36030 InterACTRA 9/27/04 4:21 PM Page 1 Fall 2004 The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists 20 – story HH20:: TestingTesting thethe politicalpolitical waterswaters page 7 36030 InterACTRA 9/27/04 4:21 PM Page 2 Stepping up our efforts Thor Bishopric summer months were very busy and as a nation, it is essential that we are that is self-sufficient and immune to the The at ACTRA. On one front we able to tell our own stories. However, fickleness of international trends. were cutting our way through the crowd building a self-sustaining domestic industry At our June National Council Meeting, to get culture on the election agenda and makes sense beyond the cultural impera- preeminent Canadian producer Laszlo on the other we were battling it out with tive. Internationally, film and television Barna was invited to bring his perspective producers to secure a new National production is increasingly unpredictable on the state of our industry. He iterated Commercial Agreement and winning and we’re feeling the effects of fewer the importance of growing our industry significant gains for performers. service productions locating in Canada. from within, and he encouraged ACTRA I am now looking forward to an eventful fall where we’ll continue to fight for our industry, both domestically and interna- A minority Liberal government brings a whole tionally. ACTRA helped to put culture on the map during the election, now we’ll new dynamic to Ottawa, and with it a whole move ahead and make sure it’s on the agenda of the next Parliament. A minority Liberal government brings a whole new new realm of possibilities. dynamic to Ottawa, and with it a whole new realm of possibilities. Our efforts have There’s no simple reason for the downturn. to keep up the pressure and take the lead already begun with one-on-one meetings Multiple factors, including a higher in our industry’s advocacy. He reminded with new cabinet ministers and we’re Canadian dollar, personal and national us that ACTRA has a priceless resource planning for another Lobby Day where security concerns, production budget that other organizations don’t have: our some of our biggest stars will carry compression as well as aggressive lobbying members. As performers, the public recog- ACTRA’s message directly to decision- and tax incentives in U.S. and foreign nizes and relates to us. This isn’t the time makers and Parliamentarians. markets all figure in the current decline to be shy. It’s time step up. ACTRA’s top priority continues to and, interestingly, are all beyond our con- Internationally, a number of files be the encouragement and stimulation trol. What’s clear is that now, more than that directly affect performers’ working of more Canadian production. As artists, ever, we need to build a stable industry lives will be advanced this autumn. In September, I represented ACTRA’s inter- ests at the 18th World Congress of FIA, (the International Federation of Actors) held in Budapest, Hungary. ACTRA will return to WIPO (the World Intellectual Property Organization) in Geneva, Switzerland to pursue a copyright treaty for performers. And ACTRA is playing a key role in helping develop a new internation- al instrument on cultural diversity through the auspices of UNESCO, (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization). If one can survive the acronyms, a deeper understanding of these big-picture international files is fasci- nating. I encourage all members to find out more by consulting www.actra.ca. Gordon Pinsent, Thor Bishopric and Daryl Duke at the news conference in Banff. Thor Bishopric, ACTRA President 2 InterACTRA FALL 2004 36030 InterACTRA 9/27/04 4:21 PM Page 3 page 18 The Stage Mom In this issue of InterACTRA... Survival Guide PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE for parents of young performers in page 20 by Thor Bishopric ...................................................................... 2 the Canadian film and television industry, by Robyne Ropell-Baruchel, LETTERS ...................................................................................... 4 published by ACTRA. NEWS The guide is free to ACTRA members Bargaining Roundup, Worth repeating: ACTRA (under 18), or $15 (incl. GST) for Montreal President speaks out, ACTRA Maritimes adult members and non-members. President chats up Premier Hamm .................................. 5 The Stage Mom COVER STORY Survival Guide by Joanne Deer page 22 is available at H2O: Paul Gross and an all-star Canadian ACTRA branches cast test the political waters in a new 7 across Canada CBC mini series ...................................................................... 1-800- or call FEATURE 387-3516 for by David Huband, Karl Pruner more info. National Commercial Agreement: What the new deal means for performers ................ 