The recent Independent Production Agreement talks between performers and producers were bungled, and as a result it may be slim pickings this summer for the service sector.

It was curious, to say the least, to see CFTPA national executive VP and counsel John Barrack sharing the stage with ACTRA national exec director Stephen Waddell at the CFTPA Prime Time in Ottawa conference Feb. 22.

As you may recall, these two fellows were at the center of the highly contentious IPA negotiations between the two groups that were resolved, unresolved, and then, apparently, resolved again on Feb. 20. Or were they?

Barrack, moderating a Prime Time session on new media rights and programming, introduced Waddell as ‘my adversary and friend.’ The proceedings were mostly quite calm, until one audience member asked to hear a summary of the deal that was tentatively reached. While Barrack was hesitant to get into it, Waddell willingly went ahead. It seems the two sides may not quite interpret the terms in the yet-to-be-ratified agreement exactly the same way. Barrack finally interjected, ‘Before you trigger my post-traumatic stress disorder, we’ll cut that off.’

While the two sides say they have arrived at an IPA that satisfies themselves – and, just as importantly, the Hollywood studios – it is good for only three years, and already there is plenty of anxiety between the CFTPA and the various trade unions and associations about the matter of payment for new media work the next time around. My advice? Get a new media proposal on the table ahead of the last day of negotiations before the IPA expires, which was the case here, according to ACTRA.

By the time the complex digital payment issue was ironed out, it may have been too late to save the summer.

The events of last month were embarrassing to both sides, illustrating what interests were really driving the negotiations. On Feb. 16, both sides announced that a deal had finally been reached, following a seven-week ACTRA strike. There was joy, jubilation and dancing in the streets. Until a half-hour later, that is, when Hollywood studio heads heard the news and had fits.

The studios, which have been known to send a movie or two north of the 49th, were concerned that Hollywood talent working in Canada would have to abide by the terms of the IPA – and these might not be the terms U.S. producers would want in their own pending negotiations with American performers.

And so, red-faced, ACTRA and the CFTPA had to retract the deal announcement. Whereas initially it was Canadian actors vs. producers, now it was Canadian actors and producers frantically working together to make Hollywood happy. You could be confident that the CFTPA, especially, would do whatever it took at this point to get that deal done – again – as it was ramping for its annual Prime Time conference. Otherwise it would have been facing down an angry mob of its own membership.

Not only did the ACTRA strike put indigenous producers in the awkward position of defying their own reps by signing ACTRA continuation letters to keep cameras rolling, but the service sector stood to lose more, with some Hollywood studios making it clear that they would not send projects to Canada under strike conditions. Titles such as the sequels to National Treasure and The Pink Panther apparently bailed.

In an article in this issue titled ‘Labor peace breaks out across Canada’ (p. 6), the idea is floated that the silver lining here might be that Hollywood studios will need to stockpile content ahead of upcoming contract talks with SAG and the WGA, and so may actually send many projects this way in the next little while. But at this point, more projects should at least be confirmed – if not be in preproduction – in Toronto and B.C., which is subject to its own Master Production Agreement, currently being negotiated. 

In the end, building an exemption into the IPA for the Americans provided the solution. The Canadians were never going to call the shots on new media for Hollywood. If that had been accepted right off the top, the future wouldn’t look as uncertain as it does right now.