One hopes that by the time you read this – or very soon thereafter – the ACTRA strike will be over. If the dispute between the actors and the CFTPA and APFTQ is not dealt with shortly, insiders feel that it could go on for a long time, and it all comes at a particularly bad time for Canadian production.

The impact on domestic productions that are underway or forthcoming has been small, actually, as ACTRA members will continue working provided producers on individual projects sign a continuation letter agreeing to pay them a 5% rate increase plus a 2% bump in insurance and retirement contributions.

The producers’ ‘hard stick’ in the conflict is an Ontario Superior Court hearing set for Jan. 23-24, initiated by the CFTPA and APFTQ, which claim that both ACTRA’s strike action and the continuation letters are illegal. If it gets to that point, the heated war of words that has marked the situation so far will only escalate.

Consider a statement issued on Jan. 12 by the AMPTP, which reps U.S. producers, and which sits beside its Canadian colleagues on the bargaining committee: ‘The ACTRA strike has created a situation that could potentially have a devastating and long term impact on production in all of Canada with the exception of British Columbia,’ it begins.

It refers to U.S. producers avoiding Canada – except for B.C., where an agreement is in place until the end of March – for the duration of the labor action. But don’t think that the U.S. producers aren’t signing continuation letters because of a 5% pay hike for some supporting actors on service jobs. The real sticking point here is new media, and the AMPTP is looking ahead to its own negotiations with SAG and AFTRA on the matter. (The current AFTRA agreement expires Nov. 15, 2007, while SAG’s is up June 30, 2008.)

These are very early days for putting TV and film product on the Internet and in webisodes and mobisodes – and who knows what flavors of digital media are fast approaching. It is a nebulous enough task to figure out revenue models for such offerings, let alone a structure to pay performers for their contributions. So if the producer-actor negotiations are moving slowly, it’s because the stakes are so high. Not only will any agreement signed now impact ACTRA and Canadian producers in the coming years, but the other Canuck talent guilds are also closely watching, as are producers and actors in the U.S., the U.K., Australia and beyond. Whatever comes out of this deal will set a precedent felt around the globe.

ACTRA wants its members to be paid a regular full day’s wages for new media work; the producers say they want a benchmark for how much new media work will come out of that day, keeping in mind that a mobisode could be just 15 seconds long. The producers are willing to pay royalties to the actors amounting to 3.6% of distributors’ gross revenue for use of that new media product, while ACTRA wants the ability to negotiate on a project-by-project basis.

In terms of actors’ minimum pay rates, the sides are close. ACTRA’s last offer sees it asking for a 3% raise in each of the next three years, plus a 1% increase in retirement benefits in the first year. The producers will give the 3%, but only if ACTRA also accepts its terms on new media. It should be noted that ACTRA’s wage demands are higher than what the WGC got (4% over three years) as well as the offer DGC Ontario is looking at (a 3% increase over the next couple of years).

ACTRA also wants to push the new media issue for one year, in the meantime establishing a joint committee to study the issue, and bargain again on the matter in one year’s time. The producers, meanwhile, are willing to include a sunset clause in their offer, meaning they could tear up the new media terms when the three-year contract expires; they have even expressed a willingness to go down to two years on new media.

Insiders believe that AMPTP and the U.S. performer unions are exerting more pressure on their Canadian counterparts than either ACTRA or the Canadian producers are willing to admit. The latter groups talk of wanting to be leaders and not followers in new media with these negotiations, but it seems their American counterparts are using them as the proverbial canaries in the coalmine.

Given that production is at low ebb right now – and given what the writers and directors got – the producers’ 3% raise offer is more than equitable. Tying it into new media demands, however, greatly complicates things. ACTRA’s idea to put the new media agreement on hold for another year is reasonable: another year of experimentation could only help everyone have a clearer idea of what’s at play before both sides come to terms. In fact, before making a commitment that could look unfair in the near future, why not put it off until the Americans are willing to show their cards? Both countries will endlessly measure their respective agreements against the other’s, anyhow. In the meanwhile, negotiations could continue on a project-by-project basis.

In addition to lost service work, the future of domestic production is right now up in the air, with the CRTC’s review of its TV Policy pending, and the health of public funding agencies in question. Producers and actors have to get back on the same page to deal with these urgent matters. Despite all the rhetoric, they both privately speak of a desire to get back to the table, and no good will come until they do.