ACTRA, repping more than 21,000 English-language actors, will stand behind America’s Screen Actors Guild in the event of a strike authorization vote or even a strike. According to the Toronto Star, Stephen Waddell, national executive director of the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists said: “ACTRA will support the Screen Actors Guild to the greatest extent that we can. There is no other alternative for us. We are a trade union and we support our brothers and sisters.” That includes directing members not to work for any struck U.S. production that attempts to come north of the border to evade the U.S. guild’s jurisdiction. But Waddell said the dispute is bad news on both sides of the border. “The whole situation is unfortunate. The fact that this has been going on for so long means … there’s virtually no U.S. production shooting in Canada, which is a significant problem for our members,” Waddell said. In recent years, ACTRA members have benefited greatly from U.S. productions coming to Canada. But Waddell said standard fare – such as movies of the week, independent films and U.S. TV series work – has dried up in the past year following the WGA trike, which resulted in a dramatic drop-off in U.S. film and TV production in Canada. “Our members are hurting, as is the production community generally. Producers, technicians, we’re all being hurt by the lack of U.S. production in Canada,” said Waddell, who recently met with studio executives in L.A. to discuss the crisis. Waddell acknowledged there are limits on what ACTRA can do to discourage or prevent its members from taking work shipped north of the border. ACTRA has agreements with hundreds of Canadian production companies, almost all of them doing Canadian film and TV work. While U.S. producers who are not signatories to the ACTRA agreement would be frozen out, it would be difficult to prevent ACTRA members from working for Canadian companies that land contracts for U.S. productions, Waddell said.
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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Great news! Now let’s see the producers come up with Plan C. Move productions to Central America? Do what you need to do SAG. Don’t let those bastards get away with this. Make a stand.
Good for ACTRA, it’s a bold move, especially with the domestic Canadian movie industry being centred mostly on a handful of film festivals, and a tendency by our networks to cancel great shows like “Intelligence,” Yankee productions are meat and potatoes for local actors and crews.
There goes my whole “let’s move it to Vancouver” advice….
“ACTRA will support the Screen Actors Guild to the greatest extent that we can.” *Wink* Just like Canadian writers supported the WGA strike. Happily, the Canadian writers did a shit job on the productions they were able to hijack.
I would rather see work by Central American scabs. They might be a little more creative than los Canadienses.
The agreements with BC labor unions expires on March 31st. Strike talk only begins with SAG–this is nowhere near the end of the road.
Fantastic! That means I don’t have to go to Vancouver to work any more! I’ll just go overseas and use British actors, who don’t suck like 75% of Canadian actors do!
Now if they can only get the French on board.
They’re support SAG because the scab shows during the WGA strike underperformed…very badly.
That’s great buddys!
So Lineproducer. Let’s see. You prefer to make a product that sucks, with Canadian actors that “suck,” according to you. It’s only when bad actors are not available that you go overseas. Otherwise, you prefer to hire actors whom you think suck, because they’re cheap.
I, as other US SAG members, are very sad we won’t get to play with you in “Buttscratch Cheerleader Ninjas VI: Return of the Forbidden Squad,” but we all must make sacrifices. It’s a shame there won’t be any academy award ceremonies this year for you to accept your multiple Oscars in front of the world, featuring actors who “suck” according to you.
We will be waiting anxiously for your next straight to DVD release, because there’s nothing better than spending 80 minutes watching actors whom even the producer who hired them think “suck.” Live the dream, you ambitious devil, you. Send us some SAG hatred via postcard from Romania during the filming of, “Pujo, the Return of Kujo with a Different Name,” starring STALONE!!! (small print: Frank). On second thought, don’t.
LineProducer,
I wouldn’t be so quick to think you can hire Brit actors, if I were you. The British writers supported the WGA strike as much as the Canadian writers did.
But because all the Guilds and Americans in general allowed ‘Management’ throughout this country to get rid of SYMPATHY STRIKES like the old days, there’s a limit any union that is not on strike can do.
And as for you, ‘blaming Canada’… unless you can prove you know what you are talking about, quit trying to spread hate. The studios have made it quite complicated to figure out contracts these days… some of those shows filmed up in Canada that you think are American are really under Canadian contracts, not US contracts at all. The Canadian Guild did the best it could on rules. Only those Canadians who were living in Canada at the time of signing contract could continue to work, on a US show, unless it was a Canadian show contract. If the producers suddenly signed on more shows to Canadian contracts, once again, they are to blame, but I don’t think many did. I don’t believe many new shows started up during the strike because the Canadian writers did stand with their brothers and sisters. But hey there were scabs here, so it stands to reason there were scabs there. If you saw shows continuing to work during the strike, that was more because of stockpiling scripts and the fact that there were no picketers up on Canadian locations like there was down here, booing the actors and causing enough noise that productions just shut down than Canadian writers undercutting their American brothers. (What the AMPTP didn’t factor in was that many of those Canadian writers, once they get their experience up their in Canada, want to come down here and take more of our jobs away with the higher salaries — which sucks for us, but also makes them not inclined to piss off the very showrunners who are going to be in the position to hire them)
Canada gets what it’s aboot. We’re all in the same boat.
Yeah, Canada does get what it’s “aboot” and rest assured, the AMPTP wants to screw us just as much as they want to screw you. And use us to screw you further. Because we’re so desperate for their work. Which we are, however – we don’t appreciate being pushed around either. I know I’m not thrilled about my prospects of work mostly being crappy AFTRA shows and whatever other garbage! I can’t see how working actors, performers & creatives alike – worldwide, wouldn’t understand the implications a crappy SAG deal has for them. Like minded individuals from all corners of the globe – now, more than ever, need to show support. To scratch out a living in this business ain’t easy!
I suspect LineProducer might be a little off-target, but not far. It seems that, of course, the Canadian actors support SAG. Because while it might mean a few months without work, all strikes end (despite the marathon labor issues we’ve had in the past fifteen months), and if things keep going the shit way SAG is directing it, when this all gets wrapped up, yes, why shouldn’t that work go to Canada? Cheaper, with less vitriole? Makes sense to me.
Also, I like how the article posted here reflects the statements made by SAG & ACTRA, but never does it say that ACTRA would join in a strike. It’s only in NF’s editorial “clarification” that such a declaration is made. I mean, sure, the WGA had “support” from many, but outside of members, did that mean people weren’t showing up for work? This is Hollywood, folks, and the bottom line is all that matters. For the studios, for the producers, and yes, even for Canadian thespians. Get real.