• $4.8 billion in total production volume, a 5.8% increase over the previous period. This figure includes:
    * $1.8 billion in Canadian television production (up 1% over 2005/06)

A bitter six-week labour dispute between Canadian actors and producers was nearly the "final nail in the coffin" for the country’s already battered film and television industry, which experts say now faces a long, hard, uphill climb along the road to recovery.

Following several days of negotiations the Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA), Association des producteurs de films et de tÃ�©lÃ�©vision du QuÃ�©bec (APFTQ) and ACTRA (Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists) today announced that they have reached a renewed Independent Production Agreement (IPA). This deal is a win-win for Producers and ACTRA Members.

Canadian actors and producers reached a tentative agreement Friday to end a bitter labour dispute that some feared would bring down the country’s once-thriving film industry.

Like many of you, I read the most recent ACTRA releases detailing the breakdown of latest negotiations with a very heavy heart. The numbers looked very bad and the gap seemed to be widening, not diminishing. The CFTPA was offering $5.65 per day for one year’s use in new media. ACTRA’s previous offer had amounted to $65.50 per day per year. How could they still be that far off, especially with a top notch mediator involved?

U.S. producers outnumbered Canadian producers by a wide margin at negotiations with ACTRA that ended without a deal on February

8, when the lead negotiator for t

So why did the mediation between ACTRA and the CFTPA breakdown on February 8? The answer is to be found in a number, and in an important missed opportunity.

Two days of federal mediation aimed at settling the national performers strike ended Thursday without a deal, ACTRA said in a news release.

ACTRA issued the following open letter to John Barrack, Lead Counsel for the Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA) today.

On Jan 8 members Canada�s actors union went on strike for the first time in 64 years and the direct impact to the Toronto production industry has been �Disastrous and Crippling,� says Don Carmody who has all future projects on hold.