10 FEATURE page 23 by Joanne Deer Runaway Broadcasters Part Two: Broadcasters fill their fall skeds with U.S. fare ...... 14 COLUMN by Christie MacFadyen Fall 2004 Volume 11, Issue 2 Stood up by Stursberg! ........................................................ 16 InterACTRA is the official publication of ACTRA (Alliance of Canadian Cinema, POLICY Television and Radio Artists), a Canadian union by Ken Thompson of performers affiliated to the Canadian Labour 18 Congress and the International Federation of ACTRA puts arts on the election radar .......................... Actors. InterACTRA is free of charge to all ACTRA members. BRANCH NEWS Editorial Advisory Committee: Thor Bishopric, Toronto, British Columbia .................................................. 20 Stephen Waddell, Ferne Downey, Brian Gromoff, David Macniven, Ken Thompson, Joanne Deer APPLAUSE Contributors: Heather Allin, George Anthony, ACTRA members in the spotlight .................................... 22 Kelly Lynne Ashton, Joy Corion, Chris Cornish, Sharon Davidson, Richard Hardacre, Erin Hazzan, page 24 FAREWELL Matt Holland, David Huband, Kim Hume, Karen Ivany, Ruth Lawrence, Dan MacDonald, Saying goodbye to Andre Noble, 24 Christie MacFadyen, Jennifer McLaren, 24 Brian Linehan, Frances Hyland, Mervyn Blake ...... Karl Pruner, Howard Storey, Carol Taverner, page Mercedes Watson, Jeremy Webb ACTRA PRS UPDATE Design: Joss Maclennan Design Do we have money for you? ............................................ 26 Cover Photo: Courtesy CBC Television Printed in Canada by union labour at MEMBER SERVICES Thistle Printing. Found on Face to Face Online, All contents are copyright ©2004 ACTRA. deals for ACTRA members ................................................ 27 All rights are reserved and contents, in whole or in part, may not be reprinted without permission. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2003-2004 .................... 28 The points of view expressed do not necessarily represent those of ACTRA. Please return any undelivered mail to: BACK COVER ACTRA, 300 – 625 Church Street, by Heather Allin Toronto, ON M4Y 2G1 ACTRA in Banff 2004 ............................................................ 32 PHONE 1-800-387-3516 or (416) 489-1311 FAX (416) 489-8076 www.actra.ca [email protected] Want to receive InterACTRA by email? If you’d like Publications Mail Agreement #40069134 InterACTRA in your e-mailbox instead of by mail, email us ISSN 1705-9496 C page 32 at [email protected] with your membership number. FALL 2004 InterACTRA 3 36030 InterACTRA 9/27/04 4:22 PM Page 4 InterACTRA welcomes letters and feedback. Submissions should be no longer than 200 words, and may be edited for length. Please send submissions to: [email protected] Broadcasters on the run I read with great interest your article year-old Canadians that tuned into Friends Runaway Broadcasters (Spring 2004) by night after night ever said, “hip young peo- I picked up the Spring 2004 edition of Joanne Deer. I find it interesting when ple talking about relationships while drink- your magazine at the Banff TV Festival. people say that all Canadians share ing coffee, wow they sure do things strange While the whole magazine was a pleas- “attitudes, opinions, ideas, values and in America!” Of course not, they just saw ure to read, it was the feature Runaway artistic creativity.” I have always felt the same things that they and their Broadcasters that really made an impres- that I have much more in common ‘friends’ were going through. sion. Kudos to Joanne Deer, who con- with my brothers and sisters in –Troy Adamson, cisely and economically explained the Washington than I have with the peo- problems Canadian productions have UBCP/ACTRA Member, ple of Eastern Canada. We listen Vancouver, BC getting made and shown on Canadian to the same radio stations, watch the networks. same TV shows, have the same weather, I photocopied the article and distrib- hang out in the same bars on the week- Calling all scribes! Interested in uted it to the candidates in my riding. end and often end up dating each other. never-ending glory? Want to contribute As we will have a new parliament very Maybe we should worry less about content to InterACTRA? Please contact soon, I would encourage all of your read- “protecting Canadian identity” and [email protected] ers to send copies to their MPs. We can- being “passive voyeurs, ingesting anoth- not give up this important fight. Correction: In the Farewell space er culture” and just make great televi- in the Spring 2004 issue (p. 24): Peter – Barry Abbott sion that people will enjoy no mater Brockington was incorrectly listed as Peter Penguin Films Ltd., what side of that imaginary line they Brocking. We apologize for the error. Port Coquitlam, B.C. live on.