1708-EQ Summer 12 MAG.Indd

EQUITY QUARTERLY SUMMER 2012 END-OF-TERM COUNCIL REPORT FEDERAL BUDGET UPDATE EQ GIVING BACK TO THE ASSOCIATION Inside Equity A look inside your Association THE HUMAN BRAIN HAS two siDes – the riGHT SIDE, WHICH HOUSES OUR CREATIVITY AND IMAGINATION, AND THE LEFT SIDE, WHICH ALLOWS US TO BE LOGICAL AND KEEP OUR LIVES IN ORDER. JUST LIKE OUR BRAINS, EQUITY ALSO HAS TWO HALVES OF A WHole – itS ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES, WHO USE CREATIVITY AND VISION TO GOVERN THE ASSOCIATION, AND THE ADMINISTRATION AND STAFF OF THE ORGANIZATION, WHICH ENSURE THAT MEMBERS WORK WITH SECURITY, PROTECTION AND SUPPORT. BOTH SIDES ARE EQUALLY NECESSARY. EQUITY QUARTERLY SUMMER 2012 EQ VOLUME 6 NUMBER 2 Budget fall-out 2 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE 6 3 NOTES FROM ARDEN R. RYSHPAN 4 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 8 End-of-term report 5 EQ MOVES 17 EQ VOICES 18 EQ BACKSTAGE 14 Serving the 19 FONDLY REMEMBERED Association 20 EQ CLASSIFIEDS 21 EQ FLASHBACK Equity members can submit letters to the editor via email at [email protected]. The deadline for Coming issue: FALL 2012 EQ submissions is Friday, September 21, 2012. EQ reserves the right to edit for length, style and content. Subscriptions are available at an annual rate of $35, including GST. EQ Equity Quarterly (ISSN 1913-2190) is a forum to discuss issues of interest to members concerning their Publications Mail Agreement No. 40038615 SUMMER 2012 – volume 6, Number 2 craft, developments in the industry, equity’s role in the workplace, and the important position live performance EQ is published four times a year by Canadian Actors’ equity association. EXECUTIVE EDITOR Lynn McQueen holds in the cultural and social fabric of Canada. It is also used as an advocacy tool to educate others about National Offi ce the industry, promote live performance in Canada, and celebrate the achievements of Equity members. 44 Victoria Street, 12th Floor, Toronto, ON M5C 3C4 EDITOR Barb Farwell Tel: 416-867-9165 | Fax: 416-867-9246 | Toll-free: 1-800-387-1856 (members only) Canadian Actors’ Equity Association (Equity) is the voice of professional artists working in live [email protected] | www.caea.com DESIGN & LAYOUT Chris Simeon, performance in English Canada. We represent more than 6,000 performers, directors, choreographers, September Creative Western Offi ce fi ght directors and stage managers working in theatre, opera and dance, and support their creative efforts 736 Granville Street, Suite 510, Vancouver, BC V6Z 1G3 by seeking to improve their working conditions and opportunities by negotiating and administering Tel: 604-682-6173 | 604-682-6174 | Toll free: 1-877-682-6173 (members only) collective agreements, providing benefi t plans, information and support and acting as an advocate. woffi [email protected] ABOVE: Ari Cohen and Harry Nelken in Zadie’s Shoes at Winnipeg’s Prairie Theatre Exchange, 2003. Find out how Tania M. Sigurdson, stage manager of this production, has been involved in Equity on page 16 President’s message Council elections are just around the corner. Actually, it may be more accurate to say that they loom on the horizon – when I look at what’s left on the agenda at the moment, anything as deadline-like as elections most decidedly looms. As such, it’s also a time for review and reflection. You’ll find the review part in the inside pages, and the reflection bit begins in the next paragraph. Ten times a year, I write a series of discussion documents for the upcoming meeting of Council. On top of that, I author four EQ columns like this one, two Council Links, 20 to 25 blog posts, and the occasional contribution to the Equity Facebook page. Admittedly, that’s a lot of writing, but it’s also an ongoing series of opportunities to reflect on Equity: what it stood for at its inception, where it has travelled since then, and what it works for now. Many people will not know this, but up until 1976, what we now call Equity was a branch office of the American performers union, Actors’ Equity Association (AEA). And even more will not know that AEA will be celebrating its 100th anniversary next year. If you read about the working conditions back then, you cannot help but be amazed at how much artists in live performance, working collectively, have accomplished in the past century. Equity was founded by, and run by, and continues to be run by, artists, right up to this day. Although you elect Council to govern Equity on your behalf, the membership truly owns this Association. I mean that literally, and the past two Councils have been tireless in reaching out to the membership, broadly and in detail, to share information and to get input on