It appears the threat of lights, camera, job action is off the table for made-in-B.C. film productions.
The B.C. chapter of the Directors Guild of Canada (DGC) told BIV late Wednesday it’s reached a tentative agreement with employers that would remove the pall of potential job action hanging over local film productions.
The guild said in a statement it’s still finalizing the language of the memorandum of agreement and “will release further details as soon as that's completed.”
The negotiating employers, the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), said in a statement to BIV they were "pleased" with the tentative agreement that would "restore labour stability in British Columbia."
The DGC issued strike notice April 26 after negotiations broke down with employers a day earlier. Guild members voted 92 per cent in favour of a strike mandate earlier that month amid ongoing disagreements with producers over issues such as retroactive wage hikes and pay differentials that would increase wages for lower-paid positions as the minimum wage goes up across the province.
The DGC’s collective agreement covers directors, second unit directors, production and unit managers, and those working in the assistant director and locations departments.
Made-in-B.C. film productions not covered under safe harbour agreements faced potential job action for the past six weeks.
The CMPA and AMPTP previously said in April they might have to reconsider plans for new productions in the province amid potential “labour instability.”
Negotiations had been going on more than a year, including mediation conducted with help from the province’s Labour Relations Board (LRB), prior to the issuing of strike notice.
Both the guild and employers blamed the other for the breakdown following recommendations from the LRB’s mediator.
The province’s film industry was worth $3.3 billion to the economy in the last fiscal year, according to CMPA data.
The vast majority of B.C.’s production activity was concentrated on foreign service work for mostly Hollywood features and TV shows, generating $2.7 billion. That means B.C. was home to 52 per cent of all foreign service work done in Canada this past year.
Updated June 9 with a joint response from the CMPA and AMPTP.
