*SARDeC

‘Without a doubt, sardec’s [Societe des auteurs, recherchistes, documentalistes et compositeurs] main accomplishments for 1999 are the signing of two first-time collective agreements: one for television with the broadcaster group tva, and one for feature films with the apftq [the Quebec producers association],’ says Yves Legare, director general of the Quebec screenwriters guild, which represents more than 700 writers, researchers and composers in film, television and radio.

The agreement with tva was signed in February 1999 and covers writers working on teleromans, tv dramas and other programs produced at tva. It establishes the minimum salary rates and sets terms for development, rewriting and rebroadcasting.

The new feature film agreement signed with the apftq was more than five years in the making. In effect since August, it includes specifications as to the duration of producers’ screen rights and producers’ rights to exploit the production in different markets.

In addition, the feature film agreement outlines the terms governing the submission of the screenplay, such as the number of versions the author has to submit to the producer. It also sets out the minimum fee for a feature-length screenplay and the terms for funding to writers during the development phase of the project.

sardec, along with other industry professional associations, actively supported Radio-Canada’s licence renewal at the crtc hearings this past summer. ‘sardec attended the hearings to underline the importance of producer/ broadcasters such as Radio-Canada,’ says Legare.

The multimedia issue is also a priority for sardec. ‘sardec is playing an active role in these hearings [before the Commission de Reconaissance des associations d’artistes et des associations de producteurs] and we hope to see multimedia authors recognized under the ‘status of author’ law,’ says Legare.

*ARRQ

L’Association des realisateurs et realisatrices du Quebec is currently in mediation in its long-standing negotiations for a collective agreement with the Quebec producers association, the apftq.

‘Negotiating with the apftq certainly hasn’t been easy for us,’ says arrq president Philippe Baylaucq, who admits to some impatience since these negotiations for better working conditions, minimum salary rates and a clear definition of the director’s role are now in their ninth year.

However, the arrq membership is up to 250 French-language film and television directors this year (from 185 last year) and 1999 has been a year of consolidation for the association, according to Baylaucq, now in his fourth year as president.

‘It’s difficult at times to create a sense of solidarity [among freelance directors] because most people are working from series to series to pay the rent and feed their kids,’ he says, ‘but I think now they’re realizing arrq is working for them. For everything to really gel we need to get this collective agreement signed.’

The revamping of the copyright law is another ongoing issue for arrq. ‘We’re anxiously awaiting the moment when the federal government gets around to dealing with the issue of who is the author of the audiovisual work,’ says Baylaucq. ‘Subsidies have been cut over the past 10 years, so the least one can expect as an artist is to have some kind of a trickle-down from the sales of one’s work.’

arrq has been active in establishing the Coalition for Cultural Diversity, in conjunction with other industry associations such as Union des Artistes, sardec and the Directors Guild of Canada. The coalition’s objective is to oppose any move by the World Trade Organization to designate culture as a tradable commodity exempt from subsidies.

Cultural diversity will be one item on the agenda in November when the arrq and the dgc are slated to participate in meetings in Corsica where directors associations from around the world will convene to compare notes and exchange information.

*UDA

‘Our main effort this year has been the fight we’ve been leading for the American majors to continue dubbing in Quebec,’ says Union des Artistes president Pierre Curzi.

Dubbing is a multimillion-dollar industry in Quebec and much of the versioning done by uda members is for feature films from u.s. majors who have become increasingly reluctant to ‘double dub,’ i.e. to pay for French versions produced in both France and in Quebec.

While there are not yet any written guarantees for the long term, Curzi cites some small victories for Quebec artists.

uda reached a verbal agreement with Warner Bros. in July for the studio to continue dubbing in Quebec. And this month, Quebec Minister of Culture Agnes Maltais announced that Universal will dub five upcoming features in the province.

‘We think it’s a cultural right to have a version dubbed here by our own artists. Of course this is a cost for the majors, but if they want to have a good corporate image, this is the way to do it,’ Curzi says, pointing out that the Quebec market generates substantial revenue for the studios.

With 5,200 members and 2,800 stagiaires, or trainees, uda is active in managing collective agreements in film, television, radio and theatre.

This year, uda has ratified a partial agreement with the apftq that includes a raise in minimum pay rates for members and establishes terms for performers’ contracts with specialty channels. Other issues such as working conditions have yet to be negotiated and are a priority for the upcoming year.

The uda realized a long-standing objective when the copyright commission came through with a decision on neighboring rights allowing performers to collect royalties for airplay on commercial radio. ‘This decision makes it clear that our rights are not in competition with the rights of writers or publishers,’ says Curzi. ‘We’ve been waiting for this for 20 months.’

Ongoing priorities for uda include participating in the coalition for cultural diversity to ensure that culture is exempted from all trade agreements.

*STCVQ

with its membership up to 2,000 from 1,650 last year, the fast-growing Syndicat des techniciennes et techniciens du cinema et de la video du Quebec is making professional development a priority by expanding the successful program it launched last year.

‘Given the volume of production in Montreal, people are often upgraded very quickly, without having the time to know their craft completely,’ says stcvq director general Catherine Loumede. ‘That’s why we wanted to offer this training – to improve and perfect their performance. The initiative sprang from demands by heads of departments and the technicians themselves.’

The technicians union is hoping to see the producers’ association (apftq) provide some funding for the professional development program in the upcoming year.

Next month, the union’s collective agreement with the apftq expires. ‘The negotiating process could be difficult this year,’ Loumede says. ‘We really have to reduce the number of working hours in the technicians’ days because it’s starting to get very heavy for them. This is definitely going to be on the table.’

The union is currently participating in a study on accidents in the workplace and is taking part in an awareness campaign to prevent accidents on sets.

Loumede says another challenge the union always faces is to support Quebec feature films even though the technicians cannot survive by working on local features alone.