major topics of discussion. For ad hoc contributions, we have also implemented a Request for Council Consideration form that is available for use by any member at any time, and our [email protected] and [email protected] addresses are appended to pretty much everything we send you. Despite all of this, it’s impossible not to notice that a sizable chunk of the membership regards the artists and their Association as two different things, and apparently believes that Equity has a purely self-informed and self-serving agenda. Take a look at the report included in this edition of EQ – with the exception of the dues referendum (because we have increasing costs to cover), every major issue noted is rooted in something that came to us from the membership. (Psst! That’s you, the artist.) Each of these changes has resulted in improvements you asked us to make, and our staff consistently achieve similar gains on the contract negotiation front. We’re coming up shortly on the most important member-input opportunity of them all: the chance for you to participate directly in the governance of your Association. Nomination forms were mailed to all eligible members in June, and I encourage each of you to consider running, or to nominate someone you think would represent you well. We’ve spent the past six years re-examining how we do things and what our members need us to provide for them, and there are doubtless many more changes in the offing. If you want to see Equity move with the times, now is the time for you to get moving. Get involved. Allan Teichman President SUMMER 2012 2 EQUITY QUARTERLY Notes from Arden R. Ryshpan This issue of EQ is all about the inner workings of Equity, as seen from the twin perspectives of the Council and the administrative side. While it is Council’s job to determine the direction and goals of the Association, it is up to the office to deliver the practical things that take us down the path to those goals. The role of Council is primary in the Association. And so the upcoming elections for a new Council this fall are, as always, very important. Since the introduction of Policy Governance, the tasks and responsibilities of Council have changed and concentrate much more on the larger picture – the upper level overview of the Association, as it were, rather than spending time on the day-to-day minutiae of the operation. We have seen some members (on and off Council) struggle with that change but, from an outside perspective, I think it offers Council the opportunity to think and talk and have a chance to grapple with the bigger issues facing the membership, the Association and the industry in general. Once those decisions are made, they are turned over to staff and we have to then put concept into practice, a process that can be a challenge. Policy Governance encourages the Council to dream in widescreen Technicolor. It’s my unfortunate job sometimes to deliver something in black and white. All the things we all want the Association to be able to do, say and deliver to the membership, the engagers, the industry and the government, are restricted by time, money and competing priorities. This is no less frustrating for those of us at the office than it is for the membership. What makes the frustration bearable is when Council and staff are truly working together – both sides of the circle – to bring something to fruition that benefits the members. I have certainly heard from members that they think some things take too long to get dealt with. My response to them is yes, sometimes it does. But they should be comforted by the fact that their elected officials are genuinely concerned about trying to get it right, about getting the information they need, and then taking the time to process that information so they can make the right decision. You cannot fault them for that. I have been very impressed with the enormous concern that Council expresses when sifting through big issues and their sincere desire to make an informed and enlight- ened choice for their colleagues. Decisions are not made capriciously, either by Council or by staff – there is often too much at stake to do that – usually a member’s (or the membership’s) livelihood. And that is too important a thing to treat lightly or without due respect. As the elections approach this fall, it is essential that members with a genuine interest in the workings of the Association choose to run and to offer their service to and on behalf of their colleagues. It will educate you, surprise you, and occasionally irritate you – but always provide you with a source of satisfaction that you are doing something important in your Association and in your business.

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