Just when ACTRA and the CFTPA were sealing a new Independent Production Agreement…Hollywood producers are dissatisfied. So, both unions are back at the table working on yet another new agreement.
Nick Counter, president of the AMPTP, representing U.S. studios, subsequently told ACTRA representatives that the studio heads were nervous about the clauses on Internet compensation, and most of all didn’t want a precedent-setting Canadian deal boxing them in during their own contract talks with Los Angeles unions and guilds, beginning later this year.
The studios wanted an “understanding” that would help them ratify the IPA without prejudicing their own U.S. labor negotiations.
So the chief negotiators for both sides began working out the kinks, to make sure the new deal made regarding new media residuals didn’t apply to members of AMPTP or their affiliates who film in Canada until after the big studios sort out their contract with the Screen Actors Guild.
Until a new deal is worked out, ACTRA’s strike–now in its seventh week–will continue. All sides are acting in good will and want this resolved quickly.
Playback Daily
At 2:30 pm this afternoon, ACTRA and the CFTPA reached a tentative new Independent Production Agreement.
According to a press release from ACTRA, actors will receive a ten percent pay increase over the next three years; and–with the exception of web-exclusive content (e.g., “webisodes” of a series)–residuals from productions sold over the internet will be paid from first dollar. (For web-exclusive content, there’s a six-month-long “basic declared use period” before residuals can be paid off.) There is also a provision to revist the new media issue again after the Screen Actors Guild renegotiates with US unions, in case SAG members get a better deal.
The CFTPA, when this story originally went online, did not have a press release available.
Playback Daily
ACTRA press release
Yesterday (Feb. 14), the CFTPA’s main negotiator told Playback Daily that they’re considering an offer from ACTRA to enlist a third party from the outside to determine payout methods for old media conversions.
ACTRA would also like to send the issue of new media residuals over to a joint committee, while they and the CFTPA can come to a new Independent Production Agreement on a wage increase. These are all part of their new strategy to end their month-and-a-half-long strike.
Meanwhile, the Canadian producers want to secure agreement from US producers, who want leverage when they negotiate new contracts with the Screen Actors Guild later this year and in 2008. Also, US producers are signatories to any IPA agreement, which is very important.
Playback Daily
While there was a little progress between ACTRA and the CFTPA in regards to compensation for new media, there is still no deal between the two unions after two days of mediated talks that ended on Thursday.
Producer representatives proposed a 5% buyout fee for digital media rights for ACTRA members’ work over five years, which would be on top of a 6% increase in wages over three years. While the CFTPA’s negotiator considered this generous, ACTRA’s negotiator disagreed, proposing the 5% digital buyout should come on top of a 10% increase in wages over three years.
ACTRA’s current minimum rate, or scale, for an ACTRA actor in a leading role, is $565 CAD for an eight-hour day. For digital media use over five years, it would cost $28.25 total.
ACTRA also says the US studio reps who were at the talks were taking “a hard line on digital media compensation”, and that if it were just Canadian reps there, there probably would’ve been a deal.
The court-ordered arbitration is scheduled to take place on February 19. Mediator Marilyn Nairn will consider the legality of the current strike and ACTRA’s use of continuation letters.
Playback Daily
The Canadian government is getting involved in the ACTRA strike.
Labour Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn is sending the actors’ union and the CFTPA back to the bargaining table this coming Wednesday and Thursday. Director General of the Federal Mediation and Concilliation Services, Elizabeth MacPherson, will mediate. Members of Quebec’s producers’ union will be on hand, as will producers from the States, who are seeking leverage with ACTRA members, as new media residuals will also be brought up when they negotiate with the Screen Actors Guild later this year.
Meanwhile, in British Columbia, US producers came away empty-handed after talks with the the Union of British Columbia Performers–who are waiting to see what happens with ACTRA’s strike before proceeding further.
Playback Daily
