North American Producers and Canadian Actors Reach New Labor Deal

WHISTLER, B.C. -- Canadian actors and indie producers have agreed on a new tentative multiyear labor deal that would send Hollywood a message of industry stability.

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The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA), the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) and the Association des producteurs de films et de télévision du Québec (APFTQ) ended marathon negotiations on a new Independent Production Agreement (IPA) late Friday night.

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The IPA governs workplace rates and conditions for unionized actors in Canada who are routinely engaged on local studio film and TV shoots.

Canadian actors are to receive an annual 2 percent wage hike over each of the next three years, after they ratify the tentative IPA deal over the coming weeks.

The CMPA negotiated on behalf of the major studios during the late IPA bargaining round, and top studio executives were consulted before a final settlement was agreed on by both sides.

American producers who shoot in Canada become signatories to the IPA agreement.

The new deal, if ratified, will come into effect Jan. 1, 2013.

A quick negotiating round to reach a new IPA deal contrasts with ACTRA staging a Canadian actors strike in 2007 to wrest concessions from North American producers at the bargaining table that year.

Canadian actors and producers have since, during a series of IPA negotiating rounds, sent a signal of stability from an industry keen to woo Hollywood studios and U.S. indie producers to shoot on location north of the border.