The showdown between rival technician unions in Quebec has led to the departure of the Doug Liman-directed feature Jumper (New Regency Pictures) from Montreal to Toronto – leaving AQTIS and IATSE blaming each other for the loss.

AQTIS says the move will take US$75 million and 500 jobs out of the local economy and, in a release, the union says IATSE has created ‘confusion… and has motivated the producers to pass up the opportunity to shoot their film in Montreal.’

‘This situation is nothing short of catastrophic,’ adds interim head Céline Daignault.

The unions have been embroiled in a turf war since IATSE recently opened a new local in Montreal, its first step into the traditionally AQTIS-held Quebec. AQTIS claims that under Quebec law it has the exclusive right to represent film and TV technicians in the province.

The teen-aimed sci-fi Jumper was supposed to have an IATSE crew and, in a recent release, the union insists it had tried to work in good faith with AQTIS.

‘The producers were pushed and AQTIS did the pushing,’ it reads, going on to allege that the film’s producers were unwilling to face ‘lawsuits and grievances filed by AQTIS.’

Neither New Regency nor Montreal film commissioner Daniel Bissonnette returned calls for comment.

Jumper is the second Hollywood feature that has recently, and suddenly, left Montreal, following A Night at the Museum, which relocated to B.C. late last year for access to provincial tax credits for special effects, according to its studio, Fox.

Reaction outside of the unions has been muted, no doubt due to Quebec’s very busy indigenous film and TV scene. But the loss of Jumper may cast a cloud over the province from Hollywood’s point of view.

Hollywood is accustomed to working with IATSE and is keen to see it gain a foothold in the region.

Foreign production in the province has been down for some time, amid this and another turf battle. Late last year, the Quebec producers association, the APFTQ, made a bid to secure exclusive bargaining rights for all shoots, domestic and foreign, but was turned away by a provincial labor tribunal on a technicality.

www.aqtis.qc.ca

www.iatse-intl.org

www.apftq.qc.ca

www.montrealfilm.com