With a federal mediator meeting with the Screen Actors Guild and the Hollywood studios, at press time there is renewed optimism that the impasse in the U.S. actor labor dispute may be broken and a strike averted.

We remain hopeful that an agreement can be reached with the assistance of a mediator,’ says Stephen Waddell, ACTRA national executive director. ‘It seems that there is a now a commitment to finding a solution.’

In another positive development, SAG recently elected a new board, with a more moderate faction achieving a slight majority over the hard-liners. It was at the first meeting of the new board that the decision was made to ask for a federal mediator to restart talks.

‘We are hoping that reasonable heads prevail and bargaining continues, because from our experience not talking doesn’t accomplish anything,’ says CFTPA president and CEO Guy Mayson. ‘At a certain point you have to get back to the table. We are hoping for a settlement to bring stability back to the industry. We don’t see an upside for anybody in a strike.’

However, Waddell notes that for the deadlock to be resolved, there needs to be some willingness among the parties to negotiate on key issues.

Back in July, the guild’s negotiating committee rejected what the studios deemed their final offer and neither side has been budging.

SAG wants benefits in new media – in fact, the terms they have put forward to the Hollywood studios are based on the deal that ACTRA won after its first-ever actors strike, which ended in February 2007.

‘The proposal that SAG went to the bargaining table with is the deal that we were able to achieve with the very same studios,’ says Waddell. ‘We take some pride in the fact that we were able to achieve a ground-breaking deal on residuals in new media.’

However, Waddell notes that while ACTRA paved the way for SAG, the situation in the U.S. is complicated by the fact that the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, representing the studios, has already negotiated with the U.S. writers and directors guilds, as well as the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, and did not grant them these terms for Internet residuals.

‘If the studios offer something different to SAG, then the other unions will come forward and say ‘me too,’ so it is a difficult situation,’ says Waddell.

The contract stalemate is not good for either Canada or the U.S. Some American projects are not starting as planned due to a wariness that a strike could shut down shows in the midst of production.

‘This uncertainty is having an impact in Canada and elsewhere, so while we remain supportive of SAG, we are hopeful that a solution can be reached,’ says Waddell. ‘With the Canadian dollar dropping, we are expecting to see more production here, but only if the uncertainty of the guild situation is resolved.’

And while the possibility of a strike may lead some American producers and studios to shoot in Canada with non-SAG actors or by signing waivers, Mayson says ultimately this isn’t a win situation for the film and TV industry.

‘These are short-term positives,’ he says. ‘You have to be careful in this situation about antagonizing the unions, and ultimately we want Canada to be an attractive place to shoot all year long, not just during labor disputes.’

If neither side is willing to make any concessions, a strike is likely by January. In that case, Waddell says ACTRA will not accept any struck productions planning to shoot in Canada.