The war of words between producers and ACTRA has re-erupted – sending both sides into a Toronto courtroom despite last-minute efforts that, briefly, had brought them back to the bargaining table in Montreal.

The actors union, now in the third week of its ‘business-as-usual’ strike, resumed talks with the CFTPA and the APFTQ on Monday with independent facilitator Mary-Ellen Cummings, though negotiations broke down later that evening, again stumbling over the question of new media and wages.

In a statement, ACTRA accused producers of stonewalling, while the CFTPA and APFTQ claimed that the actors scuttled the talks by demanding a new media pay hike of 50%. ACTRA says this is a ‘mischaracterization’ of its stance.

Both sides had hoped to avoid a Tuesday court date in which the CFTPA, representing producers in English Canada, is challenging ACTRA’s status as a trade union, its strike action and the continuation letters it has signed with various producers. The hearings in Ontario Superior Court continue today.

ACTRA members are on strike in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Quebec, though they continue to work on a number of film and TV productions that have signed continuation letters, agreeing to 5% and 2% hikes to wages and benefits, respectively.

The roughly 120 projects that have signed on include CBC’s Little Mosque on the Prairie, the upcoming Céline Dion MOW at Barna-Alper Productions, CHUM’s Ice Planet and the Canadian version of Deal or No Deal, according to ACTRA.