Securing representation of Canadian animation scribes will be one of the Writers Guild of Canada’s ‘top priorities’ heading into January renegotiations of its Independent Production Agreement with the cftpa and the apftq, says wgc president Maureen Parker.

For the past eight months, the wgc has been organizing animation writers from across the country and now has the majority of the roughly 200 writers’ support for the guild to push for standard fees and an ‘equitable share’ of back-end profits from animation shows, according to Parker.

‘We are going to get this one way or the other,’ she says.

‘We found animators across Canada work under extremely difficult and stressful conditions,’ says Parker. ‘They’re required to produce endless drafts and have no guarantee that they’ll ever get to production. It’s not the way the rest of the industry works.’

Animation projects have a long shelf life, she comments, and while the programs are seen around the world and producers are making money on them, the writers don’t share in the economic benefits.

According to Parker, the writers are paid a one-time flat fee (an average half-hour animation fee is about $7,000, she says), sign their copyrights over to the producer, and therefore, don’t see any of the back-end money. ‘It’s not an equitable arrangement,’ she says. ‘They really need assistance.’

cftpa president Elizabeth McDonald confirms that her association will be entering into negotiations with the wgc, but says comment at this time would be ‘inappropriate.’

A survey of sentiments at various Canadian animation companies reveals the belief that animation writers are faring just fine without the wgc representation.

‘They’re paid fair and it’s a negotiated process,’ says Sandy Mackay-Smith, vp general counsel at Nelvana. ‘There’s competition in the animation writers field. There are some very highly paid animation writers because of the quality of what they do.’

Hasmi Giakoumis, Cambium Entertainment’s vp production, says some toon writers already negotiate through their agents or lawyers for back-end monies for their work.

‘Not all writers will want to belong to the wgc,’ she says. ‘I have writers who can negotiate a damn good deal for themselves and they would be losing out [if the wgc achieves jurisdiction].’

Cinar Films executives refused comment on the issue, saying the cftpa would speak for them. But because of its Montreal location, Cinar may be most vulnerable to being forced to use wgc writers on its animation shows.

The wgc’s Parker says because Quebec’s Status of the Artist Legislation ‘already recognizes us [wgc] as the certified bargaining agent for all writers including animation. . . Cinar is going to have to strike a deal with us with respect to animation.’

If Cinar makes a deal with the wgc, then other Canadian animation companies may be forced to follow suit.

Currently, the wgc does not have jurisdiction over animation writers anywhere in Canada, but the issue has ‘been on the table in some way, shape or form for over 10 years,’ according to Parker. She says other issues, including the successful campaign to have jurisdiction over series story editors, have taken priority in the past.