The strike threatened by actra’s Performers Guild during negotiations of a new Independent Production Agreement with the Canadian Film and Television Production Association has been averted. Earlier this month, an agreement that is amenable to both organizations was reached after about 172 hours of tough negotiations.

At the heart of the talks was the issue of royalties versus residuals. actra was seeking to replace the royalties system (whereby performers’ compensation is based on a percentage of producers’ net receipts) with a prepayment system, which assesses the value of a product and pays performers in five-year lump sums.

Rumor has it the terms agreed upon are a four-year buyout with some kind of residual compensation thereafter. Also, word is scale rates went up.

The terms of the agreement are not available until early October. While the threat of a strike was pending, $150 million to $200 million worth of production was said to be on hold until the negotiations were completed. PC