Vancouver: Production volumes in Vancouver will drop about 75% July 1 in part because of the negative effects of a potential Screen Actor’s Guild strike.

At press time, U.S. studios and networks were negotiating with SAG – a positive sign that, like the Writers Guild of America talks last month, a strike may be averted at the 11th hour. The current SAG contract expires June 30.

For local crews dependent on U.S. service production for their livelihoods, however, the dramatic downturn will hit whether or not negotiations succeed.

The June 13 film list from the BC Film Commission says that 28 productions were at work in Vancouver then, most of which were scheduled to wrap by month’s end. No SAG-prone productions are slated to go to camera in July or beyond, and ongoing Canadian content series such as Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda and Mysterious Ways are going on regular hiatus.

That leaves as few as eight productions still working, five of which are animated shows such as Gulliver’s Travels, Heavy Gear and Yvon of the Yukon.

Other working productions include the family feature Air Bud IV, coroner series Da Vinci’s Inquest and sci-fi series Stargate, which doesn’t take its hiatus until August.

‘Nobody is willing to go out on a limb and greenlight projects with the possibility of a SAG strike,’ explains BC Film commissioner Mark DesRochers, who adds that Commissions across the country are feeling the pinch. ‘There is not a lot we can do.’

He says that calls from U.S. producers scouting and budgeting future production continue, U.S. producers are interviewing local line producers for new shows sitting in the wings, and big-budget features such as I Spy have booked stages to begin set construction.

When the contract is settled, production will be quick to come back to Vancouver, DesRochers predicts. There will be a minimum two-week lag in production in the best-case scenario.

‘The best thing we can do is support our domestic producers,’ he says.

BC Film is leading a trade mission of B.C. producers to Munich July 3 to explore the coproduction treaty between Germany and Canada, forge some deals and encourage other business exchange. Last year, a delegation of B.C. producers attended the BC Film’s similar summit in the U.K. *