TORONTO – The unions and guilds that represent Canada’s professional performers, directors and screenwriters are lining up in support of The Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA) efforts to secure equitable agreements for program rights in negotiations with the major private broadcast networks, as well as the CBC.
"We support the independent producers’ position that equitable terms of trade agreements are needed to secure fairer deals for program rights," said Stephen Waddell, national executive director of the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA). "Reaching fair terms for granting rights is a struggle with which we are familiar. We see the obvious value here for performers, so ACTRA is supportive of the independent producers’ efforts."
The CFTPA is slated to begin talks with CTV, Canwest Global and Rogers today to begin hammering out "terms of trade" – framework agreements that would define and value program rights. These framework agreements would apply to individual negotiations between broadcasters and producers for these rights – a requirement that is essential to help mitigate the severe imbalances in negotiating power caused by broadcaster consolidation.
"Broadcasters are the gatekeepers of Canadian television programming," said Maureen Parker, executive director of the Writers Guild of Canada. "This in itself gives them powerful leverage when dealing with producers, and the imbalance of negotiating power has only been exacerbated by the broadcaster mergers of recent years. If producers are pressured into granting broadcasters program rights for little or nothing, screenwriters and the creative community are impoverished as a result."
The CRTC has mandated that all broadcasters submit draft or signed terms of trade agreements with independent producers as part of their broadcast license renewal applications, with the deadline expected to be in late 2008 or early 2009.
"We’re very glad that the CRTC has affirmed the importance and urgency of terms of trade," said Brian Anthony, national executive director of theDirectors Guild of Canada. "We regard terms of trade as an essential component of a broader regulatory strategy aimed at ensuring a vibrant Canadian production sector that continues to have the creative and financial capacity to produce great Canadian programming."
