ACTRA performers
set the stage for 2020

Our hit CBC series Schitt’s Creek has gone supernova in attracting audiences around the world. Many of our Canadian performers and creators, such as Sandra Oh, Tatiana Maslany and Catherine O’Hara, are winning awards here, in Hollywood and across the globe. Break-out moments in our business mark an occasion for us to celebrate our victories. It’s also our time to ensure our agreements continue to set the stage for success for years to come.

Yes, Canadians are known for being polite (remember the Mountie in Due South holding doors open for everyone?), but being humble does not mean we back down if engager demands run off the rails. We all know ACTRA members are talented and second-to-none – that’s why it’s easy to demand respect and fair compensation for performers.
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Our ACTRA agreements set the stage for our power as a union. Content creation is in demand and that includes your performances. Today’s producers, advertisers and broadcasters need it and ACTRA members have got it. Digital platforms have made it easier for your work to reach audiences nationally and internationally. But fighting for our fair share in these new markets has become the battle not only for us but for our sister unions in other countries. Make no mistake, Canadian performers are members of the creative team and should expect their fair share.

As we publish this edition of ACTRA Magazine, we are in the midst of bargaining a new videogame agreement with UBISOFT. Our members bring vast skill-sets, experience and talents, as demonstrated in Tristan D. Lalla’s spotlight on Shawn Baichoo. Shawn brings huge value to each production he works on. The same holds true of our members in stunt work, voice work, MoCap work… and more!

We are beginning our preparation for the renegotiation of our National Commercial Agreement (NCA), which expires on June 30, 2020. Soon we’ll be sitting across the table from representatives from Canada’s ad industry – the Association of Canadian Advertisers (ACA) and the Institute of Communications Agencies (ICA).  
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In terms of member earnings, the NCA is our third-largest agreement. If your bargaining team needs your support, you will be hearing from us. SAG-AFTRA’s stand against U.S. ad agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty LLC (BBH) last year was an important reminder of the value professional performers bring to the advertising industry. Member engagement during SAG-AFTRA’s 10-month strike against BBH was critical to their victory.

While taking care of our members, our union must constantly evolve with the demands of the industry. Last year, we created ACTRA’s user-friendly ACTRAonline Commercials cost estimator, which makes it easier than ever to hire professional ACTRA performers.

On the policy front, 2019 ended on a high note with our simultaneous substitution victory: Canada’s highest court quashed the CRTC’s bad 2016 decision to ban the substitution of Canadian advertising on U.S. networks airing in Canada during the Super Bowl broadcast. That decision allowed U.S. advertisers to take over ad space that historically had been Canadian advertisers. That’s why ACTRA stepped up, all the way to Canada’s Supreme Court, to fight this battle. ACTRA’s policy work in teaming up with Bell and the NFL as an intervenor paid off and we kept this work right here in Canada. Bringing Canadian ads back to the airwaves during the Super Bowl broadcast, we hope, will lead to more work opportunities for our members to appear in Canadian commercials.

On the international front, we had a busy fall welcoming 70 delegates representing 25 unions from 18 countries to Vancouver for the 2019 executive meeting of FIA, the International Federation of Actors. Leading the charge for performers worldwide is our ACTRA Past President Ferne Downey who also serves as the current President of FIA. Particular attention at this meeting was paid to how online streaming platforms, specifically U.S.-based conglomerates, are changing the industry and challenging traditional business models -- and how this is compelling unions to look for innovative ways to monetize the work of our members in this new environment. I encourage our members to visit fia-actors.com to learn more about how performers around the world are sharing strategies on standing up to pressures from corporate internet giants.
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Here in Canada, we won’t let disruptive business-driven pressures lead to economic gaps where performers are not compensated fairly for your work. For more on the policy front, please read David Sparrow’s president’s message detailing how we’ve welcomed our new government and are asking them to keep their election promises to our industry and our members.

As a union, we have the power to stand up for all of our members. If engager demands run off the rails during negotiations, you will hear from your bargaining teams and elected leaders about it. Please read your ACTRA eblasts, follow us on social media and bookmark actra.ca for updates from your union. It’s important we continue to build upon our victories to set the course for future generations of creators and professional performers to come. It’s critical to our success as a union and an industry.

I wish you all a safe, happy and prosperous 2020.

In Solidarity,
Marie Kelly
ACTRA National Executive Director