Vancouver: Service production crew members who anticipate forced holidays by U.S. writers and actors strikes may want to reconsider their vacation plans this summer.

Fears about summer work stoppages and even slowdowns have nearly evaporated now that the Writers Guild of America has recommended its 11,000 members ratify a new collective agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and major U.S. networks. Most expect the Screen Actors Guild to follow suit.

‘We can’t jump the gun on [a deal for] SAG, but there is a wave of optimism sweeping the industry,’ says Pete Mitchell, GM at Vancouver Film Studios, where production deals for summer shoots have been firming up since the WGA deal was announced May 4.

And with the networks’ series pickups being announced later this month, Mitchell is expecting his soundstages to be booked all summer.

The B.C. Film Commission, too, is fielding more calls from U.S. studios and networks since the writers finalized their contract. That new business, combined with an increase in domestic and independent production and potential European coproduction business this summer, means there should be no slowdown in production volumes, says film commissioner Mark DesRochers.

‘There will still be a delay in the feature films,’ says DesRochers, ‘but we will do more television. There were 20 pilots and series presentations shot here this year and some of those will be coming back.’

The U.S. writers are expected to ratify by June 4 the proposed three-year deal that increases their rates by $41 million over the term.

After four months of negotiations, the writers didn’t get all they were looking for when it came to the thorny issue of residuals, but they made significant headway. Writers:

* Get uncapped foreign residuals of 1.2% of foreign revenue. They will be paid in perpetuity and represent a residuals increase of $1.1 million over the three-year term;

* Get a mandatory script publication fee of $5,000 per DVD or video movie, which increases residuals more than $1 million by the third year;

* Get 1.2% of exhibitors’ payments for the rights to show video-on-demand movies and TV programs over the Internet a limited number of times. The deal covers new production and old titles dating back to July 1, 1971. (The writers intend to continue negotiating rights pertaining to titles downloaded for unlimited viewing.);

* Get a better residuals packager for pay-TV productions such as The Sopranos and Sex and the City, increasing payments from $100,000 currently to $4 million per year;

* Get a 20% increase in residuals for made-for-basic-cable shows (such as Lifetime’s Any Day Now).

Also in the new U.S. agreement, FOX is reclassified as a network and, as such, will pay network fees. That represents a 50% increase by year three of the contract.

For the Canadian service sector, meanwhile, the writers’ deal bodes well for a new actors contract on or before the June 10 deadline. Negotiations with U.S. actors began May 15.

SAG has stated it will analyze the WGA deal to see what it may address for performers. Historically, actors are paid three times more than what writers and directors negotiate because so many more actors are paid residuals.

And like the writers, actors can expect to be the subject of intense lobbying by Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan and others who fear the huge economic loss caused by an industry shutdown.

Canadian writers, meanwhile, can covet the U.S. deal from afar. The Writers Guild of Canada ratified an agreement that began Nov. 1 and expires Dec. 11, 2002.

‘They’ve made a number of gains in the back end, namely in foreign, basic cable and pay-TV residuals,’ says WGC executive director Maureen Parker, referring to the WGA contract. ‘We can learn from the deal they struck. We will indirectly benefit from the gains they made at the bargaining table.’

Canadian writers don’t collect residuals, so when shows such as Anne of Green Gables are sold to 211 countries the scribes don’t benefit. Instead, writers receive script and production fees that were increased substantially in the last contract.

And the WGC has moved to a royalty-based system where writers are paid 1.2% of distributor grosses less 110% of the production budget. For example, the writer of a $100,000 project would begin to collect royalties when the distributor has generated more than $190,000 in sales. *