Breakthrough Film and Television’s Ira Levy, chair of the cftpa’s industrial relations committee, certainly has a crowded plate. However, the committee, charged with the delicate task of balancing industrial relations with a range of players, has the advantage of newly appointed national vp of industrial relations and counsel, John Barrack.

Barrack, who candidly admits to being ‘swamped’ in his new role, is in the process of meeting with producers across the country and sorting out the major areas of concern. He has visited Saskatchewan, Quebec and British Columbia in the three months since he has come on board, with trips to Nova Scotia, Alberta and Manitoba in the offing ‘to make it clear we’re open for business,’ he says.

‘We’re meeting with individual producers and finding out what we can do to assist them as individual members; how do we better enhance this role? There are a lot of different kinds of members and a broad range of sophistication with industrial relations and we can be really helpful to some of them.’

With his goal of presenting a ‘more professional line in negotiations,’ Barrack, who comes from a labor law background, says he is ‘looking at a task force on industry standards of ethical conduct to make sure everyone understands the standards expected of them and adheres to them.’ He hopes to get the task force under way in the next few months.

The committee has ‘a number of key issues’ on its agenda, says Levy. ‘Labor negotiations are one of the key areas for us. We’re working on strengthening our ties and relationships with the American producers group because we work a lot with them. We’re having regular meetings – their reps are coming to Toronto and we’re going down to l.a.

‘Now that we’ve concluded the successful negotiations with actra on the Independent Production Agreement, we’re following up by trying to finalize a new low-budget feature film agreement. It’s a joint effort to develop an agreement that will encourage the production of lower-budget features and the engagement of actra members in these projects. It’s a pretty neat initiative. It hasn’t been done before in Canada.

‘We are presently doing negotiations with the Writers Guild of Canada and we’ve successfully concluded an agreement with the Directors Guild of Canada – Ontario.

‘The important thing from my point of view is that the cftpa has always been very strong in our lobby effort to strengthen the Canadian independent production industry and in support of our industrial relations to a much higher level as the industry gets more mature. With all the new tv stations and the new funds and new opportunities, and with more producers producing independent production, industrial relations has matured to the point where the cftpa has grown to meet that sort of demand.

‘That sort of maturation is a reflection of the growth that has happened in the film and tv industry over the last decade in Canada.’