Vancouver: In the mid-1990s, ACFC West seemed to be in its death throes – its Toronto affiliate ACFC had succumbed to the onslaught of the rapidly expanding IATSE union and it was waging its own war against IATSE Local 891 at home. Then IATSE 891, Teamsters Local 155 and IATSE Local 669 combined to form the BC Council of Film Unions, secured an exclusive territory of high-end production, and effectively squeezed the undercapitalized ACFC into the low-budget market.

But what a difference a revolution in television makes.

In the last few years as the cable and specialty channels began flexing their lower-budget production muscle, ACFC West picked up speed and has evolved into a robust organization. Since 1999, it has doubled its membership to 625 members and 2,000 permittees working in 23 departments, including makeup and transportation. ACFC West owns the Burnaby office building in which it works.

In 2000, the union handled $200 million in production budgets, the biggest year yet, and 2001 will fall just short of the record because of the unusual production cycle affected by the threats of writers and actors strikes in the U.S. earlier this year. July, for instance, was the slowest month in years because there was little production in the aftermath of the SAG contract negotiations.

Business manager Greg Chambers says a few loyal producers and a changing broadcasting environment made all the difference to the group’s survival.

‘We’ve really grown up as a union,’ he says.

Producers such as James Shavick and Larry Sugar kept the struggling union afloat with series such as The New Addams Family and Dead Man’s Gun. As the producers grew and the need for syndicated and cable programming grew, so did ACFC West.

The union is doing its fifth season of CTV crime series Cold Squad (Keatley MacLeod/Alliance Atlantis). For Vancouver’s Peace Arch Entertainment, the union handled syndicated series First Wave and The Immortal. For Fox Family, the union did the wrestling series Los Luchadores. For Teen NBC, Skate and Just Deal. For Disney, So Weird. For MTV, Sausage Factory.

Traditionally, MOWs have been a strong market segment for ACFC West and it recently completed two direct-to-video productions – Hell Raiser Hell Seeker and Corn 2001 – for Dimensions Films.

ACFC West has also expanded into big-screen features. In October, it completed the reshoots for the US$14-million feature Halloween 8, which is the union’s biggest-budget show to date. Its only other two features so far – the $8-million Stark Raving Mad (New Market) and the $8-million Liberty Stands Still (Lions Gate) with Wesley Snipes – were completed last year.

So, as much as Chambers dislikes the restrictions the Council of Film Unions puts on the market with its exclusive master collective agreement, ACFC West has been able to grow in its own niche.

Meanwhile, the notorious raiding that characterized the relationship between ACFC West and IATSE 891 in the 1990s seems to have dissipated, with IA offering a low-budget contract and with many production personnel owning cards to both unions.

Chambers reports that ACFC West rates have increased about $5 in the past five years to a range of $17 to $23 per hour – a rate that reflects the increasing demand for ACFC West crews, a bid to reach parity with IATSE 891 and a strategy to engender member loyalty. And because ACFC West’s contracts allow for certain jobs to be doubled up, it can field smaller and potentially cheaper crews compared to what the Council of Film Unions can provide, he says.

And while ACFC West is limited to features with labor budgets of less than $4 million, that labor bill translates into features with overall budgets of up to $30 million, says Chambers. That’s about 40% bigger than Halloween 8.

-www.acfcwest.com