Chapman’s out

major changes are afoot within the b.c branches of iatse. In a surprise move, the membership of IATSE Local 891 voted to oust George Chapman from the post of president in favor of Don Ramsden, who resigned from the post two years ago.

Chapman, who had earlier worked with the union as business agent for over 10 years, lost the election by only eight votes. He attributed the loss to apathy of the silent majority. ‘In our busiest year of production ever in b.c., only 507 of the possible 1,400 members showed up to vote. I guess they were too busy working to send in their ballots.’ Chapman is now considering his future career options, which include a possible switch into production managing.

In other union news, IATSE Local 669 business agent Pete Mitchell has resigned. Mitchell says after three very successful years with the union, he felt it was time to move on. After a two-month sojourn in Africa, Mitchell plans to re-enter the industry on the production side.

Two join forces

canada’s Motion Picture Guarantors, a major completion bond company, has joined forces with Percenterprises Completion Bonding of Los Angeles and First Australian Completion Bond Company of Sydney. According to chair Douglas Leiterman, the merger gives mpg ‘a powerful base in l.a. and strong representation in Japan, Europe and Asia.’ The companies, which are also affiliated with Pacific Link of Tokyo, will operate jointly, but will maintain their corporate identities. Together, they will represent one of the largest bonding operations worldwide.