budget dispute

Montreal: A conflict between the producers of Screamers, a big-budget, feature film shoot underway in the Montreal region, and Quebec’s technicians union, the stcvq, threatens the stability of the production industry in the province, says the union.

The stcvq has asked its membership – 965 freelance film technicians – to take action against Screamers, a $14.2 million non-union shoot, and producers Tom Berry and Franco Battista of Allegro Films, Montreal.

Prior to the start of principal photography Nov. 24, the union called a press conference to denounce Allegro, and followed up with a lively demonstration by 50 members in front of the company’s east-end offices.

According to the stcvq, Allegro is the only Quebec house which flaunts the collective agreement between the union and the apftq, the Quebec producers association, and the only producer unwilling to pay union scale.

Patrice Houx, stcvq executive secretary and past union president, says: ‘There is no reason to tolerate that Allegro continues to (operate outside the system), sabotaging years of work aimed at benefiting and stabilizing Quebec film production.

‘Certainly our goal is to have the shoot unionized. And we’ll take all means necessary, short of violence,’ says Houx.

‘Can’t shut us down’

Replies Berry: ‘They can’t shut us down. They have no legal right to shut us down. Nobody wants this thing to become ugly.’

Directed by Christian Duguay (Million Dollar Babies, Adrift), Screamers, a futuristic science-fiction feature, is being distributed by Triumph, a division of Columbia Pictures. The shoot goes through to late January and stars Peter Weller and Roy Dupuis.

Allegro has not been a signatory to the Quebec collective agreement since 1987, but the scale of Screamers has helped stir up the long simmering issue.

Catherine Loumede, stcvq director, says Allegro has met with the union executive and the two sides are looking for a compromise. ‘I think they want to shoot with us,’ she says.

According to Houx, the problem with Screamers is that Allegro ‘wants to pay minimum salaries (for non-skilled positions). They just want to do what they want to do,’ he says.

Berry says Allegro has to have a cost structure which allows the company to compete with indie producers in the u.s. He says there’s a significant level of non-union production activity in Los Angeles, and that Screamers could actually be shot in l.a. on a smaller budget.

Loumede says Allegro’s stand has serious implications for the entire Quebec industry.

‘If we continue to accept this situation, what interest would other producers have in signing the collective agreement?’ she asks. ‘Other producers are watching the situation. Without an agreement in the near future, we fear other producers will withdraw (from the collective agreement). That means an end to minimal working conditions, and relations will revert back to what they were 25 years ago.’

The union says it has notified the apftq of its negotiations with Allegro.

Loumede says if Allegro accepts the union’s standardized North American collective agreement, open to all producers, the exclusive reciprocity agreement between the apftq and the stcvq will be a non-issue.

‘If Allegro does not want to become a member of the association, that’s their problem. We’ll do our work, they (the producers association) can do their work,’ she says.

Berry told Playback he’s willing to work out a deal with the stcvq.

‘Seven years ago the (wage) differences were enormous, but today there’s no reason we can’t make a deal.

‘Long-term agreement’

‘We’ll try to work out a long-term agreement,’ he says. ‘If we can negotiate one that makes sense to us, it would make our life a lot easier. The next two weeks will be crucial.’

Berry says Allegro has every right to shoot non-union, and is obliged by Quebec law only to negotiate with the stcvq on 16 craft positions specified under Bill 90. These specific negotiations have been going on between the two parties for years, and have produced no results.

On the surface, the dispute isn’t mainly about money.

The difference in union scale and Allegro’s salary disbursements on Screamers is ‘a couple of hundred thousand dollars,’ or between 1% and 2% of the $14.2 million budget. The difference mainly affects general skill positions, and certain working conditions.

Ironically, Berry says the leadership of the stcvq and Allegro actually hold fairly similar positions on the need to secure more commercial film production for Quebec, especially in view of the ongoing decline in public subsidies.

According to the collective agreement between the stcvq and the apftq covering film and tv production, any Quebec-based producer wishing to hire stcvq technicians must be a member of the apftq. A subsequent article in the agreement states stcvq members must refuse to work for a Quebec-based producer if the producer is not a member of the producers association.

Berry left the apftq in 1987 when he was an active member of the association’s board of directors.

‘Out-negotiated’

During the historic 1987 negotiations between producers and the union, Berry says, ‘The union out-negotiated the apftq, and consequently producers were faced with major cost increases. For (people) who collect fees based on a production’s budget, an increase in budgets may have been desirable. But from our point of view, it (membership in the apftq) was no longer economical, especially in view of our strategic position of not being dependent on the (funding) agencies.’

In 1993, Berry says the producers association put pressure on the union to enforce the reciprocity clause, which he says violates fair labor practices and will be tested in court.

At $14.2 million, Berry says Screamers is a highly visible production, but adds fears that a successful shoot, in production terms, will lead visiting u.s. producers to shoot non-union are unfounded.

The savings aren’t likely to be worth the hassle, says Berry.

‘To the average outside producer, they’ll probably say, `Let’s pay the couple of hundred thousand more, and go with the union,’ ‘ he says.

Screamers has been bonded by Film Finances Canada.