With a new three-year master agreement signed in April and production in Vancouver booming, Gavin Craig, president of IATSE Local 891, says, ‘We’re maxed out with regard to our capacity. We cannot handle any more levels of production.’

Craig, concerned about the shortage of available crews, has asked producers to ‘let something ‘lap’ before you get another production in.’ The president of Local 891 says for the last few months, approximately 30 productions – ‘from major features to movies-of-the-week’ – have been bidding simultaneously in Vancouver and he doesn’t foresee a slowdown until at least next June.

The master agreement with the Canadian affiliates of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and the cftpa in Canada represents members of the Council of Film Unions in b.c., which includes IA Locals 891 and 665 along with Teamsters Local 155.

Craig says the new collective agreement ‘gives us continuity for three years.’ And while it contains ‘no major changes,’ it does take care of ‘a lot of housekeeping and minor grievances that arise in the day-to-day life of the agreement.’

According to Craig, ‘the major betterment you might see would be the overall increase in rates on the fringes.’

Despite the current production overload in Vancouver, Craig assures his local is still very interested in helping out smaller-budget, local productions.

‘For decades, the membership of this local assisted local producers with regard to the deferment of overtime and such like. And that went on for many, many years. With the master agreement in place and all this production coming in, it’s not necessarily that they don’t have time to do this, but people don’t think we’re interested. Of course we’re interested, and if they would come and knock on our doors, we’d be willing to talk to them. We’ve given them breaks before,’ Craig says.

In terms of the volume of American service work in town, Craig says, ‘Our members are happy that they are working. In the past few years, it’s the first time I can remember our members taking enough time to have an annual vacation, knowing that there’s going to be production here when they come back.’

Conversely, u.s. labor troubles may eventually herald the end of the boom. The Screen Actors Guild (on the long-form side) and the Writers Guild of America contracts are up for negotiation next year, and Craig fears the worst.

‘There’s this big cloud over our heads because of sag and the Writers Guild in the u.s. [If they go on strike, u.s. producers] won’t take a chance on the high-budget features coming up here and getting shut down. And that’s a concern. We have to advise our members that they had better be prepared for the worst. And to save up for a rainy day.’ *

-www.iatse.com