At the Canadian Film and Television Production Association’s annual general meeting, held March 31 in Toronto, president Sandra Macdonald and chair Kevin DeWalt made their last public appearances on behalf of the organization.

The new chair is Tom Berry, president of Montreal-based Allegro Films, who addressed some of the issues surrounding the new federal tax credit.

Berry said when the Quebec credit was implemented few producers got it right the first time around, and an enormous bottleneck made the system initially unwieldy. ‘You should think about declaring your fees earlier,’ he warned producers, ‘possibly earlier than the revenues arise.’

Berry encouraged members to stay in touch with the association over the next few months on the issue.

Macdonald said the new credit and the establishment of the Cable Production Fund this year are examples of what can be done. ‘We should learnÉthat successes are possible and even marginally predictable as long as you have the plan and the commitment.’

She estimates the tax credit took about eight years’ effort and the cpf about three.

A replacement for Macdonald has yet to be appointed.

At the meeting, treasurer Steven Ellis announced membership has risen to about 320 and profits are up by 14% over last year’s surplus. Net revenues stand at $110,000 and members’ equity is up to about $350,000.

Mireille Watson, who heads up industrial relations for the association, discussed negotiations surrounding the new Writers Guild of Canada and actra independent production agreements. The former agreements expired at the end of 1994.

The wgc paper is close to signing, said Watson. Among the issues on the table are: the inclusion of story editors with the ability to share in a percentage of the production fee, a new production fee schedule, allowing non-wgc members to share in a percentage of the production fee, and a new payment schedule with increased back-end percentages.

The cftpa is still on the road regarding the actra agreement, with stops planned this month in Toronto and Montreal. At the top of the actra list is a review of the royalty formula, performer categories and definitions, and the low-budget (cipip) formula.

This year, the cftpa opened a branch in b.c. in order to establish what Macdonald calls ‘a fully legitimate employer voice’ in the province in the face of serious labor problems.

Watson says negotiations with actra and ubcp are going slowly because of a lot of hidden agendas. The cftpa’s b.c. branch is currently planning a trip south of the border to meet with producers in an effort to resolve b.c.’s ongoing industry labor battles.

The only point of contention at the annual general meeting involved representation of producers’ interests by a board partially comprised of producers who are now also specialty licence holders.

At a lunch following the meeting, Paragon International president Isme Bennie was awarded the Jack Chisolm Award for Lifetime Achievement by the members of the cftpa.

Macdonald steps into her new post as head of the National Film Board April 10.