Update on ACTRA strike
Nothing's resolved yet.
I guess, this gives Callum some more time to improve his golf game. *sigh*
B.C. actors, producers back at the table
Industry attention shifts to Vancouver Jan. 30 as long-stalled talks resume between the Union of British Columbia Performers and North American producers. 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.
Set against the backdrop of the ACTRA strike in much of the rest of Canada, the talks are the first since Ready declared a deadlock last July and extended the B.C. Master Production Agreement for another year to March 31, 2007. Key issues in B.C. have included provisions for minors, casting procedures, producer bond/payment obligations, and AMPTP's demand for performer discounts on low-budget projects, while the main sticking point behind ACTRA's strike has been agreement on a payment system for new media work.
The UBCP is led at the bargaining table by negotiator Mercedes Watson, while the AMPTP's Nick Counter will head up the talks on the producers' side alongside Neil Haggquist, VP of the CFTPA's B.C. branch, and Tracey Wood, director of industrial and external relations for the CFTPA in Vancouver.
National-level executives with ACTRA and CFTPA will also be in Vancouver as observers.
Representatives for the UBCP and the CFTPA were tight-lipped going into this week's talks, owing to a media blackout.
Stephen Waddell, chief negotiator for ACTRA in its separate talks with North American producers, says he understands that Ready is looking for a quick settlement, possibly by the week's end.
Ira Levy, CFTPA chairman, says settling the UBCP talks would impact the ACTRA negotiations, noting that much film and TV production has shifted to B.C. in the face of the ACTRA strike.
"We'll see what happens in that scenario, where the approach is to get business," he says of the prospects for this week's UBCP talks.
The ACTRA strike and its controversial continuation letters are the subject of a CFTPA legal action in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, which is due to announce its ruling this week.
I guess, this gives Callum some more time to improve his golf game. *sigh*
B.C. actors, producers back at the table
Industry attention shifts to Vancouver Jan. 30 as long-stalled talks resume between the Union of British Columbia Performers and North American producers. 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.
Set against the backdrop of the ACTRA strike in much of the rest of Canada, the talks are the first since Ready declared a deadlock last July and extended the B.C. Master Production Agreement for another year to March 31, 2007. Key issues in B.C. have included provisions for minors, casting procedures, producer bond/payment obligations, and AMPTP's demand for performer discounts on low-budget projects, while the main sticking point behind ACTRA's strike has been agreement on a payment system for new media work.
The UBCP is led at the bargaining table by negotiator Mercedes Watson, while the AMPTP's Nick Counter will head up the talks on the producers' side alongside Neil Haggquist, VP of the CFTPA's B.C. branch, and Tracey Wood, director of industrial and external relations for the CFTPA in Vancouver.
National-level executives with ACTRA and CFTPA will also be in Vancouver as observers.
Representatives for the UBCP and the CFTPA were tight-lipped going into this week's talks, owing to a media blackout.
Stephen Waddell, chief negotiator for ACTRA in its separate talks with North American producers, says he understands that Ready is looking for a quick settlement, possibly by the week's end.
Ira Levy, CFTPA chairman, says settling the UBCP talks would impact the ACTRA negotiations, noting that much film and TV production has shifted to B.C. in the face of the ACTRA strike.
"We'll see what happens in that scenario, where the approach is to get business," he says of the prospects for this week's UBCP talks.
The ACTRA strike and its controversial continuation letters are the subject of a CFTPA legal action in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, which is due to announce its ruling this week.